Coaching objectives

• Positive play
  
• First Touch into Space
  
• Maintaining behaviour

Sunday’s game ended in another 2-0 win over Blyth Town, this was a good result considering the extrinsic factors hindering the player’s performance. The wind did not help at all and to be fair it was a scrappy game, however it was good to see positive play from the players, in the second half we battled hard against the wind with opposition using the environment to their advantage, fortunately the defence stood strong, this built the foundation to go on and win the game. I stressed the need for movement off the ball from the players when we are attacking; this term is described as the action of the team mates of the player in possession of the ball in order to support him. (McAvoy, 1998). The term I wanted to install in to the players was a quote commented by Alex Ferguson and that was good teams are awake when the ball is dead, (Sir Alex Ferguson, 2002), the cognitive process the players experienced in order to put these actions into work seems to suggest the players were in the top down model, there was no reliance on much feedback or instructions from myself regarding movement off the ball and movement dead ball situations resulted in two identical goals scored from two free kicks. Relating to the second goal, it was clear the team were experiencing Learnt behaviour, relating to a positive experience, the instructions before games relating to set plays relates to Mahoney’s research in the late seventies as he identified that Imagery rehearsal of physical movements is best accomplished when the individual is familiar with the task (Mahoney, 1977). A lot of work goes into set plays before the game as unfortunately due to a restricted area at Gosforth Complete Football Centre the ability to coach the fundamentals of set plays are limited. Again this seems to suggest that the players are in the top down model of motor control models as they are able to interpret instructions make any adjustments through their command centre, a high function of local operators seems to support the players converting two identical goals from set plays, as they were able to consistently able to carry out instructions. It was important to warn the players against complacency, 2 games in a row without conceding a goal will do wonders for the players confidence and anxiety levels, however it is important to keep their feet on the ground and remind them every game brings a different challenge, being honest with your performers is a vital element of qualities of a coach, (Sabock, 1979), it is important for myself to influence the players to meet the demands of their environment (Sabock, 2004). This seems to contradict Holbrook’s (1979) theory of how respect may be gained that showing confidence in the team gains respect of the coach, my instincts were telling me that if some players got ahead of them selves they may loose concentration regarding the goals of the team, this could result in them setting individual goals, although individual goals are just as important as team goals, it would be detrimental to the cohesion (O’Neil, 1994), that has been worked so hard on developing.

The drills implicated in tonight’s session involved encouraging the players to take their first touch when controlling the ball in to space away from the opposing player, this gives the player with the ball the advantage as the first touch becomes a closed skill as he has control of it (Bidzinski, 2003), in order to work against this the defenders cognitive emotions have to change in order to move back in line with the ball this includes the motor recruitment stage where the defender will have to correct the movement errors made when closing the down the ball. Encouraging players to control the ball into space assists them on having more time on the ball; this creates more time to process from the brain what foot to use to pass with. Is there a chance to dribble? And this is achieved by considering the shape of the body when receiving the ball positioning themselves side on so they can see in front and behind them to attack the space. (Little, 2004). A 20x20 grid was split up into quarters with 3 players in each; one player was standing beside one cone leaving a cone spare inside the smaller grid. The movement I wanted to get off the players was that of a triangle shape, the player who passed the ball moved to the spare cone, the coaching points that were implicated and emphasized at the cognitive stage of the drill was communication first touch into space where the next pass was going to be and the quality of the pass, this continued until the drill became autonomous. The drill was progressed; a defender was installed to add a element of realisation as the players are not going to get the time in a real game to have the luxury of passing in triangles as the opposition will be closing the ball down, further suggestions identify passing in football as an open skill as it has a clear start and finish and it is hindered by extrinsic factors i.e. the closing defender. I was cautious of last week’s scenario where tackles were hard and at times ridiculous, so I reduced the defenders to intercepting the pass, this could have a contrasting effect on the players during a game, they become dysfunctional with tackling firm but fair during a game as they may become disillusioned with the technique as they wont be familiar with the task, this contradicts the findings by Maloney (1977). However I was quick to state that the only reason I restricted the defenders to closing down the ball was to reduce the risk of harm, the players understood and respected the decision, this supports the statement addressed by Sabock (1973) that a coach must maintain a concern for their performers.

A 40x40 grid was set out with two goals at each end of the grid, the drill was installed with the skill theme which was first touch in to space and supporting the player on the ball relating to the positive performance of the Sunday just passed. It was clear to me that some players were not putting the effort into the drill, this was addressed within the first 10 minutes of the game related drill, I wanted the players to perform at match tempo so they got the feel for supporting the man on the ball and doing this with conviction, I also allowed the players to work out for them selves at each 5 minute interval how they could support the man on the ball in order to create a goal scoring opportunity. This was not working as the same player’s effort rate were not to the same level as of their team mates, this in turn was showing frustration to the team mates who were putting the effort in to make their ideas work, this idea of mine was resulting in the team cohesion becoming dysfunctional. The drill was stopped, the reasoning behind it was to maintain the behaviour shown in the warm up and in the technical drill, behaviour has to be consistent with the goals of an educational setting (Siedentop, 1991). I stressed the time and effort that I myself give up for their development and enjoyment, I prompted them how for only 165 minutes of the week the only thing I expected was for them to put the effort in to the drills and in the games on Sundays, maybe I should have ignored the inappropriate behaviour as what was said may have caused anxiety in some cases. I quickly reverted back to the team goals that have been set and that the behaviour shown in the final drill may be detrimental towards them goals as it was seen that some players were getting frustrated by their team mates antics, this is not good for cohesion and moral, I also asked the players if they wanted to be treat like children, this is the second time this season I have given the players the opportunity to experience drills for themselves in order to become autonomous with what they are doing, instead I have had thrown back in my face on both occasions, it was important for me to be completely honest with the players yet again (Sabock, 1973). This resulted in me cutting the players playing time and telling them to go home and think about what they want from this season. Being a strong disciplinarian has advantages and disadvantages, I was trying to provide direction for the players and install values, maybe I was trying too hard to remind who was in charge and be the leader of the team as coaches with good leadership qualities confront the players when problems arise (Martens, 2004), however my actions seem to contradict the statement installed by Martens (2004) as I did not resolve the problem entirely. My premonitions are hoping that an inappropriate debrief may hinder Sundays performance, in contrast to this suggestion Hagger (2005) states that punishment is very effective in maintaining behaviour, this could suggest a good performance on Sunday.

Bidzinski, M. (2003). Soccer Coaching Handbook. Reedswain Inc.

Hagger, M. Chatzisarantis, N. (2005) The Social Psychology of Exercise and Sport. McGraw – Hill International Publication. P118

Little, T (2004) Soccer Conditioning Part 1http://user84004.websitewizard.com/files/unprotected/soccer_conditioning_1.pdf [online] accessed 13/11/07

Mahoney, M.J. (1977) cited Rushall, B.S. (1997) http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/coachsci/vol26

McAvoy, N. (1998). Teaching Soccer Fundamentals. Human Kinetics Publications

Martens, R, (2004). Successful Coaching

O’Neil, H.F. Drillings, M. (1994). Motivation: Theory and Research. Lawrence Erlbaum Publications. P 161

Sabock, R.J, (1973) The Coach. The University of Michigan

Siedentop, D. (1991). Developing teaching skills in physical education. Mountain View, Mayfield Publishing Co.

Sir Alex Ferguson (2002) Roles of a Coach [Online] accessed 30/11/07