Three Techniques for Better Coach to Player Communications Part 2

Three Techniques for Better Coach to Player Communications Part 1

#3 Coaching during the game

Here are three proven methods that will help coaches during game play and training sessions.

Conditions

One great way to get players to practice a specific element of the game is to play a small sided game with a condition attached to it. One example would be first time passing during the last third of the pitch.

To set this up, physically mark the last third with red cones. This gives players a visual cue so they’ll know when to use a first time pass. But the ability to hit a first time pass is one thing. Knowing why is another thing entirely. In training sessions, work on quick movements and have strikers run off the ball. As a result, they will create opportunities for receiving a first time ball from the supporting player.

It’s helpful if players are aware of the space surrounding them, as well as have a grasp on a runner’s path. This is especially true when it’s time to hit the first time ball. The coach should ask both the attacking and defending teams various questions about relative strengths of a first time ball in the last third of the pitch to encourage critical thinking about game play situations.

The players need to understand that defense is more difficult when the pace of the game picks up, and they must realize that as the ball starts moving faster and faster, communication requires even more alertness.

The goal is to get players to grasp the fact that they need to have their head in the game and engage in total awareness at all times.

Freeze Work

Freeze work is a great method for physically showing players how they’ve situated themselves during a play. During a practice game, simply instruct the players to freeze on cue, using a term like “freeze” or “statues.” Players will need to be drilled to learn how to stop immediately when they hear the directive instead of encroaching toward where they believe they ought to be.

This training strategy illustrates the difference between where the players are at any given instant, and where they should be. Before moving the players to their ideal locations, always ask them where they think they should be and why that is an optimum locale on the field. This teaches players to think for themselves and when they can do this, the best strategies are achieved much faster.

Directing Play

Occasionally, all a coach needs to do is take a quiet word with one of the players as they run past on the pitch. This can jog the memory and reinforce tactical training and beneficial game play behavior.

But what about when the player is too far away for a quiet word? There’s no need to stop the entire game. Instead, simply call out the player who needs the instruction. Using a tactical board near the sidelines, with the play constructed on it, show the player his maneuver, and ask him how it could have been done differently. Getting players to answer these questions on their own will help increase their skills more quickly and efficiently than through lectures or raw instruction. Once the player comes up with a better scenario, one that he should have attempted, reinforce the learning by drawing it on the tactic board.

Want to know more?

You can learn more about coaching methods and find new training strategies that clearly outline the benefits and drawbacks for each method by following the link below.

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