Tuesday 22 September 2009

So, Which Way IS the Right Way?

Give Us Back Our Game, The Dutch ‘Way’, 4v4, Coerver Coaching, Futbol de Salao, ABCs, FA Age Appropriate Coaching, Horst Wein, NLP, 101 Youth Soccer Drills, 7v7, competitive leagues, Turn up and play, 9v9, SkillRhythmics, SAQ, The van Dijk Method, 11v11, Academy/Centre of Excellence, Sports Psychology, Grass Roots Club and so it goes on - a veritable plethora of ideas, philosophies and approaches to teaching The Beautiful Game.

I guess we’ve all asked the question, having been through various stages of the coach education process and have, at times, scratched our heads as we wonder, what really IS the best way forward for the kids I coach?

I have been fortunate to have had the time to research, observe and use quite a few of these different approaches. I have my own views.

Coerver Coaching has had its critics. Techniques that don’t transfer to the game - ‘tricks’ is how I have heard it described. Possibly there is some truth that, in the past, Coerver Coaching did concentrate on ‘moves’ but with some justification.

The theory being that it is the creative skills, unpredictability and imagination that will help a player to win a game.
However, I have seen the international director, Alfred Galustian become animated and passionate about ‘building a bridge’ from the practice to the game. The new age of practices certainly works on skills in the game and involves players in game-like situations. He is also convinced of the value of helping young players become two-footed.
But how do YOU, as the coach, facilitate and encourage two-footedness when you may only see the players for an hour and a half of practice each week and then a match at the weekend?

4v4 with conditioned games has grown in favour with staunch supporters of the benefits of the format including the number of touches, tackles, shots and so on. This exposes the young participants to a much healthier environment than static line drills.
On the other hand the number and type of decisions are relatively limited, it is physically very demanding and what about all that time players don’t have or are not immediately in the vicinity of the ball when they start to play “mini-soccer” at 7 a side, progress to 9 a-side (how many actually do that?) or play in the full sized format?

The new FA Youth Award, Age Appropriate Coaching, to coin a phrase, is two-thirds the way into communicating a coaching approach specifically designed for the younger player. Based upon sound educational and child development principles, it proposes much more player ownership, discovery through mistakes and the development of practices with a specific eye on ‘the game’ that help the players develop football memories/pictures and game craft/sense even from a young age.
Two-footedness came up as a topic when I was an attendee on a recent FA Youth Award Module 2. It was generally agreed that it was difficult to achieve, especially with an hour and a half a week. There was a point of view that, in business, working on people’s weaknesses as part of their development generally achieves a standard of, at best, mediocrity - so why would we think it is different in football?
On the other hand, if a player can’t clear a goal-bound shot off the line because they can’t use their ‘other foot’ how does that help the player enjoy the game? Perhaps we should just encourage use of the ‘other foot’ enough so that they can ‘just tidy up’ with it? Makes sense to me…..but,

Stanley Mathews, in his autobiography, talks about putting stakes in the ground and dribbling around them and using both feet, in order to become a better player. But then, that was his choice, not the coach’s….

So, back to the original question, which way is the right way?

My point of view is that all of the above (and a whole bunch of stuff I haven’t even mentioned) forms part of our ‘coach’s toolbox’. Each and every one of those approaches, philosophies, disciplines and ideas give us a wide range of options from which to choose as we encourage and provide development opportunities for our young charges.

Of course, we have an absolute duty of care to ensure that we nurture players and that we do not unintentionally chase youngsters from the game by being too bombastic, too dictatorial or by coaching / managing as though we are in charge of a full-time professional outfit where the result determines our very livelihood.

But, we do have an opportunity to be as creative as we need in order to engender a love of the game and help young participants learn and develop as they grow.

In business, it is often said that there is “no one ‘right’ way” to lead.

If we can maintain flexibility, imagination and an open minded approach to the practices we provide for players, in similar vein, I am absolutely convinced that there is also no one “right” way to coach……but, then again, perhaps the Brazilians may have stumbled across something!!