A little while ago, as a result of a reference to the book whilst attending one of the FA Youth Award courses, I bought the book “Outliers: The Story Of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell.
In the book, Gladwell observes attributes of successful people – in sport, business, and technology – and makes the connection between people with a determined approach to improvement and the coincidence of opportunity and circumstance.
He views aspects of culture, birth bias (which is examined in some detail in the Youth Awards) and the curious aspects of what makes one person a success whilst another lives an ordinary life.
He further explores the premise that to become an expert, in anything, it requires at least 10,000 hours of practice.
BOUNCE
I have recently started reading a book called “Bounce, How Champions are Made” written by broadcaster, journalist and ex-table tennis champion Matthew Syed.
Matthew also examines this 10,000 hour rule but focuses on what he describes as “Purposeful Practice”. In other words, practice designed, intended and determined to bring about specific improvement in performance, irrespective of whether it is football, music or chess.
CHESS
In fact there is the interesting story of a chess mad father, Laszlo Polgar, who was also a trained psychologist, who had a theory that genetics did not determine genius, practice did.
Over a period of time, Laszlo Polgar had three daughters and gradually introduced each of his daughters to the game. He set out specifically to prove his ‘practice makes genius’ theory and, as the girls gradually developed a love of the game he provided the opportunity for them to learn and develop as expert players.
Over the years they became better and better so much so, that Susan (Zsuzsanna) Polgar, his oldest daughter, became the first female chess Grandmaster. She further became the winner of 4 World Championships, 5 Olympics and the ONLY (male or female) person to win the chess championship Triple Crown.
PURPOSEFUL PRACTICE
So, if we are looking to have footballers develop into becoming experts, evidence seems to point to the fact that they need AT LEAST 10,000 hours practice. This is not just a kick-about we are talking about though, this is purposeful practice, remember; practice designed, determined and intended to bring about improvement.
In Syed’s book, as an example, he ventures to suggest that Tiger Woods spends longer on practising his bunker shots than the average player spends on developing their whole game.
CHOICE
However, rather than us coaches determining that the young players whom we serve NEED the practice to become an expert, I believe that it should be about the individual having the opportunity if they choose to become the best they can be,
We should strive to provide the best environment we can so that they develop the love of and passion for the game and ignites the desire to become a champion. Where we are unable to fuel that desire, we should try to provide the help and guidance needed so that they can find the right route to their aspirational vision.
NOW, HERE’S A THOUGHT....
What about the coaches?
I started to look at this 10,000 hour rule and discussed it with a friend of mine who is an A licence coach, FA Tutor and a qualified teacher.
I realised that, as a grassroots coach, I have been coaching (and studying, researching and attending courses of various kinds) in an effort to become a better coach for 20 years now.
So, on the back of an envelope, I did a quick calculation of how many hours I had spent actually coaching with a desire to improve. I believe I have always been quite good at reviewing sessions with a view to improvement of my own performance as a coach as well as the session itself.
So, taking account of courses (on which you plan and deliver sessions to the other candidates) and the various clubs/teams for which I have coached over the years, I tallied up that I have probably achieved around 1,500 hours ACTUAL coaching practice. In 20 YEARS !! That is hardly even beginner level in the great scheme of things and certainly wouldn’t be even close to making me an ‘expert’ coach.
I’m not sure if I should have taken account of the reading, research and DVD / video tape watching…..and I’m not sure if I should casually mention to my wife that I need to get another 8,500 hours of practical coaching (as soon as possible) in order to achieve ‘expert’ level !!
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