MC y esquemas negativos, actitudes disfuncionales, y

4. EVALUATE

1. PLAN: We now have exercises planned

2. PREPARE: Preparing for the training session is now easy, because the Plan contains all the information you need in terms of People, Equipment and Environment.

So, let’s now look at no. 3:

How the coach should CONDUCT a Training Session.

As we do so, we will discover that we will need to re-visit the ‘Plan’ stage to add some more detail. If you PLAN a session properly there is more chance that you will CONDUCT it effectively. By looking at the best way of conducting it first, we will then be better informed in how to construct this additional detail in the plan.

Consider the purpose of each of the four session components:

(NB: when planning a training session we recommended that the third component, Game Training, be planned first. We will now look in sequential order at how each of the components should be conducted)

1. PASSING PRACTICES

The warm-up, incorporating specific passing, first touch and football-related movements, designed to help achieve the session objective

Please remember, this is a warm-up!

Too often, coaches use the warm-up stage as ‘teaching time’: they repeatedly stop the players and correct them, getting all the players to stop and listen. If this occurs, it is not really a warm-up any more.

99 Revision of Key Points:

The professional coach, by the use of smart Passing Practices, can provide for the players:

- Hidden learning - Repetition

Having planned the main part of the session first, the Game Training, the coach knows the required:

- Player actions

- Elements of Perception - Decisions

- Interaction between players

So, the coach can carefully think about how to construct a SPECIFIC passing practice to incorporate those actions, interactions and elements of P-D-E. Far too often, we see players engaged in random passing exercises which can often be boring, or so-called ‘fun’ activities which have little relevance to real football or, more importantly, the objective of the session.

It is also useful to consider, for each session component, what should be the main behaviour of both the players and the coach.

Main behaviour in Passing Practices:

PLAYERS: warming-up COACH: influencing

How does the coach INFLUENCE the players?

i) by smart design of the passing practices, incorporating hidden learning and repetition ii) by giving key technical points related to the session objective (without interrupting the warm-up) to players who need it. In terms of PERCEPTION-DECISION-EXECUTION, passing practices will focus on EXECUTION, as they are unopposed or use a rotating passive defender, but the clever coach tries to build in some PERCEPTION and DECISION.

So, what additional notes should the coach write down on this part of the Session Plan? They should note the key points of P-D-E might make ‘on the run’ where necessary, related to the session objective.

Below, write down the points you would look for in the passing practice you designed for our hypothetical session at the end of the previous chapter:

100 Session Objective:

In this session, I aim to improve:

(Team Task:) the use of effective short passing to get the ball to the strikers in a structured manner

By focusing on: Player Tasks (General / Position-specific):

- 6 and 8, position yourselves between the lines and between defenders - 6 and 8, avoid blocking the passing lane from 3 and 4 to 9

- 10, take up a starting position in advance of 6 and 8 where you can receive the ball in space and/or quickly support 9 when they receives the ball

- Perception (Seeing/Hearing): Decision (Recognition/Anticipation/ Options/Choices): Execution (Timing/Speed/Quality/Clarity):

101 2. POSITIONING GAMES / 3. GAME TRAINING:

We will now look at the second and third session components (POSITIONING GAMES and GAME TRAINING) together, as they share the same ideal behaviours for the players and the coach:

Main behaviour in Positioning Games and Game Training:

PLAYERS: learning COACH: teaching 2. POSITIONING GAMES

The theme is developed by the introduction of limited opposition, providing opportunities for appropriate Perception and Decision-making in a realistic setting 3. GAME TRAINING:

The main part of the session, where optimum learning and teaching take place You have created a learning environment by designing an appropriate Positioning Game and Game Training exercise, derived from the Match situation.

If the players are learning then, by definition, THE COACH SHOULD BE TEACHING How does the coach TEACH the players?

(Note: the following guidelines and suggested three steps apply to both Positioning Games and Game Training. Obviously, because of their differing nature, they are applied slightly differently in each component)

Key points from FFA’s Vision on Coaching:

- Holistic (reflected in the design of session components) - must affect the player’s PERCEPTION-DECISION-EXECUTION - aim to develop improved subconscious behavior

- task-based rather than prescriptive - challenging

- coach the whole team, focusing on certain players (rather than ‘coach a few players, forget the rest of the team’)

- training should focus on CONSISTENTLY DEVELOPING THE PLAYING STYLE Helping players PERCEIVE

- Which Main Moment? - Which Key Principle? - Which Team Task?

102 These all emanate from your definition of the football problem, using the 5Ws. You observed that something was wrong with the execution of the playing style, based on the Team Model. So, from our definition, something is going wrong with the players’ PERCEPTION, DECISION and EXECUTION. Therefore, the coach must guide the players by means of a training session to improve their PERCEPTION and DECISION so that they EXECUTE correctly.

To help players perceive, there needs to be a game situation for them to interpret. To achieve a specific session objective, therefore, there needs to be SPECIFIC GAME SITUATIONS FOR THEM TO INTERPRET. We have provided this by carefully designing our Positioning Game and Game Training exercise.

PERCEPTION is the processing of visual and aural stimuli: the player sees and hears things in the game, then analyses and interprets them very quickly. Then there is a DECISION to do something.

The coach tries to simplify the process for the players by clarifying what the team is trying to achieve. This gives a context for perception and decision, and gives a clear focus to the activity. The coach makes this happen by establishing a clear, pre- determined ‘Team Task’.