By Marc Sophoulis
‘Skill Based Training’ together with ‘Game Based Training’
As a coach, I constantly hear the same words from many players at tournaments. “Why do I play so well in practice but I struggle to perform well in matches?”
This statement is such a common situation, which I am sure we as coaches face from our players on a daily basis. Since coaching itself is such a complex and dynamic process in which everything is interlinked, it is often very hard to identify an isolated deficiency which we can then begin to develop. Does the issue stem from the players inability to play? Is it additional pressure from external sources? Or, can the problem be traced back to your coaching style and methods of practice?
So many factors influence how a player performs. So how can we help our athletes perform on the big stage, when the pressure is on, and they are competing at the highest level of stress and anxiety?
Can they handle their thoughts under the heat of the moment? Have we as their coach, prepared and given them the required processes to handle challenging situations? Can we equip them with the tools to overcome poor performances under pressure?
One way to accelerate a player’s ability to achieve this, is to try and simulate the game as much as possible during training, by placing them under different game scenarios with varying pressure levels. We need to allow our athletes to make decisions and make wrong ones at that. It is then important to coach them through the challenges that present themselves in training and in the heat of competition.
Of course we need to break down the skills required to execute on game day and yes, we need to give repetition for technical changes, movement patterns or tactical choices. But if we can put our players into real life game scenarios more often, where they are required to take more responsibility of their tactical decisions, emotional control, routines and execution of skills under pressure, then we are going to have more complete athletes in our sport.
Think about the common terminology in sport? The common match scenarios? Defence, neutral, offense and transition. These terms are common within most sports, but are we training these common scenarios or are we only coaching the skill to execute them?
The skill is a vital component of any sport, but the ability to apply the sequence of actions that lead to the execution of the tactical skill is essential. Training the Hard Skills of your sport including core fundamental technique is essential in skill acquisition development, but ensuring to balance that with the Soft Skills of the game including anticipation skills, movement patterns, decision making and thought processes, are essential to developing an athlete who can ‘play the game’ and not just look great for a magazine shoot of sequential technical photos.
No matter what level of the game you are coaching, you are in control of the training structure as the coach. Your planning of a session is essential in a successful training run which is critical to quality performance levels on game day. Does your session include:
A Clear Goal for the Session – What is the end goal of the session, then ‘draw back’ from the end point when designing your lesson plan.
Progressions and Possible Regressions of Activities – Always understand that your session may progress faster than expected or could in turn not go to plan. Therefore, having back up options in necessary to ensure a smooth session.
A Suitable Warm Up – Which gradually builds up in intensity, is sport specific and is engaging and fun.
Fundamental Motor Skill Development – Developing an athlete’s ability to perform game reading, body balance and movement patterns from all sorts of varying activities allows them to play their sport at more adaptive levels.
Skill Acquisition – Breaking down specifics in terms of your sport specific skills.
Match Simulation – Competitive, Engaging & Challenging
Teaching Time – Ensure learning is taking place and messages comprehended. There is a fine balance between teaching too much or too little. Intervene at Coachable moments and not during the flow of activities.
Video Analysis – Cater for all learning types, use video or visual stimuli to consolidate your message.
Decision Making Activities – Every thought creates a corresponding action. So ensure your players are constantly being challenged to make decisions.
Psychological Training – Teaching the art of thinking is critical to performance.
Cool Down and Recovery – Sessions should always finish with a cool down and ensure your athletes understand that the way the warm up and cool down is part of all sessions and not an ‘extra’. Recovery should always be sport specific.
When planning out your sessions ensure you are able to cover off majority of the list above to enable a holistic coaching approach to performance. Ensure you evaluate your theories and processes and also ensure you ask yourself the following questions about your sessions. Do I, as the leader/coach:
– Allow the athlete/s ownership in the session?
– Allow athletes to drive components of the session?
– Communicate in a way that the athletes understand?
– Use walk throughs of tactical scenarios?
– Teach as well as coach?
– Use open questioning and a variety of communication methods?
– Allow for the differing personality traits and learning styles of the athletes?
Overall, questioning and evaluating your coaching daily is essential in assisting your athletes to achieve success and therefore, ensuring their sport becomes more enjoyable. Although, it is common for coaches to place the blame on the athlete for their inability to perform what they have been asked, so it is also important to remember that coaches and athletes are a team and should share success and take responsibility together for losses. This is the reason why you should continually evaluate ‘how your coaching is being perceived and executed’. There is no blueprint for being the perfect coach and running the perfect session, so ensure you’re continually making adjustments and seeking feedback from others to ensure you’re getting closer to your coaching goals . Remember, it’s all about Balance.