20 years ago..

 

It’s 1996 and Arsenal FC come in to my primary school to deliver a session that will change the rest of my life.

Hockey. Who would have thought? In the middle of Concrete Jungle, Islington, a football club are coming in to teach some state school kids how to play hockey..

I fell in love with the game because of the skill, the speed, the intricacy (and of course the link with Arsenal), and later that year I had another couple of “1sts”: My first experience of a London Youth Games, and my first time watching an Olympic Games.

These first few months of exposure to hockey were enough to instil an aspiration inside of me that continued for a long, long time. I wanted to be at an Olympic Games, and I’m still doing everything I can to make it happen.

20 years on, I’m back in Islington schools trying to deliver hockey sessions and share my story with the students. There is a London Youth Games this year, and the Olympics will be on the TV for them to watch, just as I did.

They may not be guaranteed the same story I had, but this could be the start of their own story.

When Plan A doesn’t bring goals..

Picture this: Having set out the game plan for my 1st XI girls at school, they start the game exactly as we hoped for. They pressed as we asked, they countered as we asked for, they were focussed like we asked for.. there is one problem though: the ball won’t go over the line.

This has happened a couple of times this year with my 1st XI girls. One time we found ourselves going in to half time at 0-0 having had at least 10 clear cut chances, and the other game was a game in which we had 6 clear chances and a few corners with no success compared to our opposition’s 1 circle entry, 1 shot on goal, 1 goal success rate.

Here’s where I have a battle with myself.

We clearly have some work to do in training when it comes to taking our early chances so we don’t pile pressure on ourselves. However, in game, as it unfolds in front of me, I contemplate my options as we head in for half time:

1. Stay positive. We are doing the right things to create the chances. Keep doing the same and eventually the goals will come.
2. Reprimand. Let the girls know that my plan is obviously right as we are creating chances, but if they don’t buck up their ideas and focus on putting the ball in the back of the net, we won’t get the result we want.
3. Change the plan to something else as, even though chances are being created, it’s not resulting in goals.

Both times, with the girls feeling the anxiety, friction amongst them, some tears etc, I’ve come in at half time sat my girls down and bounced up and down in excitement to show them how happy I was with how they were playing. Both times I’ve told them that they are 1mm away from having all the rewards they deserve and it will come if they stick to everything they’ve done so far. Both times, I’ve spoken about staying calm in front of goal, and both times, we’ve come out on top.

In the first game we were 0-0 at half time and won 6-0, and in the other game we were 1-0 down at half time and won 2-1.

I’m glad it’s worked both times, but as a relatively young and inexperienced coach, I don’t know if the solution is something to keep replicating or whether there are other strategies that are more effective.

Will I be falling into the Arsene Wenger trap of previous years where he only had a Plan A. Without a Plan B, am I missing a trick and will I be caught out?

So, my plea to all coaches out there.. What are your experiences? How do you cope with these situations? Do you go to a Plan B when it’s going well but the ball just won’t cross the line? How many plans do you have? How different are they to your Plan A?

Making training mean something..

Its a cold winter’s night and I’m a player for a premier league team. I turn up for training and go through the motions. I love training, always have, but tonight just didn’t do it for me and I can’t honestly think of a single thing I learned, nor did I take myself out of my comfort zone once. 

This happened too often, and it happens way too often with sessions I see at all different levels. 

In a bid to make sure this happens as little as possible in my coaching sessions, I’ve tried to centre my philosophy around the concept of creating competition. 

Why?

If there is something to win, the players tend to focus more on how to win and therefore solve the problems the session is asking. 

How does it work?

Before deciding on whether to award points or not, I first need to figure out whether I want the session to be around technical shaping, increasing the pressure on the skill execution, or preparing for a match. 

Technical shaping: If I award points during a technical shaping section of training, the players will be conscientious about failing and therefore missing out on points. They will also feel a little hard done by if it takes them a little longer than others to get to grips with the concept or principle. Within technical shaping, I reinforce the effort (not the success) of the individual / unit in trying to execute, and probe about how they can improve. 

Increasing pressure: Once the players have a good understanding of the skill, principle, or concept, I award a points system that will reward players able to deliver under pressure. The competition means the opposing team are likely to be doing everything possible to stop you from gaining points and therefore you have to solve real problems in the quest to win the game. 

Preparing for a match: Skill acquisition and principle clarity sessions are about developing the player’s ability. It is about giving them the space to express themselves while developing concepts. There are times though when we are preparing for a match with specific roles and responsibilities in order to gain an advantage over our opposition. In these situations, points are rewarded to the players / units / team who can deliver those roles and responsibilities best. 

This essentially means that there are parts of each session that are not for points. Players are told to make mistakes and express themselves. They are encouraged to do what they can to push themselves outside their comfort zones in order to truly master the skill, principle or concept. Then, there are other parts of the session where points are on offer and it’s time for them to focus on the execution of that development. 

It’s noted down at the end of each session who has gained points and these are accumulated until the end of a given period. At school that period is end of a half term, with Futures Cup squad it was at the end of our 5 session training block, with other teams that period will be different. 

The winner is then presented their prize and it’s a chance for them to be recognised as someone who focussed and works hard in training, something often overlooked. 

One of the big things I learned from my time playing for Oranje Zwart in Hoofdklasse; Dutch Premier League, was that training was made so hard and competitive that matches felt easy.  

 

Have you tried anything similar? Do you do something completely different? I’d love to know what others are doing to help make their sessions engaging and learning rich.