Coach UK GU15 program pointers
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The document outlines a comprehensive program for player development during the 2015/16 season, focusing on creating an enjoyable and challenging environment through player ownership of rules, goal setting, and technical skill repetition. It encourages positional diversification, adherence to game-like training conditions, the use of music for motivation, and mindful approaches to performance under pressure. Additional components include monitoring performance through analysis, completing weekly homework, and electing team leaders to foster accountability and leadership skills among players.
Coach UK GU15 program pointers
- 1. GPS-NY GU15 KNIGHTS 2015/16 PROGRAM POINTERS
- 2. 1 – ENVIRONMENT SETTING As players it will be up to you to decide what conditions you want to abide to and the punishments if any, for breaking these. It is important that you feel a degree of ownership and responsibility for your development and as such this will require being involved in the creation of your own environment conditions. All players will be asked to contribute suggestions that they wish to see implemented to create an enjoyable, inclusive and fun environment but one that will also be challenging, learning and encourages all the players to push themselves. The rules will be agreed upon in one of the first sessions of the season and will be voted in by the players who will then be responsible for upholding and maintaining their chosen environmental settings.
- 3. 2 – GOAL SETTING Basic goal setting is a powerful tool that can provide great structure and clarity in our performances and our habits on and off the pitch (Leith, 2003). Players will be given an opportunity to create their own goals based around the 4 corner model and around the ‘process‘ more than the outcome, in the opening few sessions of the season. Over the season, players will work with the coach to monitor their progression and evaluate the stature of the goals. Any required adjusted action will then be drawn up into an action plan for the player to carry out. Goal setting will be done both individually and as a collective. By being objective and stating our intentions from the beginning we will be able to walk a clear path and be able to clearly see which areas of our game need more attention.
- 4. 3 – TECHNICAL REPETITION No matter what age and stage a player is at with their development the need to repeat the technical fundamentals is imperative as this builds crucial myelin that allows actions to be taken effortlessly (Coyle, 2010). Technical fundamentals can be broken into ball mastery, passing and receiving, 1v1 attack and defence, speed with the ball and finishing. These areas can be developed at will with little equipment or space required. More often than not just a ball will suffice! Guidance for devising a technical home program can be provided where needed. All players will be encouraged to own a size 1 soccer ball and increase the amount of touches that they have over the course of a week. Training sessions and matches will be a crucial component of your development but the number of touches that can be gained away from these hours is not to be underestimated.
- 5. 4 – POSITIONAL DIVERSIFICATION It is important to understand that in the modern game, the dynamic nature and increasing demand for attacking output from all areas of the pitch requires that all players are comfortable across the pitch at all times before attempting to specialize in a specific role (Memmert, Baker, & Bertsch, 2010). To be a complete player the ability to perform with maximum effort in multiple positions will provide not only a great learning experience but a great asset for the team. Doing so also increases game understanding and provides the player with different ‘pictures’ that they may not have seen before in new areas of the pitch. Over the course of the season, players will be moved on a fortnightly block basis to get a sense of what is required in different roles and to ultimately make them a more versatile and durable player. Guidance and goal setting will be carefully used to help players adapt and adjust.
- 6. 5 – TRAIN HOW WE PLAY The privilege to train and to play should be treated with the same respect if we are to have the performances and results that we desire. Doing so will allow us to develop our cognitive, physical, and skill levels (Broad, Elizabeth M., et al. 1996). That is why it is important that we as players are giving maximum effort and competing in our training sessions as we would do on game day within game like conditions. Conditions to replicate our game day will be discussed by the players and incorporated into training sessions within the first few sessions to give players a sense of being in an environment that feels like it is significant yet conducive to learning and development.
- 7. 6 – USE OF MUSIC The power of music both pre play and within play can play a significant role in relaxing, motivating and controlling emotions as players for their performance (Eliakim et al., 2007; Yamamoto et al., 2003). By using music carefully we are able to build the habit of mentally preparing ourselves for our performances and getting into a ‘flow state’ in which (Laukka, 2013). The players will therefore be given the opportunity to create a team playlist. This will be made up of the players’ favourite songs (clean please!) that they turn to in order to feel either relaxed, motivated or stimulated in preparation for their performance. This is something that was successfully used by the USNWT no less! This playlist will be used whilst the players’ take part in their warm up exercises in both training and game days and will be led by the player who’s song is playing at the time of shuffle!
- 8. 7 – MIND-SET MONITORING As we approach the midpoint of our teenage years a lot of external factors can end up having a greater impact on us than we would like. Pressure can build up easily and our enjoyment and focus can easily be lost when playing. However we do not perhaps realize the amount of power that we actually yield. No matter what the external circumstance is we will always have the choice of what we choose to think, and therefore choose to feel. This then controls our actions allowing us to have our desired strong performances (Johnson, et al. 2004). That is why we will be taking a proactive approach in trying to address how we can control what we think about negative, inconvenient events and try to harness our powers towards good. Players will work with the coach to monitor their thoughts around training and games and to create positive mantras that they can turn to and stay mindful of when things could perceived to be better!
- 9. 8 – RISK REWARD SYSTEM Even though we are moving towards being more focussed on our performances we will still very much encourage players to play out of their comfort zone and take risks across the pitch no matter what their position and what the game state. To continue our development we need to make sure that we are dealing with the pressure of the XI a side game and its conditions in a positive and proactive manner that will help us become stronger. Over the course of the season, any players’ attempts at executing moves, making penetrative runs and attempting to be brave on the ball will be rewarded with points. These points will be collated and the player with the most points will win a prize at the end of the season.
- 10. 9 – USE OF PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS Now we are in the developmental phase of our soccer careers, we begin to build on those fundamental phase years and fine tune our game. As a result we will need to begin to attempt to be more aware of our performances. Using video and data we can do this in an constructive way (Carling, Williams, Reilly, 2005). The use of video for both training and matches in combination with some basic notational analysis will be introduced. This will allow us to be objective throughout the season and measure our progression as we attempt to meet our individual and collective goals. Videos will be uploaded into a dropbox folder for our reference over the season. These will contain clips from both training (discussions and practices) as well as matches (individual and collective).
- 11. 10 – HOMEWORK Weekly homework tasks will be assigned for you to complete based around the 4 corner objectives that we have worked on in sessions. Tasks will vary from individual to collective over the season. Our dropbox folder will contain details of the homework tasks required for completion. Deadlines will vary dependent on the size and nature of the tasks. Homework tasks are designed to reinforce your learning, create deeper connections with your teammates, and for you to see real life examples of what we have been working on in training from the real world.
- 12. 11 – TEAM ELECTED CAPTAIN Players will be given the chance to elect the team’s captain for the season within the first few sessions. Every player will be required to give their vote for one of the players. Players cannot vote for themselves! Reasons why will be shared by all and the votes will be counted. Our captain will then be handed the arm band. The captain’s role will be to lead by example on and off the field and be a model player to represent both the team and the club. The captain will work closely with the coach to work on their leadership qualities over the season. A vice captain will also be elected with the person who came second taking up the role. This player will fill in as captain when our first choice captain will not be available to play.