Communicating On The Soccer Pitch
The Importance Of Communication In Soccer
Recently, I saw a youth coach set up a 4v4 game with some under 6’s. Some of these kids were totally new to the game,
others had some experience.
Now, you know as well as I do that at this age it’s all about enjoying having a kick about. Nothing too serious or heavy
because that last thing we want to do is put of little ones by being too aggressive.
The coach, in all his wisdom, presumed that the kids understood football commands like ‘throw in’ and ‘free kick’.
Of course when the ball went out of play the kids all followed the ball as if nothing had happened and carried on whilst the
coach chased behind screaming ’stop!’ ’stop!’ ‘throw in!’ ‘throw in!’
Very amusing for the parents but you could see the coach was getting a bit aggravated.
It’s an easy mistake. We’re surrounded by that much football, it’s easy to assume that everyone knows all the jargon.
Obviously, we must never presume what our player knows or doesn’t know and it’s a very worthwhile exercise finding out
what they do know, because that will give a great basis to define specific programmes for specific players.
This will help boost their confidence and trust in their own ability and your confidence and trust in your team, knowing that
they are better prepared.
The importance of communication is a no brainer in soccer. We must be communicating at all levels to have an effective
team of players that not only know what their roles are but also how to go about performing those roles in the most
effective manner they can.
That is performance.
Also those players must know how to communicate between themselves so they can help each other play to their peaks. Our players are the eyes and ears of each other on that pitch. So if we can help them understand that, maybe they’ll startlooking out for each other instead of criticising one another.Maybe they’ll accept their mistakes and get back to concentrating on their job because one of their team mates ‘allowed’them to move on by simply saying, ‘come on, head up, let’s go again’. I don’t know. Maybe it’s something you could try this week in training? Give it a go, let me know how you get on.
If you’re already doing this, let me know how it works for you on match day.This is the kind of information we all need to help each other don’t we?
What do you think?
By the way. The coach with the 6 year olds - remember him?
He redeemed himself with great aplomb. He gathered the kids in a huddle and explained to them what the ball crossing the line meant and what he meant by’throw in’. The next time he shouted for a throw in, they stopped, fought over who was going to take the throw in, and carried on!
Brilliant!
PS: My E-Book ‘Discover The Secrets To Soccer Success’ has a whole chapter dedicated to good communication skills
for both coaches and players. There’s a simple system called TOC -Total Open Communication - that can help uncover
performance issues, player problems and issues before they affect your whole team.
Take a look here. You can also get a FREE Sample Chapter too - try before you buy!
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