First Steps [Top tips for coaching 5-11yr olds]
FA Skills Coach, Adam Burrows, provides his top tips for creating engaging learning based coaching sessions for primary school aged children.
Organised chaos is ok Learning is messy and the more our sessions look like play the better. Play is often considered as a break from learning, but for children play is where serious learning takes place. This may involve experimenting with the practice spectrum and moving from focusing on one specific technique with little decision making (constant practice), to sessions that involve unpredictable moments and competing with opponents (variable and random practice). Remember there is no right answer, just try to use the right practice for the right players at the right time. Don’t always feel the need to intervene, just set-up a session that works on the desired outcome and be confident enough to let the players work it out for themselves and try to facilitate an environment within your session where you allow children to discover how to think instead of what to think.
What does ‘good’ look like? It is important to understand what success looks like for the children. For example, the coach’s idea of a good turn may be different to what it looks like to a child. A good turn to a child may be performing a drag-back turn, changing direction and accelerating away (technical and physical). Whereas the coach may define a good turn as understanding when and where to turn and being brave enough to try something new. Therefore by involving the children in the process, and allowing them to understand what is expected of them, they can become more involved in their learning and also start to recognise how they are doing and what they need to do in order to improve.
Linking to support learning Try to ensure there is a flow to the learning. There should be strong links between each aspect of the practice, allowing the players to be able to link key elements of the learning together. If information is randomly thrown at players it will result in confusion and limit their ability to interpret important parts of the session. Rather than trying to show the players all the ways to score a goal, try to adopt a more precise process. Use a logical order when delivering your coaching points to help the players understand what is required to achieve a certain outcome. ‘Can you make the pitch as big as possible (dispersal) - Try to find a position where you can see both goals (support) – try to be positive and take your first touch forward (penetration) – have a picture in your mind of the type of finish you want to use (creativity)’
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