Science in Coaching

I stumbled across an argument on my Twitter timeline the other day with one side making statements about perceived problems in American soccer, and the other side asking for scientific evidence to back up these claims.

Scientific journal articles, or studies pulled from Pub Med seem to be appearing more frequently, about why this style of coaching is better, or that these types of drills are ineffective, etc. Someone who has articulated the role of science in coaching far more eloquently than I have is Charles Poliquin, an Olympic strength coach. I recommend these articles: 1, 2, and 3. Most of his main points apply to soccer as well.

For example, science is about controlling for all variables, and changing only one. Is that relevant to coaching in soccer? Will the conclusions drawn from the study transfer broadly? Of course not. A certain exercise performed with 8 year olds will not necessarily transfer to 14 year olds. Or from boys to girls. Or even between different groups of 8 year olds!

There is also the matter of language. Maybe the findings of one study conflict with another study in another language that you aren't even aware of. Or, perhaps the studies conflict on their findings precisely BECAUSE they are in another language, and cultural differences in the subjects had an impact. Kieran Smith believes that because of the way their respective teachers behave in classrooms, Spanish players are most responsive to and comfortable with a more direct, command-style of coaching than English players.

Then there are all of the topics that haven't been covered in scientific research...

While it's certainly a useful tool to be able to read and understand these studies, in my opinion, the best way to improve as a coach is to study and learn from the best coaches, not the best scientists.

Trying to Hack Parent Education

Parent education is something I've never really made an effort to do. Because I'm lazy, because I don't know that it would have any meaningful effect... and quite honestly, I don't even know where to start.

I'm going to try 2 things for my upcoming spring season.

  1. I'm putting together a slideshow presentation to present at a player and parent meeting. I'm trying to keep it bare bones, which is tough for me, because minimalism is not a strength of mine. I want to focus on 'evergreen' topics, so it will require only minimal maintenance from year to year, or even from team to team. It will touch on the style of play I want to implement, and outline the roles of the players and the parents
  2. I'm compiling some online resources to share with the parents following the presentation to, in effect, do the rest of the job for me. This allows me to do less of the work, let smarter people than myself explain some of the most complex topics, and like the slideshow, maintain broadly the same message over time, but with the flexibility to add and remove content.

For point 2, this is what my resources look like so far:

3four3 Blog Posts: covers a variety of themes and topics

http://blog.3four3.com/2010/01/20/fundamental-guide-to-soccer-iq/

http://blog.3four3.com/2011/05/31/the-importance-of-a-soccer-identity-barcelona-manchester-united/

http://blog.3four3.com/2011/05/15/2-fundamental-and-objective-metrics-to-judging-a-coachs-quality/

http://blog.3four3.com/2010/12/11/winning-vs-soccer-development-really-thats-the-problem/

http://blog.3four3.com/2013/02/07/pickup-soccer-versus-competitive-club-soccer/

http://blog.3four3.com/2010/07/29/developing-soccer-technique-the-best-tool/

3four3 Coaching Primer: introduction to the style of coaching I use

http://343coaching.com/powerful-coaching-primer/

Links to websites featuring replays of recent games

http://www.espn.com/watchespn/index#type/replay/sport/soccer-futbol/

http://www.fullmatchesandshows.com/

Tactics Column from the Guardian: decent analysis of English Premier League games

https://www.theguardian.com/football/football-tactics

Soccer fitness coach explains soccer-specific fitness

http://www.mockingbirdsoccer.net/News/TabId/387/ArtMID/1379/ArticleID/4092/Raymond-Verheijen-%E2%80%93-Dispelling-the-Myths-of-Soccer-Fitness.aspx

Anything you would omit or include in this list?

*If you aren't familiar with 3four3, click here to find out more

What the hell is 'technical ability'?

Technique. Technical ability. Proper technique. SUPER technical. These are all phrases I hear thrown around. In casual conversation, skills associated with 'technical players' are dribbling, first touch, and maaaaybe passing. A kid slaloming through cones super fast is a 'technical player', or the kid who can bring a ball down out of the air with the outside of their foot has 'great technique'.

“I don’t believe skill was or ever will be the result of coaches. It’s a result of a love affair between child and ball.”
— Roy Keane

The above quote is one I think of often in relation to developing the technical ability of my players. There's only so much I can do at training, and as a result, I have to pick my exercises and emphasis carefully. After hours and hours of rondos, my U10 and U11 boys teams can comfortably receive across their body most of the time. This is a learned technical skill.

1v1 dribbling? We've worked on some of the basics, and they are somewhat less competent, but certain players can beat their man in the right conditions.

Chesting the ball? Eh. The best players are mediocre at it.

Curving crosses around the first defender? No chance.

The longer I've been coaching, the quicker I can identify a player's technical deficiencies and strengths. One that's been made painfully obvious is that my player's lack the ability to clear the ball, to really launch it out of our penalty area and clear danger out. Partly this is because the way we train intrinsically strips them of chance to do this in training on a consistent basis.

This is where the art of coaching comes in. As it's becoming a problem, I could remedy it in 2 ways, as I see it.

  1. We could work on it in training more
  2. I could recruit players who already have this skill

The better you do with the 2nd point, player identification and recruiting, the less training time you need to dedicate to training specific technical skills.

That being said, even the pros continue to work on technique, such as this video of Marcelo Bielsa working on defensive headers with the Argentine national team. The difference between this type of work, and what most dub 'technical training' is that it is incisive. It is directly addressing a very specific moment in the game.

And the ability to identify and interpret what needs work is a key skill in coaching.