CORRECTING MISTAKES

 

These notes come from Soccer coach Bernat Mosquera who has some great threads on his Twitter page and is definitely worth a follow.

Giving feedback/correcting mistakes also act as major constraints for player performance because what a coach says to a player will then also dictate where they look, what they look for and that informs their proceeding actions, so coaches need to know exactly how and when to do so.

The points below will help you understand why mistakes happen in the first place and then once you know the why, then you go ahead and tackle the how to correct them.

• Often coaches critique player technical actions without considering the game cycle/context
• What a player does before receiving the ball greatly impacts their actions
• Focus should be on where to move/how to receive v how to execute the technical action where it usually is like when we train a corridor kick but the player is already standing there on a cone that tells them to stand there but in games they are still lost in regards to how to create and the timing to utilise that space in a game without being detected by the opposition
• The receiver needs to find a space then use the correct timing  time to move into it
• The ball carrier needs to identify advantages and then exploit them.
• It’s crucial to understand that a player’s perception of space/time is the key to improving their decision making but are we helping them create/manage space/time better? Not with cones we're not
• Perception enables players to uncover various game options based on a situation but perception goals vary with each scenario
• Perception is also the key when receiving the ball, especially while the ball travels to us and during possession
• When receiving, if you can perceive spaces and understand their advantages, they can make better decisions about where/how to move while creating more space for a successful ball reception by optimising their timing/direction/place
• When the ball is travelling to the player they must assess the immediate space around them to adjust their reception which leads to more options, granting them more space/time
• When in possession, perception should focus on identifying/exploiting advantages and only after this analysis should the player execute the action.
• Execution is the final step, not the 1^st step
• Coach correction/feedback should also guide players in recognising key game references
• Helping players understand how the ball, teammates and the opposition interact/influence space/time, can help them discover new opportunities to exploit
• Technical execution is often a consequence of good perception/decision making