Firstly, thanks to Michael @thecoachesbench for giving us all the opportunity to listen to Matthew Syed in person whilst attending the Newcastle United Academy. The link to the presentation is here. http://bit.ly/mpsJA6
I found it to be a fascinating listen and it was good to hear his book 'brought to life' as he described his views regarding learning in general, across other sports and in football.
The main point I would take from this for coaching would be around the Stanford University research that sampled two groups of students and the praising of one group for effort against the other group for 'talent'. After going through three rounds of testing (the second of which was offered as an easy/hard option choice to the two groups) there was a 40% increase in the attainment of the group that had been praised for effort.
I thought this was great information to provide to players and parents and the damage that the 'your talented' label can give to players versus the extreme improvements in achievement that can be attained through praise for effort. Not only this, but the motivation of the player goes up with the praise also.
There was also what I thought was a fantastic question from the audience about how an autistic savant (think Dustin Hoffman in Rain-man) can appear to have an innate talent for recall without practice (ie a counter argument to Matthew Syed's assumption that it takes years of quality specific practice). Matthew explained that an autistic savant uses the same part of the brain (although 'damaged' part) that a non autistic person needs to develop through practice to have the same level of memory recall.
Also, a young lad in the audience asked a great question along the lines of 'Has anyone who HAS put in the quality practice hours' not made it!
An Alternative View
Now this is strictly my own view. What I was not quite so sure about is the connection Matthew is trying to make with regards to the level and type of practice for football.
The examples he gave in the audio were quite enlightening:
Table Tennis which is his own sport where he had access to a fantastic coach and a 24/7 table tennis club. Golf - Tiger Woods and the fact that he had started at 2 years of age and put in years of practice. Tennis - the Williams sisters. Many tennis players in particular are well documented for starting early and having the 'pushy parent'. Chess, where years of practising strategy mean a grand master can recall many scenarios. Also I believe he mentioned how Mozart became a brilliant pianist and Picasso the painter. All of these people used the slow engraining of technical skill over a long time with the will and passion to continue to keep training.
Football, unlike any of the sports shown above and certainly unlike the non-sports mentioned above is not an unopposed technical process. It is actively competitive with constant pressure from opponents for time, space and possession of the ball. Even in an opposed sport such as table tennis or tennis you don't have somebody who is trying to take the ball from you or knock the racket/bat out of your hand whilst performing a shot. You certainly wouldn't have seen Mozart pushed off his piano when trying to play or Garry Kasparov grabbed around the torso whilst moving his knight to C6! Football, along with other 'invasion games' is uniquely different in terms of gaining that technical skill. Those that have read my blog before will know that I don't think this technical skill can be obtained in isolation from how the game is actually played.
Although some skills based coaching methods have 1v1, 2v2 and SSG's a large part of the work is still unopposed, repetitive technical skill based practice. It is believed that this repetition will over a period of time engrain the technical skill as described in Matthew's presentation. For me, football is more about learning the skill whilst opposed, with interference from other players. From the start to the end of a session there should be a theme that has various degrees of interference and opposition until the learning is progressed into the full game. One simple example I can think of is why encourage a defender to pass to an attacker before going into a 1v1 or 2v2? Would you want your defender to do this in a game? Is it realistic? Why not just start with the ball with the attacker(s)? Also when learning something like a turn, I believe this should be done under pressure and moving in a logical direction. Why have a drill that performs a 'zidane' turn only for the player to be moving back towards their own goal and without anyone in the way or trying to win the ball!
Skills based coaching 'methods' can offer benefits to footballers, particularly in the form of 'homework' or extra training for players but for me should be integrated with and not form the sole basis for learning. Coaches who are new to football can sometimes get caught up with new ideas or effective marketing by coaching companies. I personally think that as many options as possible should be considered and coaches should take the bits that work, those that they and more importantly the players enjoy and adapt these to form sessions that are 'game realistic' through ALL of the session.
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Football for the Brave
Having listened to Talk Sport on 13/6/11 regarding coaching in England and the UK I thought I would produce a blog about John Cartwright. For those who don't know John, amongst other things he was Arsenal first team coach, England Youth Coach and technical director of the FA's school of excellence at Lilleshall (the predecessor to academies & centres of excellence).
I have met many coaches, young and old, male and female, professional and grassroots. In my time in coaching I don't think I have read or heard a more convincing analysis of football and coaching in this country than his. I had the pleasure of meeting him on a Premier Skills coaching course recently. John has not retired from the game and still actively coaches the coaches through Premier Skills courses. As far as I know he is no longer involved in the professional game. I believe this is probably through exasperation as I have recently discovered his critical appraisal of coaching has been consistent over many more years than I realised, probably going back to the 1980's if not earlier.
To give people a flavour of what his views are on the game and how it is coached I have picked out a few extracts (with the appropriate chapter headings) from his book "Football for the Brave" and hope people on twitter see some similarities in his views compared with those often advocated online.
Introduction
It is my belief that individual skill is the core of good football performance. From the very start of my involvement with coaching I was determined to champion the skillful player.
Hope or Despair
A 'winning at all costs' attitude infects all levels of the game. 'Winning Methods', lacking skillful performance can be seen in junior games through to international football at senior level.
A pre-occupation with 'tidy practice' and over organisation has strangled realism, spontaneity and individualism amongst our coaches and players. The importance of decision-making on time and space in both practising and playing has been largely ignored by the coaching fraternity. Too much emphasis has been given to 'choreographed' and 'regimented' practice to produce technical ability. We have not understood that football is not played with technique but with skill. Our coaching methods have not produced ideas or methods for practices in which kids can develop skills realistically for easy transfer into competitive match-play.
Skill-The Game's Important Core
Skill is pressurised technique. If it is skill the competitive game examines, surely, players should develop skills in pressurised practices suitably arranged for ages and levels of work. I find it hard to understand how 'drill routines' supposed to improve skill quality can be used so much when they offer no considerations or decisions on time and space to players.
..Little confidence is shown for players who have skill but lack a physical presence; too often the 'athletic bruiser' is preferred even at the junior levels of our game.
Football is a sideways game
Football in particular is a game that should be played on the half turn (shoulders diagonally set across the field - not straight across it!)
..Playing 'blind' (poor body positioning) hinders performance to the extent that luck not judgement affects the result. Great players are 'tuned-in' all the time in both attacking and defending situations. Gaining an advantage over them is difficult. Their body positioning eliminates surprises and provides them with distinct advantages. There is no gambling on their part and decisions are made on visual evidence not blind hope.
Be Confident Playing in Tight Areas
The game of football involves players moving the ball and themselves around the field of play; a player or players in one area of the field interlinking with a player or players in another part of the field. It follows that players should practice what the game demands of them - become confident and skillful playing in small areas and able to link effectively from area to area.
..There has been a significant over-use of unopposed 'drill' practices combined with an explosion in the use of 11v11 match play at too early an age. This is not the way to produce individualism and high quality players.
Run with the ball in a Positive Manner at Every Opportunity
'Don't run with the ball! Pass it! Give it easy! Who do you think you are, Ronaldinho?'
How often have we heard these damning words or similar expletives screamed at young players? All too often, talent, in need of encouragement and guidance, receives abuse and ridicule.
Here, both young and even older players are dissuaded from running with the ball to add to the excitement the game offers. The 'picture' of the game here is only in black and white. The addition of 'colour' might lead to mistakes! Failure should always be a concern but not a restriction on the development of young players. Unfortunately, failure often represents a knock to someone's ego in the coaching fraternity, so simplicity is sought in preference to invention.
Have the Skills and Confidence to Dribble Past Opponents...
So often in the game today you see a player receive the ball to his feet with space around them. What does he do? He passes the ball to a colleague who is being marked. What does this player do? He passes the ball, and so it continues - pass, pass and pass. Like factory produced 'clones' - mediocrity prevails.
Where is the individual? Where is the player that can beat an opponent and, in a single instant of individual magic, destroy the best-laid plans and strategies of the most formidable of defences?
This is just a brief flavour of the book and there is a lot more detail about the players past and present who represent 'brave' footballers. Hope it has been interesting reading and I would recommend all coaches get a copy.
I have met many coaches, young and old, male and female, professional and grassroots. In my time in coaching I don't think I have read or heard a more convincing analysis of football and coaching in this country than his. I had the pleasure of meeting him on a Premier Skills coaching course recently. John has not retired from the game and still actively coaches the coaches through Premier Skills courses. As far as I know he is no longer involved in the professional game. I believe this is probably through exasperation as I have recently discovered his critical appraisal of coaching has been consistent over many more years than I realised, probably going back to the 1980's if not earlier.
To give people a flavour of what his views are on the game and how it is coached I have picked out a few extracts (with the appropriate chapter headings) from his book "Football for the Brave" and hope people on twitter see some similarities in his views compared with those often advocated online.
Introduction
It is my belief that individual skill is the core of good football performance. From the very start of my involvement with coaching I was determined to champion the skillful player.
Hope or Despair
A 'winning at all costs' attitude infects all levels of the game. 'Winning Methods', lacking skillful performance can be seen in junior games through to international football at senior level.
A pre-occupation with 'tidy practice' and over organisation has strangled realism, spontaneity and individualism amongst our coaches and players. The importance of decision-making on time and space in both practising and playing has been largely ignored by the coaching fraternity. Too much emphasis has been given to 'choreographed' and 'regimented' practice to produce technical ability. We have not understood that football is not played with technique but with skill. Our coaching methods have not produced ideas or methods for practices in which kids can develop skills realistically for easy transfer into competitive match-play.
Skill-The Game's Important Core
Skill is pressurised technique. If it is skill the competitive game examines, surely, players should develop skills in pressurised practices suitably arranged for ages and levels of work. I find it hard to understand how 'drill routines' supposed to improve skill quality can be used so much when they offer no considerations or decisions on time and space to players.
..Little confidence is shown for players who have skill but lack a physical presence; too often the 'athletic bruiser' is preferred even at the junior levels of our game.
Football is a sideways game
Football in particular is a game that should be played on the half turn (shoulders diagonally set across the field - not straight across it!)
..Playing 'blind' (poor body positioning) hinders performance to the extent that luck not judgement affects the result. Great players are 'tuned-in' all the time in both attacking and defending situations. Gaining an advantage over them is difficult. Their body positioning eliminates surprises and provides them with distinct advantages. There is no gambling on their part and decisions are made on visual evidence not blind hope.
Be Confident Playing in Tight Areas
The game of football involves players moving the ball and themselves around the field of play; a player or players in one area of the field interlinking with a player or players in another part of the field. It follows that players should practice what the game demands of them - become confident and skillful playing in small areas and able to link effectively from area to area.
..There has been a significant over-use of unopposed 'drill' practices combined with an explosion in the use of 11v11 match play at too early an age. This is not the way to produce individualism and high quality players.
Run with the ball in a Positive Manner at Every Opportunity
'Don't run with the ball! Pass it! Give it easy! Who do you think you are, Ronaldinho?'
How often have we heard these damning words or similar expletives screamed at young players? All too often, talent, in need of encouragement and guidance, receives abuse and ridicule.
Here, both young and even older players are dissuaded from running with the ball to add to the excitement the game offers. The 'picture' of the game here is only in black and white. The addition of 'colour' might lead to mistakes! Failure should always be a concern but not a restriction on the development of young players. Unfortunately, failure often represents a knock to someone's ego in the coaching fraternity, so simplicity is sought in preference to invention.
Have the Skills and Confidence to Dribble Past Opponents...
So often in the game today you see a player receive the ball to his feet with space around them. What does he do? He passes the ball to a colleague who is being marked. What does this player do? He passes the ball, and so it continues - pass, pass and pass. Like factory produced 'clones' - mediocrity prevails.
Where is the individual? Where is the player that can beat an opponent and, in a single instant of individual magic, destroy the best-laid plans and strategies of the most formidable of defences?
This is just a brief flavour of the book and there is a lot more detail about the players past and present who represent 'brave' footballers. Hope it has been interesting reading and I would recommend all coaches get a copy.
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