What would you do in this situation?

Hi Everyone, not sure if you noticed, hopefully, you did, but there wasn’t a post last week as I was a little under the weather, nothing Covid related thankfully.

A couple of weeks back I was at a U12 game that I had been asked to watch. It was horrible, not from the perspective of the game itself, that was great, the home team went 3-0 up within 16 minutes only for the game to finish 3-3 with virtually the last kick of the game (not it wasn’t Spurs vs West Ham!). What was horrible were the parents! Three of the parents were berating their sons. Wake up! why did you do that! you’re being too lazy! Were some of the shouts. One of the boys actually told his dad to shut up. I understand people are passionate, especially when it comes to their own children but this was overstepping the mark. Their children couldn’t concentrate on the game because of the constant shouting of instructions from the parents. It was visibly affecting their performance and how the parents couldn’t see that I don’t know. How do you deal with parents like that? I always feel guilty having to talk to the coaches when this happens but it’s for their team and the player’s own good. Hopefully, he’ll speak to them and they’ll let their son just play. Right enough of me and on to the top ten.

Top Ten of the week

1. Quiz from Brett Bartholomew for a bit of self-reflection. Do you know what makes you tick?

   Brett Bartholomew @Coach_BrettB

   Leading well requires knowing what makes others tick. Start with yourself and take the quiz below. 👇🏻 artofcoaching.com/whatdrivesyou

   

   artofcoaching.comLeaders are lifelong learners- take this quiz now to learn more about what drives you.Through this enhanced understanding, we become more effective as communicators, and ultimately as leaders.

2. A really good interview with Arsene Wenger on his coaching career, the ups and downs of his "unbudging convictions on how football should be played"

   Gary Curneen @GaryCurneen

   “I would say that the hate of defeat is dominant. That creates big scars in your heart. One day, if somebody opens my heart, I think every defeat is in there” Great interview with Arsene Wenger. Always sees the big picture.

   

   theguardian.comArsène Wenger: ‘I try to read everything that helps me understand human beings’The erudite Frenchman who transformed English football takes questions from politicians, artists, readers – and José Mourinho

3. Dan Abrahams with some tools to use on your players to help them mentally

   Daniel Abrahams @DanAbrahams77

   Coaches - you have three tools in your toolbox to be a better coach of player psychology

   

4. Want to know more about transition in the foundation phase, well Pete Sturgess has an article explaining just that!

   Carl Wild @CarlWild75

   This article by ⁦@sturge_p⁩ is a great read around transition in the Foundation Phase. The best message within it is to remember the game for players at this age is completely different to the 11 a-side game & we should not be trying to mirror it.

   

   thefa.comWhat does transition look like for young players?A coach smiles and listens to one of his players, during a break in training, as they sit round in a circle on the pitch.

5. I've featured the Training Ground Guru lots of times in my top 10. Here's a thread on their best articles of the year so far.

   Training Ground Guru @ground_guru

   #TheFutureGame (thread) #1 @DaveSlem - Key roles for high performing teams

   

   trainingground.guruTraining Ground Guru | David Slemen: Five key roles for high-performing teamsFIVE key roles are are having a transformational effect on high-performance teams.

6. This blog post from Pav Fun ball academy looks at the steps they believe help with coaching better decision making for youth players

   Pav FunBall Academy @Pavfunball

   Youth ⚽️BLOG: Steps to coaching decision making effectively! Andres Iniesta once said, “Speed of thought and speed of the decision making separates the best players in the world from the rest.” Why players made correct or wrong decisions? 👇 bit.ly/3iPhueN

   

   bit.lySteps to coaching decision making effectively! - Football Coaching Norfolk - Sports Academy NorwichCoaching decision making is a huge challenge. Speaking from experience, I think is difficult to do that without understanding learning process in first place. Without knowing how players learn is almost impossible.

7. Watch this video from AZ Alkmaar. Whilst many of us don't have the resources of professional clubs, that doesn't mean we can't also follow the same principles of educations around mastery, physical health, and game-specific situations.

   Kevin Nicholson @kevnicholson1

   AZ help each young player make the most of their talent. They educate them: 1) To take care of themselves physically. 2) To master the technical skills. 3) To think strategically during game situations. Plus they develop the person as well as the player.

   

8. Thought-provoking article and thread from Mandavia. Can we come up with new and innovative sessions? Should you be using coaching books, session plans from other coaches? What's your way of creating drills?

   Meet Mandavia @MandaviaMeet

   This one is for all the coaches out there. The piece is about combining analysis and coaching to formulate drills. The purpose is to not just share my ideas but to provoke a conversation with you'll about your methods and philosophy around coaching.

   

   totalfootballanalysis.comCoaching: Recognising match events to create coaching drillsA football drill is a rendered design of a coach’s interpretation of the game. It is exercised to perfect the …

9. Quite a heavy read as it's an academic paper. Why can't they make them in more digestible language so more coaches can get the information they need. This one looks at where elite players fixate their eyes during match play.

   Karl Marius Aksum @aksumfootball

   Last week the 2nd article from my PhD work was published. The first ever study to examine where elite football players fixate their eyes in an actual match play environment (free download): frontiersin.org/articles/10.33… #fixations #football #exploratory #perception

   

10. The was a really interesting discussion from the wonderful archives of the FA learning YouTube page. Practice design within both boxes. some great questions for you to think about when designing your sessions

    FA Learning @FALearning

    𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙗𝙤𝙭𝙚𝙨: 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 ⚽ Missed last night’s webinar building up to the @VitalityWFACup between @EvertonWomen and @ManCityWomen? 🏆 Fear not! It’s now available to watch on our YouTube channel 📺👇

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