Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Where should you stand at training?


David Clarke of Better Soccer Coaching had a great post about the positioning of a coach during a training session that I really liked. It is amazing how frequently I watch a youth team train and the coach is disconnected to his players because he/she aren't positioned properly when talking to an individual, small group or their team.

Being able to see everyone and everything that is going on means a coach can feedback more effectively, correcting errors or encouraging good work.

Here is a quick guide to better positioning in training.

1. Position yourself far enough back to be able to see all the players working.
2. Try to keep to the outer perimeter of practice areas so there are no players behind you at any time.
3. Make sure you move to various positions around the practice area to give yourself different perspectives of the action.
4. If you need to deliver one-to-one coaching bring the player to you, so you can help them while keeping an eye on the rest of the players.
5. When demonstrating or talking to the players, create a half circle so they can all see.
6. Always demonstrate with the weather (sun or rain) in your face rather than the faces of the players.
7. Ensure there is nothing interesting happening behind you when talking or demonstrating to the players.

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