PLAYER CENTRED COACHING. Cushion et al (2003) suggest the heart of coaching is the constructed connection between the coach and the athlete. Some players are easy for coaches to connect with, they might enjoy feedback or be the joker in the group. However young players are actually quite difficult to get to know properly, the player you see on the pitch might be very different to the personality at school, home or even in the changing room. A great way to make that first connection is to get to know them and if possible talk about something other than football. A few simple questions could include;
Do you have any brothers or sisters? How was school today? What’s your favourite thing to do in your spare time? Do you play any other sports? What’s your favourite…food/movie/holiday destination etc
This is something which is blindly obvious and has almost instant results. Players feel like you care about them not just how they play football. These conversations open lots of doors, create weekly conversations and even some great new nicknames! (Wright, 2016). Many elite level academy and youth coaches see their role as being more about forming people who will become successful footballers, rather than creating great athletes who will be able to perform tasks associated with achieving in football (Nesyi & Sulley, 2015). Coaching scholars have also acknowledged coaching as a pedagogical endeavour and the role of the coach to educate rather than simply train (Nelson et al, 2012). The art of coaching recognises the complexity of sport and the need for creativity. Ideally the process recognises people as imaginative, evolving, living organisms – not machines. Renshaw, Oldham, & Bawden (2012) have suggested that Game based Approach (GBA) can develop the three innate needs suggested in the self-determination theory- those of autonomy, competence and relatedness. Therefore, the focus is placed on players – relationships and group dynamics – and constructing a deep, sincere understanding of each individual. Relationships are formed during; Feedback at key moments Cultural upbringing and varied meanings Complex contexts Team culture and shared understandings Learning environments Motivational climates “Unless your players are robots, they need to develop their decision-making skills during game play”. The Player Centred Approach (PCA) is where the coach supports player autonomy by implementing various strategies intended to enhance each player’s decision making ability during game play, as well as outside game play (De Souza & Oslin, 2008). This process empowers players to take ownership of their own sporting performance and also the team’s. This mean that coaches have to establish environments in which players share responsibility. It’s about developing people not just better players (Kidman, 2001). Research has identified that PCA has;
Increased plyers engagement Increase communication with players Increased competency when players are given an opportunity to take control of their learning. Increased motivation
PCA, the Tactical games approach (Mitchell et al., 2005) and Game Sense approach (Thorpe, 2001) evolved from the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGFU) approach (Bunker & Thorpe, 1986) and all promote the use of small-sided games and the use of questioning to develop student’s and players tactical awareness and understanding. The belief is that knowing “what to do” influences players/students to appreciate why they need to practice. So learning is a result of an individual interacting with the task and the environment (Davies, 2016).
The path to short-term satisfaction, at the expense of long-term development and high-level performance is a consistent theme in elite sport. This attitude does not promote success; it inhibits growth on and off the field. If you want your athletes to perform at their very best, whether you are a parent or coach, then you must get them the right question, what can I give? Athletes who ask themselves what they can give bring “I can give/I can do” attitudes and actions to the table for their teams. They can actually “get” everything they are looking for simply by starting with the following service oriented ideas:
I can give my best effort in practice and games I can give my team a positive attitude no matter what the circumstances I can give my team a boost no matter how many minutes I play I can give my team a better chance to win no matter what position I play I can do the dirty work so my teammate can score the goal and get the glory I can sacrifice my personal ambitions for the better of the group I can lead by example I can be an example of our core values in action
The most important thing as a coach is to have a team that all ask “what can I give,” especially when it come to your captains, your upperclassmen, and your most talented athletes. You must teach them that the selfish attitude may once in a while lead to success, but the selfless attitude leads to excellence, celebrates the success of others, and makes you the type of athlete that everyone wants on his or her team (O’Sullivan, 2016). The most successful sports team in the professional era is not the NY Yankees, or the Boston Celtics, or Real Madrid, but a team from a far less known sport. It is the New Zealand All Blacks in rugby, who have an astonishing 86% winning percentage and numerous championships to their name. A key concept of the selfless attitude they display is called “Sweep the Shed.” The goal of every All Blacks player is to leave the national team shirt in a better place than when he got it. His goal is to contribute to the legacy by doing his part to grow the game and keep the team progressing every single day (O’Sullivan, 2016). In order to do so, the players realize that you must remain humble, and that no one is too big or too famous to do the little things required each and every day to get better. You must eat right. You must sleep well. You must take care of yourself on and off the field. You must train hard. You must sacrifice your own goals for the greater good and a higher purpose. You must sweep the shed. After each match, played in front of 60,000 plus fans, in front of millions on TV, after the camera crews have left, and the coaches are done speaking, when the eyes of the world have turned elsewhere, there is still a locker room to be cleaned. By the players (O’Sullivan, 2016)! That’s right, after each and every game the All Blacks leading players take turns sweeping the locker room of every last piece of grass, tape, and mud. In the words of Kerr: “Sweeping the sheds. Doing it properly. So no one else has to. Because no one looks after the All Blacks. The All Blacks look after themselves.” They leave the locker room in a better place than they got it. They leave the shirt in a better place than they got it. They are not there to get. They are there to give. Intentionally creating a culture where players seek to give instead of get will create a culture where the team not only develops excellence on and off the field but it creates a team that is much more enjoyable to coach. Creating this culture rewards the 95% who are willing to give, and weeds out the 5% who are trying to get. Eventually, they will get on board, or be thrown off the ship. Athlete centred coaching has underpinned the development of rugby in New Zealand. By starting with their youth sports programs. Although the approach focuses on developing better players or athletes, the process focus is on learning which is generated by positive experiences. These experiences made the game enjoyable for the participants and satisfying to facilitate for coaches. The learning experiences provided by this pedagogy can also contribute towards positive social, moral and personal development as “secondary learning” (Light & Harvey, 2015). This is seen by the national team in the sweeping the sheds example where clearly a leadership culture has evolved. The impact of positive culture shows that grasping underlying personality variables indeed stretch into dynamic motivational processes producing major patterns of cognition, affect, and behaviour (Dweck, & Leggett, 1998). The value in having a strong mentor support seems to be a common trait found in some of the best young coaches and athletes. Former NY Yankee great Don Mattingly so eloquently stated: I could impact the team in an incredible and consistent way. I learned I could impact the team in an incredible and consistent way. I learned I could impact my team
by caring first and foremost about the team’s success and not my own. I don’t mean by rooting for us like a typical fan. Fans are fickle. I mean CARE, really care about the team . . . about “US.” “I became less selfish, less lazy, and less sensitive to negative comments. When I gave up me, I became more. I became a captain, a leader, a better person and I came to understand that life is a team game. And you know what? I’ve found most people aren’t team players. They don’t realize that life is the only game in town. Someone should tell them. It has made all the difference in the world to me.” (O’Sullivan, 2016). Hard work, commitment and honesty form part of strong culture. However it must sit within an open, safe and secure environment but that has to be stimulating, personal and challenging to each individual. Coaches have to provide an environment within which they can experiment. Players have to get to a point where they have ownership of their personal program (Wright, 2016). The coaches are best placed to positively affect the players and provide a support mechanism for them. Ideas like teamwork, resilience and dealing with pressure are key and these will help the players to operate independently, a skill they will need to be successful (Wright, 2016). Finally when the coaching practices embrace transformative leadership principles and embeds the values of a socially just education, fewer young people may be lost to the sport (Morgan & Bush, 2016).
REFERENCES Bunker, D., & Thorpe, R. (1986). The curriculum model. In R. Thorpe, D. Bunker, and L. Almonds (Eds), Rethinking games teaching (pp. 7-1-). Loughborough, England: University of Technology. Davies, N. (2016). Player-Centred Coaching: Enhancing player game sense. Routhledge Sydney. Dweck, C, S., & Leggett, E, L (1998). A Social-Cognitive Approach to Motivation and Personality. Vol.95(2), p.256. Psychological Review. Kidman. L (2001). Developing decision makers: An empowerment approach to coaching. Christchurch, New Zealand: Innovative. Kidman, L. (Ed.). (2005). Athletic-centred coaching: Developing inspired and inspiring people. Christchurch, New Zealand: Innovative. Light, R. L., & Harvey, S. (2015). Positive pedagogy for sport coaching. Sport, education and society journal. Routledge, Canterbury New Zealand. Mitchell, S. A., Oslim, J. L., Griggin, L, L. (2005). Teaching sports concepts and skills: A tactical approach (2 nd ed.) Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Morgan, H.J., & Bush, A., J. (2016). Sports coach as transformative leader: arresting school disengagement through community sport-based initiatives. Sports, education and Society Journal. Routledge UK. Nelson, L., Cushion, C., Potrac, P., & Groom, R. (2012). Carl Rogers, learning and educational practice: Critical consideration and application in sports coaching. Sport, Education and Society 1-19. Nesti, M., & Sulley, C. (2015). Youth Development in football. Lessons from the wold’s best academies. Routledge New York. O’Sullivan, J. (2016). The quality great teammates have in common. Web Article accessed 23/2016 https://playerdevelopmentproject.com/the-one-quality-great-teammates-have-in-common/ . Renshaw, I., Oldham, A. R., & Bawden, M. (2012). Non-linear pedagogy underpins intrinsic motivation in sports coaching. The open sports science journal, 5(1),88-99. Thorpe, R. (2001) Rod Thorpe on teaching games for understanding. In L. Kindam (Ed.) Developing decision makers: AN empowering approach to coaching (pp. 22-36). Christchurch, New Zealand: Innovative. Wright, D. (2016) Built on trust: Inside Birmingham City Academy. Web Article accessed 24/2016. https://playerdevelopmentproject.com/built-on-trust-inside-birmingham-city-academy/ Wright, D. (2016) Coach the person not the player. Web Article accessed 26/2016. https://playerdevelopmentproject.com/coach-the-person-not-the-player/