Hi everyone, this is Dave Wright and welcome to the Play Development Project podcast. I hope you're having an excellent week working with your players. Before the content recap today, a quick announcement of a brand new feature on the PDP website. Coaching for character is a new program that we've been collaborating on with positive psychology expert and top PDP contributor Lara Mossman.
Members now have access to five videos featuring Lara and I talking through a number of character traits. How coaches can support players in this area, and we've also provided 10 practical session plans for you to access around this. These are available in Video Session Plan or downloadable PDFs, and they're easily built into your coaching program. So whether it's resilience or leadership, for example, you've got some content now to build into your program to help your players develop character traits on the grass.
Simply log into your PDP accounts, select the menu drop down and access coaching for character. Now for a quick content recap, over the last couple of weeks we've released some excellent content on the site. Firstly, we've featured a brilliant Masterclass discussion with Birmingham City Academy Manager Christian Speakman. Now this conversation was exceptionally informative with some great advice and the full discussion is available under the Masterclass section on the website.
We've also just released a new live session called Transition Game, which is a top practice for attacking transition moments, such as forward passing and forward runs. We'll explain the sessions and adaptations to the practice and also introduce individual challenges throughout the videos. Look out for those. Most recently our lead researcher, Jimmy Vaughn, has made a return to the blog with a brilliant article called The Future of Coaching Muscle Up Beyond the Past.
This is a great read, it challenges a linear play development model, the role of sports science and youth development, and it's a bit of a reflection of Jimmy's recently published paper on creativity. I'll highly recommend this one. Now today's podcast features a discussion with myself and James Coots in our latest Q&A video. James has joined the PDP team as a coaching advisor, he has extensive playing and coaching experience in the UK and Australia, and today we're going to tackle a conversation on position-specific coaching and how you can incorporate this approach into your program.
Look out for more on the site from James very soon, and he's also available as a mentor via the Play Development Project Mentoring Program if you're interested in guidance from one of our team. Don't forget if you haven't signed up to become a PDP member with a range of membership options available at Play Development Project.com for coaches and clubs, jump onto the website now and find out how to access all of our top coaching content, including the new PDP Slack community. Finally, I'd like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous new year on behalf of the entire PDP team. It's fantastic to see the podcast audience growing every week through our various formats of Masterclass Q&A content and Dan writes on the grass episodes.
We're grateful to all of you for your support and hope we're adding value to your coaching environments. We're excited about continuing to build even more features to help coaches around the world, so watch this space because we have great additions coming to the website very soon, and we hope to see even more of you sign up in 2020. Enjoy today's discussion. Hi everyone, my name is Dave Wright and welcome to another Play Development Project Q&A.
This week I'm delighted to be joined by a Play Development Project's new coaching advisor, James Coots, James, how are you? I'm good, mate. How are you? You're good, looking forward to tackling another community question and bringing you on board for this one.
Now, the question is coming from Frank via Facebook, and it's to do with position-specific coaching. So, Frank says, how can I do position-specific work with my players? Now, straight off about some of the considerations we have to think about here are how many coaches are on the grass, how many players in the group, and these kind of those. So, James, what are your first thoughts around this one?
Yeah, obviously, context-wise, the age of the players and what we're doing. But I love this type of work and a lot more focus on the position-specific and especially the individual learning that you can get from the position-specific work. So, it is certainly something that I endorse and have a lot with my program or where I'm coaching. And for me, it's looking at the balance in terms of the individual to the team work that you're looking at.
So, yeah, it's certainly one that lots of positives come out of position-specific work if it's done in a positive way. Yeah, look, it's something I've been exposed to in various programs I've worked as well, where we might have position-specific days or position-specific sessions. We've also run things like midfield schools or attacking schools and break plays up into units. But of course, when you're working in professional academy, you might have to luxury more coaches.
So, one of the real world challenges for us as coaches out in the grass is, particularly, we've got 16 or more players in one body in terms of the coach. So, where would you start if you were looking to really hone on the constant position-specific work? Perhaps it's your second contact in the week and you really want to dive into some ideas with midfielders, for example? How would you look to deliver that content that still affect the group and the policies?
Yeah, I think that's the key. The key is with position-specific work is you're focusing, as you said, on an area of example in the fielders. You must be aware and ensure that the defenders and the attackers within that session are also engaged. So, in practical way, I guess I like looking at this type of work.
Because if you're working on midfielders, as you say, whether it be combinations or so wide players, etc. And you're looking at how they can potentially get the ball up wide and look to get the ball into the box. You can add layers to that in terms of the forwards to ensure that they feel included in the defenders. So, it might not be as part of your whole team brief, but you might talk to a couple of the attacking players prior to the session and give them a couple of challenges based on the outcome you want to see from those midfield players.
So, in terms of adding layers prior or hopefully getting success on the area you'll open on, and then adding those layers of position-specific with the attackers who you're not necessarily working on that week. How about that might build nicely into the following. Yeah, I think that's really important, because the attackers and defenders never disappear. The game is an evasion game and we talk about interactions between players and players adapting or having repetition without repetition.
Because every interaction with the ball in terms of perception and action is going to be different. That repetition has to be there. So, you can't isolate and go with this reductionist view of just saying we're just going to work on midfielders. If you're only one coach on the ground with the players.
I think the other thing here is to consider, and it's an analogy that I picked up to in the UEFA A-licence with Ted Dale, who's a national coach educator up there at the FA. He talked about who is James Bond, the new session design, who is the star of the show and who is supporting actors. And when doing positions specifically for the big group, I think this is a nice way to think of it. Well, there's a primary secondary and tertiary player potentially.
So, an example of that might be in the midfield, you're primary player, your secondary players could be the centre back behind them or the winger outside them. And your tertiary player could be the goalkeeper because they may be another line way in terms of where they are on the part. But they also have a relationship with just shining a light on those players at the time. So, if you've got any thoughts particularly around player engagement and being aware of how players are receiving the session, and we know you frame the session before you go out on a whiteboard or flip-shan side right with folks in the midfielders, because you could lose players if they play it right full-back.
I mean, are they disengaged? How do you sell this to the players? 100%. The one thing we need to know is coaches, one player is turning up, they're looking straight away.
They're looking visually, what's the session going to be like? Can I see goals? Can I see first of all something that's going to engage me? That's just natural on players.
And as a player, still now myself, I'm going to a session I think, is this going to be painful for me? If the coaches just said frames it right first. Tonight we're working on midfield players, getting the ball into wide areas. And I'm a striker, I'm a centre back.
I'm thinking, okay, well, I'm not a massive component of this session. How can I keep those engaged? A big part of it is down to the planning. And it's something I've experienced with last year that we built into the program and it's come after a lot of trial and error, and most of the things that work and don't work, that I would always attach challenges to players who are not involved in the primary element.
So as an example, we're doing white play. We're getting guys down to trying to get bodies in the box or trying to get crosses in the product. The coaching element is going to be on the specific in terms of the white players who does when, what does that show? And how?
However, I might attach a little bit of a challenge to the strikers and defenders in terms of the competition on who's going to score the most goals. Defenders, if you get the ball back, you do this or there might be a transition where you can be attackers for a set. So then you've got that engagement and that buy-in from them still. So it's that constant engagement with them and then even letting them know that boys tonight are going to be focusing on the winners.
However, next week, we need you now to start preparing for next week because we're going to be looking in real detail about your movement and different things like that. So yeah, that's something that I've experienced this year that I found really useful with players with constant challenges in each session and they feel valued. And it's a part of the planning. As a coach, if you pre-plan that and you've got, and it doesn't have to be strenuous while you're spending hours and hours, it might be a couple of key challenges tonight.
So attacking players, goals, defending players, keeping goals out, very simple as that. But you do that within a little units and that's coaching within itself. Even though you're not focusing and they're not your stars of the session that you say, they're still getting something out of it. Yeah, 100%.
I think, you know, we talk a lot about individual targets, individual learning. And I think a key part of any session planning or any programme that you might be looking to work with, is playing those interventions. Now we've got a great masterclass discussion with Steve Kirby, who's the under 18 coach or assistant coach up there at Leicester City. Steve talked about how the coach will get together and be willing to play those interventions.
Playing those individual interactions with players, you know, it might be that we know a certain player's going to respond to maybe a little spicy challenge, you know, something sarcastic, something fun. And maybe another player needs an arm round and needs a little bit of guidance in terms of what this will be cheap and they're not offered it. So, planning those interventions is key. But also I think, and this sort of comes from recent conversations with Jimmy Bourn on some of the ideas of, well, his ideas is if we had a theme or a plan that's overly too strong and it's a focus that's so on the viewers, is that sort of a top down idea that then is losing the other players in the process because they're thinking, well, it doesn't involve us.
So, his idea is this bottom up approach, which I think is really nice and in that you create or facilitate the session. And then those challenges might emerge. So I think there's a fine line in terms of your balance when it comes to planning and planning and planning, which is probably something I've been guilty on a lot while over the plan things and our life structure and organisation. Whereas Jimmy is the opposite of this picture, we all put on a session and got what's going to happen and put on some constraints.
So, I think there is a balance there. The other thing I wanted to sort of bring up around this was the peer to peer element because when you're working in those units, obviously you need some collaboration between the players who are alongside each other. It could be a back four, it could be a big field three, whatever it is. How have you gone about implementing some ideas there or do you have advice for coaches tuning in in terms of how you can get those units to collaborate?
Again, putting into context the environment of our coaches, I was fortunate that video is a huge part that you can use that really benefits. If you're in a situation where you don't have video, little unit meetings, five minutes prior to a session and sometimes throwing it out to the players, asking that on the weekend, for example, back four, we can see why, or even better, doing it after the game and getting them to think about it before the next week session. So, they've got time to digest it. So, at the end of the session, where obviously a lot of time as coaches talk too much, not to give because we can have emotion attached to it.
However, I don't see anything wrong person. It's not done a number of times where I'll take the back four, the mid-field three, front three or attack, image, or the defenders, whatever you want to do. And just say, right guys, before the next session, you guys have a chat, however you want to do that in whatever way, and just give me some feedback in terms of how you guys worked as a unit. So, that's learning for me and maximizing learning away from grass, which is vital.
And then when we come to it on the pitch, and then you can look at more units specific work and they've got that mindset already of how that might look in terms of the future. So, how that might look in terms of success against non-failure. Does that make sense? Yeah, it does.
I think it's, again, comes down to this balance in the context. Now, I know you've done a lot of work in senior football, still playing football at the senior level. The other thing to consider here is the agent players, because I've worked in programs where perhaps you're working in the skilak position or foundation phase with players in that sort of seven to 12 or even 13 to 14 bracket where the opposition specific focus for a period of time might be relative to their individual targets, which we have alluded to. So, it might be, and we've got a Q&A that Dan and I have recorded on when a player is ready for a set playing position, which I think ties into this a little bit.
Where it might be, we've got a player that needs to really get some success in passing receiving. So, you know, this player might be a triplet or a winger and they've got set strings, but we're just going to work on a weakness for them a while here. So, we'll put them right full-back because the game's going to be in front of them, opportunity to pass forward, run forward, probably a little bit more time on the board and perhaps higher up a pitch or in sexual areas, for example. So, you can also look at how you tie in your individual position of focus with a role for a period of time.
And I think one of the considerations I remember working within the following academy program was that we were always trying to play as playing in more than three positions within a game, because naturally players are going to come on and come off and get equal playing time or allocated playing time. We don't want a list of real injury problems. We don't want to play into the overwhelm. I've just said 20 minutes up front, now I'm playing, they're playing and they're not really getting into that state of flow.
So, I think that's a consideration, whether it's within your session or whether it's on game down to how you're managing that from developing tool focus. Yeah, 100%. I think I just said it's so important to context and so crucial with this, knowing that players age, where they are in terms of their development also is crucial. And understand as a coach, we must always know the why.
Why we're doing something. So, position specific work, if it's something that the players are not yet ready for, then that's fine. That's not a problem. Don't put on the session because we feel we have to do unit work, we have to do positions.
There has to be a why to what we're trying to do and what we're trying to achieve. For me, a big focus, and even at senior level, is about principles of play or behaviours in terms of what you want to see. So, sometimes it might not be a tactical element in terms of your position specific work. It might be that you're doing behaviour specific work in a session and you want to see key behaviours of your players.
There's nothing to do with tactical elements because that's part of their individual plan. It's part of the club in terms of how they develop their players throughout the academy. So, I think it's given into context and really understanding why you're doing something vital. Yeah, and it's also, I think, that's the final thought from my side is that during the season, a lot of coaches change into this.
We've got one or two contacts a week with their players. So, we get questions like, what value does ball mastery and isolated practice in these things have? All these elements have value. There is a spectrum in terms of play development, the PDP-7 forces, everything has its place.
But if your contact time is limited to maybe 120 or even 60 minutes a week with your players, then perhaps you're going to put them into scenarios where they are game-based as opposed to perhaps honing on position specifically isolated stuff. Maybe that the isolated stuff can do at home ball in the wall and all these things, we'd encourage young kids to it. And maybe the position specific stuff can just be laced into the program throughout the season. So, month one, it could be going to go session on the field as month two, it's going to be the finish and so on.
So, I think, again, bouncing it based on the volume of contact time you have is key. So, that's kind of the final thought from my side. James, any final thoughts from you in terms of practicing with Vice-Frank and other coaches, Julian? Yeah, I guess a top tip or something I've certainly found has been useful.
And this goes for senior players as it would under 5's under 6's. If you've prior to the season or you've got individual player plans or you've got plans in place for players, that they know about and it's specific to the player. At the end of sessions, if you're doing a game and you're doing a little, just a small-sided game or whatever, if you let them know prior to that, right guys, I'm going to be really looking tonight at your IPP or your individual player plan and I look to see who's working on that tonight. And if I don't see someone do it, I see someone maybe not do something as per their IPP, I'm just going to blow the whistle and give it to the other keeper.
I'm not going to say who, I'm not going to say whatever. And I've found that really useful this year and see me if it all. That we'd be playing a game, it'd be intense, it'd be flying around. I'll blow the whistle, say, guys, IPP, give the ball to the other keeper.
No one knew who, no one knew who, no one knew other. But what it did do straight away was re-engage a thought process into individualizing my part within that game. So that was something I found a real useful tip that continued that individual learning in any session you wanted to do. Really helpful.
Really good advice and it's an interesting strategy. And I think that's one I'd like to try as well, really nice thought to finish on. So James, on that note, I want to thank you for your time and also welcome you again to the PDB team. We look forward to doing another Q&A very soon.
Can't wait mate, looking forward to it. Excellent. And we will look forward to another Play Development Project Q&A very soon. Thanks for joining us on the Play Development Project podcast.
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