Session 2

Objectives:
1. Establish whether the skills from the previous week have been learnt.
2. Continue to develop my relationship with the squad.
3. Practice corners.

Tuesday 23rd October 2007
The session began with a ten minute warm-up, this consisted of a slow jog, heel flicks, high knees, and stretching of the major muscle groups. However, instead of just jogging in a straight line I decided to make the players weave in-and-out of flag poles. This sort of movement is frequently used during a game. In a warm-up it is possible to use skill patterns that are used in a game (Hazeldine,2000). During the stretching I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to build my relationship with the squad. The banter that I experienced put me at ease and made me feel more comfortable.
To establish whether the skills that had been taught last week had been learnt I decided to start the session with a 8-a-side match. During this short match I would be observing whether the players were communicating with each other, and if all players were tracking each other. Thankfully they were. However, from witnessing the game it was clear that the newly adapted skill had led to another problem. The pressure that the players were now putting on each other had led to players to misplace passes and even turning into opponents with the ball, this is something which had sorted. The corner skills would have be put back.

To begin with I gathered the players round to tell them my concerns. I stressed that it was important to always pass the ball the way you’re facing, as this stops opponents from gaining possession. I also explained that if an opponent tried to gain the ball from behind, the player in possession would receive a free-kick. To show them what I meant I decided to use a volunteer, this would allow the players understand my concerns through observation. Observation can help an athlete by using the features of the coordinated movement pattern to help in performing the skill (Magill,1998).

To improve this I put all players into groups of three. One player fed the pass, another received and moved around with the ball, and the last player acted as a defender. I must add that all players would switch roles. Through observation it was clear that the squad were improving, this is where I decided to introduce a game. The game went well, all players had listened to me. This game ended the session. However, like this week I would start next weeks session with a game to check whether the squad were continuing to follow my advise.

Magill,R.A.(1998)Motor learning: Concepts and applications. Singapore. McGraw-hill
Hazeldine,R.(200)Fitness for sport. GB. JW Arrowsmith