Session 5

Tuesday 19th February 2008
Objectives:
1. Move onto a new skill.
2. Build team confidence.
When the squad were preparing to take to the training pitch the lad who swore at me at the last training session met me. He apologised, to my delight, and asked if it was possible to train with the other lads. During the conversation, I explained my reasons for sending him home, while I also reminded him of his responsibility he had to the team. I had to tell the lad the truth, as I did not want any repeat of the actions from the previous session. According to Murphy (2005) telling the truth and conveying that you value honesty among your players are important to good communication. At the end of the conversation, I told him to get on to the training pitch.

When the lads completed the warm-up, I gathered them round to begin the stretching. This time, though, I decided to get the lads involved. I created a circle and ask every player for a stretch. Stretching before a training session can help reduce post-training soreness (Evans, 1997). I believe that this got every player involved and stopped any chance of misbehaving from occurring, as all players were now listening. When the players completed the stretching, I sent them on a jog while I prepared the drills for the session.

I decided to move on to a new skill, as I was now happy with the player’s basic skill and communication level. The session was based on switching play, a skill that is highly effective if communication and basic skills are performed well. Switching the play in football is essential, as stretching the opponents is important when trying to create chances. This is successful if teams can use their central defenders and midfielders correctly (Luxbacher, 1999). I explained this to the lads. During the switching play drills, I challenged the lads, as I wanted to motivate them. This worked, as all the lads seemed to be trying their hardest. I was now happy to end the session with a game.

For the game, I decided to play all the midfielders on the same team, as they are the players who are most likely to switch play. I have to say that I was impressed with the standard of play during the game; the players were now performing the skills that have been taught during the previous sessions. More importantly, the lads were now beginning to look like a proper football team. I must also add that the morale of the squad seems good now. This ended my session.

Evan, M. (1997) Endurance Athlete’s Edge. USA: United Graphics
Luxbacher, J. (1999) Attacking Soccer. USA: Human Kinetics
Murphy, S. (2005) The Sport Psych Handbook. USA: United Graphics