Change it up
How to make your activities feel fresh
It’s easy get stuck as coach. You can forget about activities or methods that you’ve used in the past. You also need to mix up your coaching by adding new activities.
If you’re bored with coaching the same activities, the players are too.
The challenge is to keep sessions fresh and ensure players are always learning.
You help yourself do this by writing a list of all of the coaching activities you use. Next to each of them, write what skill you currently use them for and why.
Think about how many times you’ve used that activity in the past 3 months, and whether you’ve had the same focus each time.
You can use the same activity, but change the focus and the session feels energised for you and the players.
For example: you might use a game to help players with their catch/pass under pressure. However, think about what other skills players are working on.
You could use the same game next session. However by changing your focus and language, the activity challenges players in a different way.
I’m currently on a 2 week coaching course in New Zealand. On the plane back, I might start my list of activities and skills.
Listing what skills an activity works on, or changing the emphasis can also help engage players with a large range of abilities.
Imagine a catch/pass game. Some players will need to develop their catching skills. However, some players require a greater challenge or different emphasis.
For those players the different skill focus (such as tracking in defence) helps them feel challenged.
For the players that need to develop their catch/pass, they’re still training at an appropriate level.