Ask Questions or Give Answers?

The basics and fundamentals need to be coached, taught and demonstrated. But building upon those basic elements, we are able to produce complex answers. For example, you teach a child to count and then how to add numbers. The concept of numbers and addition is taught, so that the child understands how 1+1 = 2 and how 2+3 = 5. Eventually you will not need to teach the child that 5+5 = 10 because they will have found a way to figure it out.

If you tell the child to learn that 5+5 = 10, they will learn it. But they will not know why, if they do not understand the concept of addition. You could just as easily tell them to learn 5+5 = 15.

In school did your teachers ask you questions, did you practice past papers; or were you just given all the answers?

You know the answer to the question above, without me having to tell you. Now I want football coaches to focus on that question and think about what they are doing when they coach. Do you tell your players what to do all the time? Is that a good way for them to learn? Do they understand why they did something, or was it just because they were told to do it?

Check Understanding

Even when praising something a player does that was positive, ask questions first to check their understanding, and then praise their understanding - not the singular event. This shows they have attained the necessary knowledge and that the player is developing his/her game sense.

Be careful to praise hard work more than intelligence/talent as this will help condition players towards working hard/taking risks and not being lazy in thinking they have a superior ability and therefore do not need to try as hard.

Recommended reading: The Talent Code (Daniel Coyle), Mindset (Carol Dweck) and Developing Decision Makers (Lynn Kidman).

Let Them Play

Children enjoy trying to figure out how things work: how to open things, how to turn the TV on and change it to their favourite channel, how to open the door, how to a score a goal they saw on TV or how to play a new computer game, these are just a few common examples. 

If you keep unlocking the door for children, they may never learn to unlock it themselves! 

Children can end up taking some things for granted and feel no need to learn how to do them. Therefore they do not develop the problem solving abilities required to find solutions. In football there is always a problem, a solution to be found and a decision to be made, finding the correct solution BY THEMSELVES is key to the child’s development and understanding.