5 Ways To Encourage Good Communication
The excerpts of the following article are courtesy of Women’s Soccer Coaching Magazine. To read the full article 5 Ways To Encourage Good Communication and other stories, please go to June issue and subscribe https://www.womenssoccercoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Issue-007-Jun-2021.pdf.
HANNAH DUNCAN with tips on how coaches can turn up your players’ volume.
It is amazing how often, as coaches, we can’t get players to stop chatting while we are setting up, during drinks breaks or even when they should be listening to instructions! Yet when they step onto the grass, conversation quickly dries up and it is more akin to a library than a football pitch. Encouraging players to not only communicate, but communicate effectively, is a challenge faced by many coaches, yet it is such an important component of any successful team. Here are some methods to try in your sessions to turn up the volume.
01 NO TALKING!
It sounds a little counter-intuitive, but by putting a condition on a small-sided game which says no player can talk, you might suddenly find they are all desperate to give support and instructions. Start by awarding a free-kick to the opposition any time a player communicates out loud – and by not allowing talking, it might help some players realize the value of it. Of course, there are other ways for players
to communicate too, whether through hand gestures or eye-contact, and this can help them explore these methods more.
For the rest of the article by Hannah Duncan please go to the June 2021 issue 007 of Women’s Soccer Coaching found at https://www.womenssoccercoaching.com/ and subscribe.
About Women’s Soccer Coaching Magazine
Women’s Soccer Coaching website: https://www.womenssoccercoaching.com/ and monthly digital magazine offers proven, easy to use soccer drills, coaching sessions, practice plans, small-sided
games, warm-ups, training tips and advice. The resources are created for the grassroots youth coach following best practice from around the world and insights from the professional game, with features highlighting female soccer coaches from around the world.