This would mean that Jordan is very much similar to Joseph and is also a kinaesthetic learner. This would indicate that Jordan prefers to be directly involved in a drill in order to understand it as appose to watching and listening to understand what is needed of him.
Warm up
These are three warm up clips my client took part in. In the warm up I asked my clients to in order; steady jog quarter paced, half paced jog, three quarter paced jog, heel flicks, high knees, dynamic stretches then repeated the jogging sequence finishing with a sprint. I believe it important to get the muscles warm in the form of a jog before dynamic stretches and finishing with a jog/sprint which would usually be just before any impending event.
Agility drills
As you can see in the above video Jordan and Joseph are both doing one step between cones in this drill, sprinting to the final cone and then returning with a walk. Technically Jordan's agility has come on a lot and this session is proof of this, he gets his knees up and down quickly which enables him to move from cone to cone at a fast pace.To pick up the pace a little Jordan would be better by bouncing off his toes more as appose to being slightly flat footed. Joseph did develop also, as you can see he also gets his knees up and down at a quick pace. He is also slightly taller than Jordan so this is a harder technique as they are small intricate steps.For Joseph to improve technically he would need to use his arms more to help power him through from cone to cone. As you can see in the table below these are the key components in agility. I believe both my clients to have these in abundance so there is alot of potential to improve further.
Brown states "agility, in this respect, is important in sport because movements are often initiated from various body positions"
| Basic Strength | F
O
O
T
W
O
R
K | Balance, Body Control and Awareness |
| Speed Strength & Plyometrics | Starting and Acceleration Speed Angles & Vectors |
| Power Endurance | Complex Footwork |
| Maximum Strength | Change of Direction, Stopping |
As you can see in this video I am demonstrating a different agility drill which is too run through the cones backwards. Jordan struggled technically slightly in my opinion on this drill. He slowed down alot which may mean he struggles with foot-eye co-ordination as it took him longer to respond to where he was going.To improve this Jordan would need to practice repeatedly similar drills where he isn't facing the cones as this will help him develop. However this could also be a psychological barrier with him being anxious at the prospect of not knowing what is behind him. Joseph on the other hand did exceptional in this drill, he moved through the cones quickly and without problems. Joseph could develop himself by getting himself lower to the ground in order to bounce from toe to toe faster than he is when upright. Josephs legs looked to have increased in muscle giving him a physiological edge on Jordan when transferring his muscle mass from each leg giving him a larger amount of spring between cones.
As you can see in the above video, in this drill its about moving from left to right and back through the cones. It is important to spring off the foot that is planted when moved to the side. Jordan has good technique in this drill and him being a smaller size allows to him spring faster from cone to cone, he showed good speed at negotiating the cones, however he could improve his speed further in this drill by keeping low to the ground in order to bounce from side to side at a quicker pace. Joseph was slightly slower during this drill and I believe his height to have been the main issue as it takes him slightly longer to find his way from one end to the other.Another issue I have noticed during this drills is Josephs lack of enthusiasm which may have deteriorated during drills of the same nature repeatedly following each other. To stop tedium occurring during my sessions for either client I would need to adapt dependent on the clients enthusiasm to do the drills. I think Joseph could improve his speed also by getting lower to the ground in order to give his height less of a disadvantage against him. Kirkendall says "stay on your toes, and keep your center of gravity low by bending your hips and knees"
Long passing
As you can see in the above video this was the start of my long passing session. I gave the participants some time to get used to the feel of the ball and the distance they will be playing the passes. I used this as a starting block on to more difficult challenges. Long passes are important to enable a quick counter attack or a accurate pass into space for an impending team mate. Wymer agrees with my statement and says "The best way to exploit space on a transition may be a long ball"
The second drill I used was to include myself as a 3rd man. However I wasn't analysing myself just allowing the drill to work as I planned. Jordan would use the same pass as the previous drill and deliver this to Joseph he would then proceed to pass me the ball which I would return, then he would repeat the sequence without controlling the ball. Joseph really struggled with this drill as he couldn't elevate the ball enough to miss me out. For him to improve he really needs to improve his technique making sure keeps his head focused on the ball and slightly lent back to create a loft, he must then chop the ball and the grass at the same time to avoid hitting the middle man. Jordan however excelled in this exercise performing pin point passes. The only thing I think Jordan could have improved on in this drill is the pace in which his passes are played, this could be improved with a faster movement from leg to ball and a harder follow through. For him to improve this it would be consistent practice at long passing varying ranges and increasing when developing faster passes. Another way to develop this would be increasing muscle size within his lower body in order to put more power through the ball using weight transferal.
In this drill I decided to be the 3rd man again. This time however not directly involved with the ball playing, however my role was to apply a slight pressure to make the situation more game like to see how my clients dealt with it. Joseph in this drill was repeatedly poor, his passes often deviated to the right and I re-iterated the technique he must use(place standing foot directly next to the ball and head focused on the ball) he then slowly warmed to the drill and his passing was accurate and with pace. Jordan's passing was very good once again in this drill however he let his touch slip twice, this can be a big problem as without controlling the ball their is no chance of returning the ball. However as this drill was focused on long passing I was pleased with his development. To improve further Jordan would need to first concentrate on controlling the ball before thinking of where he would like to play it.
This is my final recorded clip of long passing. The point of this game was to encourage both clients to hit the marked out square as i believe this to be the perfect area to hit in order for the ball to bounce one making it an easier ball to control either by chest, thigh or foot. Joseph once again started off with poor passing, I believe Joseph needs some time to warm to a task before he fully understanding what he needs to do, this could be down to him being a kinaesthetic learner, he has to contribute in to a drill before hes fully aware of what is being asked of him. To improve this I would need to involve Joseph in the demonstration if possible using myself to play the pass to him and then he repeats this. He could also help himself by running through the technique in his head using imagery to create a vision for what he needs to achieve.. Jordan also started pretty weak as his passing was wayward, however with a few passes came more accuracy. He then started to hit the box on a regular basis so this was pleasing. To develop Jordan I would ask him to repeat the process of the technique several times to make sure when he performs the pass his technique will be correct giving him a higher chance of hitting a successful pass. Another development point I would give Jordan would be physiological to improve muscle mass on both legs equally to create an equally balanced shape within the lower body, this would help improve balance and prevent missing a team mate with a pass as much as he would without this.
Cool down
These two short clips are part of the cool down that I got the clients to do. This also included a quarter paced jog followed by dynamic stretching, finishing off with static stretches. I believe this is important to bring you body down to normal slowly and not just to stop performing altogether because the muscles cant just shut off, they must be slowly cooled down to aid recovery.
Kolbs
learning cycle
D.A
Kolbs learning cycle is basically a way of developing a practice
through reflection This comes in 4 stages and are known as; Having
an experience, reflective observation, making generalisations and
planning future action.
Wikely
and Bullock, (2006) argued that Kolb’s (1984) theory of
experiential learning was the most documented and adapted model of
learning: a cycle of experience, reflection, conceptualisation and
testing those concepts in new situations.
Joseph
Joseph didn't progress as well as I had hoped during my sessions. I believe this could have been down to low confidence along with enthusiasm, however Joseph did excel in single agility drills and long passing drills. I felt I could have progressed Joseph further by more 1 to 1 training to give him more encouragement when doing agility and more ball time when performing long passing. I would also make other choices such as using extra bodies to provide a conditioned end game especially during the long passing drills, this would have developed his awareness of situations during games. With practice becomes consistency. The key to consistency is short dynamic drills in order to repeat to become successful, Vermeulan states "The longer the duration of play, the less consistent the performance will be executed".
Jordan
I
felt Jordan progressed well through my sessions growing in
confidence, ability and tactically throughout. My initial reaction to
Jordan was positive due to his previous experience within football. I
felt that he would cope with the session and tactically he was able
to understand each drill I demonstrated with him.
I felt maybe I could have progressed Jordan further if id have
made other choices such as bringing extra bodies into the session to
make parts of the session more realistic in a game situation.
J.
Frost sttes "The purpose of repeating skills during
practice is to make their use during competition a habit, done
naturally and without much conscious thought". This shows the
importance of conditioned games and repeating certain situations
likely to happen within a game."
This is a diagram of how an analysis structure works without any computer input and how "old school" analysis is done. This is still used with smaller clubs without wanting the expense of an expensive computer system. This system would also suit Jordan if working with him on a close basis for e.g. 1 to 1 as you can see how he performs. You can also use previous analysis done by yourself to make a plan for another session.
This is a diagram of how analysis would be used on a computer based system. As you can see this is a more complicated structure, this however also means their is more ways the analysis can work. The computer can come up with statistics whereas the coach can visually see what the player is doing right and wrong. This system would suit Jordan playing a team sport such as football because it would analyse his role within the team and how his performance related to the end result.
How Agility will help Joseph play football in future
Agility is key in all positions in football whatever level you decide to play at. With Joseph being a centre midfielder I believe agility to be key. Athleticism involves having agility and football is progressing with alot more athletes as appose to technically gifted players having chance to become a professional. This is because you may have great ability but without agility and other athletic traits you would struggle to get in to a game against fitter, stronger more agile football players. However with Joseph ability if he carried on with agility drills and progress himself I believe he his able to play a higher level of football than he is currently playing.
How long passing will help Joseph play football in future
With Joseph being a centre midfielder the long pass is essential for his game. During a game he may be required to 'spread play' or provide an early 'through ball', to do this he will need to improve the ability of an accurate long pass. With what he has developed with my sessions I believe progress is well withing Josephs depth, he has a very good technique when playing a pass which is a great foundation. I agree with Ruiz as he says "If the skills are not learned properly, it is better not to learn them at all, as bad habits are extremely hard to rectify" with this statement it shows that with good technique you have a good foundation. To build on this Joseph would need to keep practicing keeping his technique the same.
How agility will help Jordan play football in future
Agility is key in all positions in football whatever level you decide to play at. With Jordan being a right back I believe agility to be a highly important trait. Athleticism involves having agility and football is progressing with alot more athletes as appose to technically gifted players having chance to become a professional. I think with Jordan playing in a position where you have to constantly be on the move whether this is attacking or defending agility is important for beating opposition players and also keeping with them defensively. This is because you may have great ability but without agility and other athletic traits you would struggle to get in to a game against fitter, stronger more agile football players. However with Joseph ability if he carried on with agility drills and progress himself I believe he his able to play a higher level of football than he is currently playing.
How long passing will help Jordan play football in future
With Jordan being a right back the long pass is essential for his game. During a game he may be required to 'hit the space in the corners' or provide an early 'through ball', to do this he will need to improve the ability of an accurate long pass. With what he has developed with my sessions I believe progress is well withing Jordan's depth, he has a very good technique even though he has quite a slow action when playing a pass which is a good foundation. A long pass is a great tool for a right back to access as this ball can often play you out of trouble if under pressure to play the ball in to space or aim the ball to a centre forward.
Performance outcome model
This is an example of a performance outcome model. Basically this is a skill breakdown model, how this works is of you do the three boxes at the bottom of the diagram correctly you should end up with a successful long pass. If the technique, follow through and footwork needed are equally good the long pass will more than likely be accurately placed.
Formative and summative feedback
Formative feedback is more of an instruction from a coach to a client, in this technique they will tell them what they did well and how they could improve. They often use formative assessments such as skill tests to relate back to clients what they have done well and what they can improve.
Summative feedback is more of a judgement made by the coach at a specific time for example at the end of a football season. The coach may decide that he wants to allow the player to leave as he is not in his plans for the upcoming season. They would often use a mass of formative feedback to reach their conclusion which is the summative assessment.
With both my clients I have used formative feedback using photos and videos along with feedback during drills. I think formative feedback is the most important feedback used by coaches, this is because I believe coaches need to be constantly feeding back to clients. Griffey states "it makes good instructional(formative) sense to motivate students by involving them in game-like experiences".
I don't think I gave feedback as much as I could, I could have given more feedback during the videos for e.g. to stop a drill when not running how I wanted it to. To get the best out of my clients I could have given them positive reinforcement when making good passes and stopped the drill when running not so well.
When I had done all the sessions, I used summative feedback to present where I believe each client to have improved most and what they need to work on.
Jordan developed his agility very well and I was confident that he had met his previously set goals. He probably didn't develop as much as we would have liked when playing the long pass, this may have been due to my coaching not meeting his learning style.
Joseph on the flip side progressed very well with his long passing, his progression was slow but was constantly improving. His agility would have progressed more had be been totally committed to the drills, if his enthusiasm for agility would have been the same as long passing i would have been confident of sufficient improvement.
My coaching review
In this half the report I will be discussing how my own performance can be developed and how my performance on a coaching level can affect how my clients development can be hindered or improved.
I believe that as a whole my sessions went well. My clients clearly understood what I wanted them to do in each drill I asked them to do, I think this was mainly to picking up some background information up from them. Providing them with learning style questionnaires to fill in really helped how I could tailor my session to their needs. As the above report suggests both Jordan and Joseph are kinaesthetic learners which means they learn more from taking part in a demonstration to help them understand. Hayes states "Kinaesthetic learners remember what they do and they experience with their hands or bodies (movement and touch)".
With knowing this I gave a quick visual/audio demonstration but very vague. This is to make sure my clients done become disengaged and lose focus of what they are trying to achieve. As soon as I have provided a brief example I let my clients practice before putting pressure on them to get it right, so they have a feel for what they need to do.
I chose a style in the warm up and cool down as a very hands on approach and joined in with my clients. I think this is important sometimes for the client to feel on an even with their coach as this can help social aspects between a coach and performer. I also believe that whilst you are doing stretches with the performers it gives them more imputis to want to do the stretches. I also joined in on two of the long passing drills as I was hoping the players would step up a level wanting to impress me as a coach. Both drills were successful after a small practice period.
When I coach in future some things i want to build on are; being more vocal, asserting myself with body gestures and stopping drills half way through if they are not going as i had planned.
Being vocal is a major part of coaching as it helps show the client to show who is in charge, how to do drills and when to stop the session if things arent going right. I believe there are certain times during my session where I could have stopped my clients and re-iterated the technique/skill before allowing them to continue. I also believe that using more assertiveness and hand gestures I can get my drills across more positively and help to describe what I want from my clients, Robinson also agrees by saying "Physical messages such as facial expressions, hand gestures and body movements, posture, body contact, spatial distance, clothes and appearance will also be interpreted in a positive or negative way by the performer".
Target
Area
|
Coaching
Goals
|
Developmental
Activities and Timeline
|
Measures
of Success
|
|
|
| Increased
knowledge |
Range
of drills for skill based sessions.
Progressions
to develop clients skill base.
Differing
difficulty level in drills for different ages
|
|
Completion
of courses and improvement in sessions.
Watch sessions
from various coaches in different sports to pick up new drills and
adapt them to football. |
| Confidence/vocal |
|
Self
talk
Coach
sessions
Make
contingency plans
|
Run various
age related sessions and progress drills without always relying on
session plans for progressions. Watch how coaches manage to settle
groups down and lead confidently. |
| Assertiveness |
|
|
Lead
sessions and use different voices for certain situations. For e.g.
Praising as appose
to
shouting when needed too.
Watch various
coaches to see how they use their coaching styles and see how a
group responds to their body language/assertivness. |
| Learning
styles |
|
Read
books, articles to pick up greater knowledge.
Practice
when leading sessions with different performers and
different sports.
|
Using
each learning style when needed to dependent on the performer.
Practicing these regularly using self talk varying styles.
Watching
coaches using various styles to pick up new tips. |
