Carl Wild joins us as he celebrates the release of his second book, ‘Essential Practices for Player Development’. Is it as good as his bestselling ‘The Intelligent Soccer Coach’? You bet!
Carl tells us a little more about the book …
A lot of discussions I have with other coaches are centred around, where they can find new ideas for session plans. And this is not unusual as coaches habitually look to produce or find practices that they haven’t done before. They will put themselves under pressure to create something they’ve not used before, as they believe that is what everyone expects, including the players, parents and other coaches. There is also a thought process that players only improve if they take part in practices they’ve not done before and if they take part in a practice previously done, then they will not progress as a player or as a team, because they’ve already learnt how to do, whatever the practice is teaching them.
However, if something has proven to be an effective strategy for learning to take place, why would you not use it again? Especially if the people taking part in this activity not only develop and improve, but enjoy it as well?
Probably the best examples of where children are happy to do the same thing over and over again and learn and develop from doing it, are computer games and the game of soccer itself.
Probably the best examples of where children are happy to do the same thing over and over again and learn and develop from doing it, are computer games and the game of soccer itself. With them both being ‘games’, this would straight away indicate that they involve key ingredients that children enjoy; competition, scoring systems and of course they are fun. In addition to this, the environments in which they take place are constantly changing and evolving. Though the players are returning to do the same activity time and time again, they are not actually repeating the same action over and over again or doing the exact same thing that they did the last time that they played it. Therefore, if we are able to replicate these key components within the practices that we use within our training sessions, there is no reason why we cannot use the same practices on a regular basis.
Essential Practices for Player Development introduces 10 core practices that are ‘game-based’ and easy to progress and adapt … giving the reader a total of 100 practices which they can use throughout the season
Essential Practices for Player Development introduces 10 core practices that are ‘game-based’ (opposition, competition, scoring systems and fun) and are easy to progress and adapt. These practices will produce environments which ensure the players enjoy playing in them, whilst the ease in which they can be progressed will make sure the players are constantly challenged. By being easily adaptable, they can then be used for a range of different topics. So by simply adding or changing a task, or by adding some pieces of equipment such as a goal, or through introducing ‘zones’ then one week the practice can be used for dribbling and then the following week it can be used again but for a completely different topic. So with each ‘core’ practice a further 9 adaptations are provided giving the reader a total of 100 practices which they can use throughout the season.
if something has proven to be an effective strategy for learning to take place, why would you not use it again?
Essential Practices for Player Development is available now through all good bookstores.
