By Philip Cauchi
Question - What are some good club curriculum practices?
Introduction.
Having a club curriculum aids in having a direction. Coaches will know what is required of them and what content should their players be experiencing throughout their developmental process. Dividing this curriculum into smaller outcomes for each age group makes it more manageable and easier to monitor. However, more important than to cover what is written in the curriculum is the learning process itself. This means that we should work within the capacities of the individuals. As educators, coaches must be able to provide suitable learning experiences for each player within his/her abilities so a new dimension can be reached.
The learning process.
Having a season plan helps us to identify those outcomes we are required to work on. These outcomes should be tailored to the level and ability of each individual. Thus, when planning training programmes we should target the development of each individual and not the team as a whole. Variations in the tasks given play a huge role in this. We must realise that people learn at different rates and through different methods, irrelevant to their age. We can have an eight year old who is technically more proficient than an eleven year old. What do you do? Do you provide the eight year old with more challenging experiences, or do you provide him with the learning experiences that are written in the curriculum? What about the eleven year old? Do you continue providing him with the learning experiences that are written in the curriculum or do you adjust and vary the content thus making the learning experience for him more achievable?
It is good to have a framework on what we should work on during the season with a specific age group. However, this programme needs to be adapted to the necessities of the individuals. How is putting a girl in a 1v1 situation be of benefit to her when she struggles to control the ball. With this particular girl we need to work more with her confidence of having a ball at her feet rather than putting her in a 1v1 situation. Training programmes, and thus the training sessions need to be player-centred. Therefore, the training needs to be easily adjustable and not too structured. It is futile running a training session bearing particular outcomes simply because of what is written on the session plan. We are obliged to differentiate our work where each player practices at a reachable level slightly above her current ability.
This concept is known as the zone of proximal development and was introduced by the Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky. This is the zone where learning occurs with the help of the coach. With the word help I mean that the coach creates a context where the problem to be solved is constantly repeated. The learner is thus guided by the coach and allowed to discover for herself the various solutions. It might be that if for example we have two groups they will both be play the same game. However, with one group we play with different constraints. For example with the higher ability group we play 4v4 on a small pitch, while with the group bearing a lower level of ability we play 3v3 on a larger pitch. The latter will provide more space which means more time to make and execute decisions both on and off the ball.
We also need to bear in mind that skill acquisition is not linear. People learn at different rates and modalities. We can have kids who if we show them once they will understand what the benefit of a practice is, while others might need different mediums such as the use of a tactics board or videos to have a clearer picture. As coaches we should understand the best methods with which our players learn. Some learn best through experiencing the situation themselves, others through questioning, others by telling and showing them, others might require oral and written feedback, and some might need to view themselves on video.
Periodizing work.
Instead of having a rigid curriculum, it is more effective to have a general plan with age appropriate learning outcomes. The coaches’ work should be periodized according to the club’s vision, playing style and the principles of play. At particular periods during the season a review of the work done should be carried out. Thus, we will know if all the stakeholders (coaches, managers, strength and conditioning trainers, goalkeeper coaches, etc.) are moving towards the same intended direction. Clubs should employ with them the right personnel that embrace the same vision and values of the club.
From the principles of play identified by the club the outcomes emerge. These outcomes should lead towards achieving particular aims. The principles of play together with the established aims and outcomes will help coaches during the planning phase of training sessions. These outcomes are not to be used only in designing training sessions, but to guide us what we want our players to learn and retain by the end of the season. It might be useful to divide the yearly work into smaller blocks. I personally like to use Bruner’s spiral curriculum which requires us to revisit the same theme more than once during the season, while building and progressing on previous ones.
Recruiting the right coaches.
To have the right coaches working at the correct level is a must. The characteristics of the coaches determines in which categories they are most effective in their work. A coach might be more knowledgeable in coaching tactics and the principles of play. This coach will be more effective and a higher transfer of learning will occur with players playing in the higher categories from under 13 upwards than with nine year olds. With the latter, coaches which their strengths lie in the development of skills and coordinative capacities will be much more effective.
Progress report.
During the season it extremely important to record the work done and write down a brief summary of every training session, matches, training blocks and finally the season. Planning should progress throughout the seasons. Each category should have its training themes and their related outcomes. At the end of each season each category should record all the themes and outcomes reached by each individual player. The following season the coach can define a plan based on the achievement of these outcomes together with the new content to be covered. Therefore, a tailor made programme can be designed. This is known as adaptation, and it is of fundamental importance when planning.
All the players at the club should have a file. In this file all the work done and thus the progress shown throughout the seasons will be recorded. This will provide both the technical staff and also the players an indication of the work done. I strictly believe that progress is to be recorded according to the performance that players show in matches within a period of time. Specific test batteries used to measure the improvement of technique and physical fitness parameters might be carried out. However, the main indication should be the global match itself. Other records we should keep include, injury history, the rate of physical development (especially during puberty) and how well the player interacts with the rest of the team.
Training methodology.
Training methodology is the way we present the training to the players. We aim to present learning situations which are both more effective and efficient in the transference of learning. Various methodologies exists. We can work starting from analytical situations up to the global game, or start from the global, break this into smaller analytical practices and then return to the global again. I believe that whatever methodology we use must be directly related to the game. The players must see the relevance of the practices we use with the principles of the game we try to master. Only this way we can call that transference of learning has been successful. Remember that there is no teaching or coaching if no learning takes place.
Practices.
The practices that we as coaches plan should be flexible in a sense that they can be varied and progressed. The same practices can be used for different aims and outcomes. We just need to identify the context and the moment of play we want to coach. Rather than using drills, in training simplified game situations should be applied. These situations should directly refer to a particular context within the global game. The players will be required to solve realistic problems where the targeted outcomes and behaviour are continuously being reinforced. The same practices should be used at various times during the season. The variations that may have been used and the progressions made should be recorded.
I recommend having a personal database of practices and training sessions. It is also good practice to put down some comments which shows the progress made by the players or if we had to adapt the practices. The planning of future practices will be based on the progress recorded.
As a rule of thumb we should always start with activities that the players are already familiar with and then add new content as a progression. This applies both to the session as a whole and also to its individual practices. Successfully progressing the practices throughout the season and which show that the players are getting more comfortable with them are good indications that progress is being made. After training is over, it is good practice to ask the players what they have learned and how it can be applied to the game. Getting this type of feedback shows us if the players really understood the aim of the session and how their game intelligence is being developed.
Matches and tournaments.
It is recommended for the benefit of the players that matches and tournaments should be organised with teams of the same calibre. It won’t be beneficial for the development of our players to play against teams that are much better or much weaker than us. Choosing the right opponent to play against is imperative, especially with the younger age groups.
Season calendar.
Clubs should have a season calendar with all the team’s activities; practices, matches, tournaments and even social events. Each training session should be labelled with the theme we are working on. Therefore we should have a view of all the themes being covered. We want to balance our work by having the players experience different themes and principles of play, and not too much of one theme and just a few sessions of another.
Conclusion.
Although it is important to have a curriculum that guides us on what we should be working and how to progress throughout the season, it is more beneficial that our work is based on individuals rather than running one size fits all sessions. The quality of our work as coaches should be of a high standard. This does not only refer to the training sessions as separate units, but most importantly to the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes. Training programmes must be flexible enough that allows for differentiation. This means that the training tasks given should be easily adjustable to the requirements of the individual. This is what we call a player-centred curriculum!
By Philip Cauchi
