Mental preparation is more than a pep talk before the game. It is a strategic and comprehensive program to get individual players and the team to perform at its best. We will outline all of the elements a coach needs to consider in developing the appropriate mental strategies. Examples will be provided to enhance certain points and concepts.
The People Involved
The following individuals or groups need to be considered:
Individual Players
Each player has their own ideal performance state (IPS), the mental state that allows them to perform best. As coach, you need to identify what that state is. The level to which you need explore this depends on player age, competitive environment and team goals, factors which will be reviewed further down. Suffice it to say that the IPS of a 5 year old in a fun league might just be to feel happy with his friends while that of a college athlete prior to a championship game might be an intense state provoked by visualizing his most aggressive play in the last game.
The Team
Although players have their own IPS, they need to function together as a team. Team dynamics play a key role. How do you get a group of individuals to work together and help each other as a team? As coach, you need to sense the "team spirit" at any one time and you must decide what you want it to be like. For example, if your women's regional team performs best after a 10 minute "social time" prior to warm up, then build that into the schedule. If your team responds to loud and vocal pep talks, deliver them appropriately at the right time.
You - The Coach
How you act and project yourself means more than the words you say. If you want the team to approach a game in a relaxed fashion, you must project a relaxed state of mind. Do not be tight, stern, clenching, rather usem open body language, smile and speak calmly. If you build your team on respecting each other and others, don't be the one yelling and screaming at the referee.
Game Officials
This one is easy. Game officials hardly ever change a call and never respond well to an irate coach. So regardless of how you feel about the official's performance, remain calm. Your best opportunity to take positive influence is to approach the official calmly and factually at half time. If the official doesn't want to talk to you, suck it up and move on.
Parents
If you are coaching non-adults, you likely will deal with the parents of your players. The key to remember is that most parents look out for the interest of their kids. That is natural, they don't have your insight into each player, the team dynamics, etc. Be prepared to prepare the parents. Have a pre-season meeting laying out expectations and accept their input. Lay some ground rules (such as "I will not let the line-up be determined by parents") and set boundaries (appropriate behaviour by parents during games is required). As the season goes on, take time to communicate with parents as a group, as individuals - in writing and in person. Always take time to listen to a patrent's concern.
Media
At high levels of competition, you may deal with media after games, during games or even before games. Develop a strategy of how you want to deal with media - short and factual, humurously, sternly, not at all. Be sure that your media message is consistent with the rest of your messages.
You may ask what all these external people have to do with the mental preparation of your players and team. The connector is the consistency of your message and your behaviour. Your players will observe you and will get feedback from what you say to others and how you behave. If you want your team to play a confident and composed game, then you better portray a confident and composed image at all times.
Player Age
Mental training for different age groups needs to be different. We break these into four groups:
- kids (4-8)
- youth (9-12)
- teens (13-18)
- adults (19+)
There some general mental training concepts for each age group:
Kids (4-8)
Kids just want to have fun. Your job is to motivate them to come to practices and games, and to come back next year. Ignite a passion for the sport in them. Engage kids in fun games that at the same time teach the required skills. Do not run drill that have them standing idle a lot. Let them play different position in games - do not shoe-horn them into certain roles. Add lots of social time around the required practice and game events. If it's hot, have a water gun fight duriong or after or in the middle of a practice. Bring snacks for games. Have a pool party. They need to feel good about the whole soccer experience. be mindful of the fragile egos of the little ones. Don't ever make fun of the chubby boy or treat the shy girl by putting her in the lime light.
Youth (9-12)
Here you can be a little more structured in your approach. You will likely have a mix of those who have played for some years and those who are new to the game (in a recreational environment). You may also have a team of U12 in a competitive league. At this age, the concept of winning and success is taking shape in addition to having fun. The seeds of the idea that winning is a big part of fun are sown. You still ned to be sensitive about the emotional state of individuals and how you deal with them. You can start to talk to these youn athletes about the goals they have. You can observe how they respond to individual input and feedback from you. You can engage the team in short conversations about setting some goals for the season. They will start to understand your review of the last game and how you see them do better or as good the next time. They will develop an interest of how peractices relate to games. Team harmony is still developed through social interactions outside a game or practice event.
Teens (13-18)
Arguably the most difficult group of athletes to deal with. Why? You are dealing with all the joys and challenges of puberty in addition to trying to advance their soccer skills. Hormones are running interference, rebellions are common. Expect to be challenged by individuals or little groups that may form within a team. You need to be very aware of your individuals and what goes on intheir lives and you need to decide how you will deal with them. If you're too tough, they may rebel and quit on you (mentally). If you're too lenient, they may take advantage of you and goof around. Your sensors and diplomatic skills are most taxed with this group. A middle of the road approach often works. Show you team respect. Lay out the ground rules and get their buy-in. Be firm when you need to be and relax when you can afford it. Explain a lot about what you are doing and why so that they will respect you. They will look at your competence and respond to you based on their conclusion.
Adults (19+)
Most likely you will be coaching adults in a competitive setting. Even more so than with teens, your skills and competence will be scrutinized. Engage your team in your thinking, your approach, your strategies for the team. Set goals together and treat them as contracts. The focus here can and should be on individual and team performance, how to optimize each. They understand intuitively that winning is fun and losing is not. Develop communication strategies with your team dealing with losses, winning streaks. The IPS should be explored in depth and each player should have a plan to get into the best mental state before each game. Address the team before a practice, after a practice, before and after games and review objectives going in and results obtained. Be professional with your players and tam and do not over coach them. They don't need endless demonstrations of a drill, they should have the capacity to understand and respond to a quick correction. If you are close to the age of your athletes, avoid the trap of wanting to become a "friend" of every player. Maintain a close and cordial distance. Have rules about behaviour, public conduct and be clear what the consequences of breaking the rules are. Encourage direct communication between individuals, the entire team and you. Choose mature captains and use them to buffer the team from you so that you don't have to deal with all issues all the time.
Competitive Level
We touched on it earlier in some of the examples. Competitive level of your team sets the tone for expectations and mental training. If you coach teens in a recreational league that does not practice or rarely practices, don't treat the team as if they were playing for the world cup. The less competitive the league, the more the elements of fun and social interaction take precedence. If you are a coach who is driven to win, dp not coach recreational soccer. On the other hand, if you are not driven to win, do not coach teams that compete at regional or national levels. This seems obvious but failure to recognize the competitive environment has led to many frustrating and unsuccessful situations.
Gender
Coaching male and female athletes is different. Books have been written on this topic and we couldn't do it justice here. At the risk of offending someone, we will state some observations:
Females need social time with each other, Team bonding and harmony are important. Developing relationships throughout the season is a definite goal of most. Public criticism of females is an absolute no-no. When the team is in harmony, individuals perform best, so spend time on creating that harmony and positive environment with females. Females also tend to respect the coach more and are easier to instruct. They appear to try harder to imlement instructions and are less likely to improvise. Tactically they are easy to coach because they seem to have a built-in capacity to support each other on the field.
Males also need social time, but that social time is closely related to the game of soccer, alot of it occurs after the game. Males work more as individuals and can be more concerned with individual performance than team play. You need to be astute in providing lots of opportunity for individual improvement. Take more time practicing tactics and team play. Males generally can handle direct and to the point feedback, positive or negative. they are motivated by opportunities for improvement. They will require more discipline, particularly in the teen age group.
Situation
Have a strategy for preparing your team for practice, for a game, for a road trip. Different situations require different game plans in terms of mental preparation. Discuss with your team on how to deal with media. Prepare for half time speeches during a great and an awful game. How do you get the most out in what is left in a game and the next game. Consider short and long term. Be prepared for dealing with unfriendly opposition (players, coaches and fans).
Strategy
How do you pull all of it together to have the best mental training for your team? Develop a strategy !!!
Consider all of the factors discussed earlier and then:
- understand the vision of the organization (club, league) in which you are coaching and be consistent with that vision.
- develop a specific mission for your team, with the input of all critical stakeholders (players, parents, club officials)
- Set specific short term and long term goals for your team. Here, engage mostly the players because they need to make it happen.
- Develop strategies for yourself, each player, the team on how to best deliver the goals. Follow through on implementing the strategies.
Above all, be consistent, fair, respectful and professional - and communicate at the right frequency delivering the appropriate messages at the right time.
Our Practice Books And Resources
Kids Soccer Drills & Practices
Youth Soccer Drills & Practices
Competitive Soccer Drills & Practices
Soccer Goalie Drills & Practices
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