"Children must be taught how to think, not what to think" - Margeret Mead
Many a youth Football team has a player who gets easily distracted. Just yesterday I had to say the same players' name at least 10 times as she was looking elsewhere/lying on the floor/speaking to her mate...it's not an isolated situation for any one coach. Where we can seperate ourselves from the coach that gets frustrated is how we cope and manage these personality traits in a young player.
Consider the Day they've had
I once had a session with a girls team that ran from 7-8:30pm, in the middle of February. It was a girls' team who had already been at school for 7 hours. Following that, they had a basketball game and then came to practice for an hour and a half with me. In total they had a 12 hour day of listening to people tell them what to do. If you can name me an adult that remains focused for that long I would be surprised.
While this was an isolated situation, the fact is that most players we work with have had a day at school prior to Football practice. Most of us are likely unaware how much work they have had to do. Or what foods they have or haven't eaten throughout the day. Or what kind of sleep they have had. Or whether they have had an argument with a friend. Without asking, we just don't know.
The Football Association heavily promote a person-centred approach to coaching in their current courses. Burnley manager Sean Dyche has mentioned being interested in his players thoughts as well as how he can improve them. If this is good enough for the upper echelons of professional football, then it certainly is for children.
Set an arrival activity for your players and use the time to sepak to them about their day and how they're feeling. Just asking them might be enough to get them focused for someone that clearly cares about them. If not, no worries. You'll have a greater insight on where their head is at.
Understand how a Child's Brain Develops
"Stop doing that, you're being so immature."
Ever said this? Or perhaps you remember hearing it when you were growing up. It's a common expression among adults who forget what it is like to be a child. They are also unaware that the brain is the last organ to develop, taking 25 years to mature. In particular, the frontal lobe is responsible for judgement, impulse control and decision-making, yet is the last section of the brain to develop. This explains why teenagers are the way they are, but also why our foundation age players will have moments where they seem "away with the fairies".
On the plus side, the brains of adolescents are wired to learn quicker than adults, meaning our development plans will work. Yay!
If they are having a focus-free moment, give them a quick time-out. They may very well need a moment to get it out of their system.
Make them the Star
One of the most fascinating things about the human race is how we all have different personalities. This is even more true for children, who are still finding themselves. I have coached all sorts of personality types over the years - shy, outgoing, friendly, aggressive, kind, nervous and many more. One thing that those who lose focus have had in common, at least in my experience, is that they are either bored or hyper. Either way, making them the star of the show can help alleviate or embrace these characteristics respctively.
Making a player the star doesn't mean lavishing them with praise at the expense of everyone else. This would be poor practice. It does mean using them for demonstrations, making them captain or giving them chance to answer if you ask a question. These little adaptions will help stroke the hyper energy that a player has, or keep them active if boredom is beginning to set in.
Shorten how long you Talk for
Many coaches love a good talk. I've evaluated coaches in the past who have spent over 50% of a session talking, while the players stood still and listened. I'm not immune from this either, often telling myself to shut up and let the players get on with things. Children are ultimately at practice to play football and while we want them to learn as well, less is more when it comes to the information that we give.
The FA recommend a 70% ball rolling time. Speaking with a category 3 Academy Director earlier this week, they go a step further and aim for 80%. In order to achieve this in a standard 1 hour session, we must have the players active - playing or discussing (not to be confused with being dictated to) - for roughly 45 minutes. When we take into account water breaks and explaining/demonstrating how the practice works, this gives us around 5 minutes to deliver our group coaching points.
Find a way to make your coaching points more concise. If players have been talked to all day by their teachers, then it is up to us to control the learning environment that we place them into.