Sports_Football_Coaching

It can be seen that for the sport of football I have chosen to adopt a 3-5-2 formation for my team at Bolton Wanderers International Soccer School, as they are too defensive minded and this new formation will ensure they have a more attacking approach to competition. I will show I intend to prepare the team to execute the tactical system in competition, through the use of technical sessions, physical sessions and what psychological aspects I will include. Research has suggested that it is not simply the total amount of practice that is important, but the nature of experiences during practice that is critical to the acquisition of expertise (Côté, Baker, & Abernethy, 2007). Showing how the nature of what is incorporated into the technical, physical and psychological practices will result in the implementation of the tactical system being successful. The Formation (3-5-2) How this will be utilised with the team, it would be useful to first begin with a review of the basic concepts in football, before dwelling in detail in a discussion of football strategy and tactics. As might be expected, most coaches have an idea about their team’s capability. This capability is estimated according to physical-technical tests, the coach’s experience with the team, or a combination of the two. Forming an idea about the team’s capability, a coach then defines the appropriate strategy. To formulate a strategy, a coach must answer these questions: • Is our team an offensive team or defensive' • What are the advantages and disadvantages of our team in defence' • What are the advantages and disadvantages of our team in offence' Attacking In Central Areas After identifying the proposed tactical system which will be adopted by my team, the technical sessions which will have to be utilised in order for player’s to be understanding of their roles and responsibilities within the formation have to be notified. Attacking and in central areas is a technical session which is of paramount importance when playing within the 3-5-2 formation. As when attacking in central areas the main aim is to overload the opposing defence. There is the two attackers and five midfield players therefore when attacking in central areas two of the three attacking midfield players are needed to support the two strikers and overload the centre of the pitch allowing the two wide player’s freedom to attack around the outside and into the box as this overload will create confusion within the opposing defence as to what player’s to follow and when to drop or when to press, therefore this confusion can be exploited and with sessions such as this this coaches runs on and off the ball and will give the players roles and responsibilities when attacking as to what runs to make, timing of runs, and defensive stability and team shape is maintained with the third central midfield player holding back with the three defenders to create good team shape and not commit to many player’s when attacking, therefore this sessions is ideal in order to attack successfully. Furthermore as can be seen the session is a functional practice which is realistic to a game situation and re-creates what would happen when live in match play, which enables the player’s to gain a visual understanding of where to go and what decisions to make, as sport expertise develops through interactions between an individual and specific performance environments (Davids & Baker, 2007; Farrow, Baker, & MacMahon, 2008). Showing how playing in a realistic environment to a game situation will benefit the players and help them visualise what is happening. Defending with three at the back When defending within the 3-5-2 formation it is critical that the player’s stick to their roles and responsibilities, and as the team is very defensively orientated this will be natural for most of them to defend effectively. When looking at the holding central midfield player of the three in midfield they need to sit in front of the defence and acts as a screen to any through balls or penetrating runs/passes, and the wide player’s act as wing backs therefore they track back linking in with recovery runs and tracking to ensure a compact shape is formed which is hard to break down, and when possession is gained the wide player’s break high and wide allowing the two attacking midfield player’s again to attack showing how roles and responsibilities are given when attacking and defending in this formation allowing the player’s to be successful. Links in with defending from the font as the nearest player to the ball closes down, to ensure that pressure is relieved from the defence and the attacking nature of the 3-5-2 formation can be exploited and utilised to its full potential. Attacking from midfield third into final third and attacking quickly on gaining possession Links in with attacking in central areas, as when possession is gained wide player’s burst up the pitch into wide areas, and midfield player’s show overload in the box. Making the pitch as high and as wide as possible is important to create space as a team and exploit it with the overload. Team shape is maintained through defensive midfield player and three defenders ensuring team is compact and secure, with numerous attacking options if a cross is to be successfully put into the box an overload of players can run into the box with a midfield player holding the edge ensuring that maximum pressure is put on any opposing defence. SLIDE 7 Further technical elements Further technical elements which could be incorporated into the training in order for my team to carry out the proposed tactical system (3-5-2 formation) include possession games i.e. 3vs 1 and 4vs 2 possession which concentrate fully on overloading and keeping possession which are vital components to success when playing the proposed formation. Research supports the inclusion of mainly short and occasionally opposed passing exercises to enhance passing and team possession skills (Pronks 1991). Psychological aspects When looking at psychological training which the player’s will need in order to carry out the 3-5-2 formation it can be seen that research into the effectiveness of psychological interventions is positive showing its ability to enhance performance (Greenspan & Feltz, 1989; Vealey, 1994; Weinberg & Comar, 1994). Therefore the use of psychological training will enhance the player’s understanding and implementation of the formation. It can be seen that Motivational General-Mastery (MG-M) imagery will be incorporated into the training schedule as this imagery represents effective coping and mastery of challenging situations, such as imagining being mentally tough and confident during a competitive situation, linking in with mental toughness and showing how the use of this will ensure players can stick to their roles and responsibilities i.e. managing difficult circumstances and challenging situations having a positive mind set and sticking to the roles and responsibilities set. As the players can visualise staying mentally tough and sticking to their roles i.e. not straying out of position in order for a successful outcome as a strong mind set will act as a catalyst to this tactical formation being successful. Research shows how imagery is used on a large scale by athletes as a performance enhancing technique (Smith and Holmes, 2004). This links in with self-efficacy showing how different situations i.e. practice and real life competitive situations can alter one’s mind set and ensure that when under pressure a performer can become vulnerable and predetermine their failure due to somatic anxiety built up within the body imagery can control this and act as a catalyst to eradicating mental weakness and overriding negative thoughts emotions can be controlled and success achieved. There have been a number of studies demonstrating that imagery can improve levels of self-confidence in a variety of different tasks (e.g., Callow, Hardy, & Hall, 2001; Mamassis & Doganis, 2004; Short et al., 2002). In addition, it has been demonstrated that imagery interventions can enhance levels of confidence (e.g., McKenzie & Howe, 1997). This links in with mental toughness and the inclusion of this as mental tough ness will be needed to carry out this formation and stick to roles and responsibilities and work hard when barriers are placed in front of the player’s. Sport psychologists (researchers and practitioners), coaches, sports commentators, sports fans, and athletes acknowledge the importance of mental toughness in sporting performance (Goldberg, 1998; Hodge, 1994; Tunney, 1987; Williams, 1988). Mental toughness can generate confidence and ensure that a strong mind-set is achieved and goals are stuck to which is of paramount importance when carrying out this formation, as mentally tough athletes have self-belief in order to achieve within their sport. (Jones et al., 2002, Loehr, 1992, Fourie & Potgieter, 2001). As a recent study by Golby et al (2003) shows how the use of a psychological tool to enhance performance in conjunction with technical, tactical, and physical training will result in all areas being improved, as it has been argued that effective psychological preparation cannot stand alone, and should be integrated with all other elements of the athletic preparation, namely physical, (Vealey, 1988) and physical, tactical, and technical (Blumenstein, Lidor, & Tenenbaum, 2005). Physical aspects When looking at what physical training needs to be integrated with the 3-5-2 formation in order to employ it, it can be see that, elite footballers have a very demanding schedule having to train 5 – 6 days per week (Hodgson-Phillips, Standen, & Batt, 1998; Stephenson et al., 1996), often performing multiple training sessions each day with many technically demanding sessions (Gabbett, 2002b). As a result, the physiological characteristics of professional football players are well developed, as well as technical and tactical attributes, as through training this regularly a player’s mindset becomes one which is efficient when carrying out technical skills and being tactically aware, as it is constantly being pinned into their mindset as the player’s I coach at Bolton Wanderers train every day like professional player’s and play on a Saturday against professional clubs every week having the same demands placed on them as professional player’s therefore they are physically strong and fit. The physical elements show examples of an intense aerobic session would be incorporated which is realistic to a game with movements such as dribbling, sprinting, jumping and turning with rest periods incorporated to make the physical training realistic to the same movements experienced within a game and show with short bursts of intense activity and then rest periods to follow, as research shows how It has been estimated that approximately 80-90% of performance is spent in low to moderate intensity activity whereas the remaining 10-20% are high intensity activities (Bangsbo, 1994a, 1997; O’Donoghue, 1998; Reilly and Thomas, 1976; Rienzi et al., 2000). This shows the demands of playing football in all positions and emphasises how players are working hard for short periods of time with periods of low intensity included. The 3-5-2 formation incorporates lots of recovery runs and tracking back, as well as explosive speed to attack with an overload of player’s therefore this physical session represents these game related actions with tracking runs, intense bouts of physical activity and turning to track back/recover, showing how such a physical session will help the player’s perform in the 3-5-2 formation. Speed Endurance Session The speed endurance session links in with the previous physical training which needs to be incorporated with the 3-5-2 formation, as again it can be seen it shows the width of a pitch was used realistic to what the players experience when playing in a game situation.