Soccer Brain: The 4C Coaching Model for Developing World Class Player Mindsets and a Winning Football Team by Dan Abrahams

Author:Dan Abrahams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: soccer training, coaching soccer, sport psychology, coaching football, football management, mental conditioning, soccer management
Publisher: Bennion Kearny

Tweet: Confidence on the ball is a result of playing with freedom and being decisive. Help them think & train like this & they will play like it

Insist on Mindset

I have deliberately emphasised the insistence of confidence during training. This is a section about developing a culture of confidence at your club or within your coaching structures. But don’t let me mislead you. It is possible and very practical for your players to enjoy instruction enveloped by every aspect of mindset.

“I want to see a focused first touch. Focus on the ball and on moving it just out of your feet. Then make sure you’re clipping a confident pass. Then move to the next cone with intensity – be vocal along the way”

This sentence alone introduces the player to several important mindset messages – be vocal, focus, play with confidence and maintain intensity.

Repetition of these words is crucial for players to be able to build into their training vocabulary. They need to become instantly recognisable and they should be on the lips of players as they train and as they compete. But your insistence helps things go beyond the intellectual and into the emotional. It helps players feel what it’s like to focus, to play with confidence and to compete with intensity. That is what you want them to experience because that is what you want ingrained in their psyche and in their heart and in their feet.

- “Show me some intensity on this exercise. Work, work, work. Head up, receive the ball, release it then make space to get it again. Feel that intensity. I want this intensity repeated on match day. Work with intensity, work with intensity. This is what I want on the pitch.”

“Focus when this corner is taken. Pick up your man and focus on him and the ball. Remember it’s a split focus from man to ball, ball to man. Success as a defender here is all about focus. Focus on the right things and you’ll give yourself a great chance to win the ball if it comes near you. Focus on the right things and it will give you a great chance to stay a step ahead of the man you are marking. Remember, it’s all about focus.”

“This drill is all about reading play and thinking ahead. Remember, the best players are able to read the game – they are 2 steps ahead of everyone else. Reading the game requires playing with your head up and anticipating what you see. Focus and confidence are crucial here. Focus and confidence. Always alert, always sharp, always focusing on the play ahead, and always thinking “what next?” Focus and confidence are what we are training here.”

This is a different set of instructions to what may be considered the norm. Here we are emphasising mindset to bind technique and tactics together and give our students the best chance to execute with the correct mental components.

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