Coaching News:

FA Skills Workshop Drills & the STEP process

Posted 1/10/2010

Any queries, please contact Club Coaching Developent Officer, Graeme Davies.

Whilst there are 3 drills that you can chose to just take as drills to copy and use if you want (and nothing more deep than that), for those that are interested there are a couple of themes that the Skills Team wanted to focus some attention on. These are closely related to some of the themes of the youth modules.

Firstly - the STEP process. This basically means finding ways of adapting sessions to fit the needs of individual players within the session. This can be done by varying the Space (S), Task (T), Equipment (E), or People (P). In theory, for example, we can make a technical task harder for higher achievers by using a smaller area or smaller ball or giving them a restriction (eg shoot with left foot only). Alternatively, if we see a session is breaking down we can increase success by increasing an area or overloading a situation by adding additional players to an attack or defence depending on which subject we were working on. We need to be careful about placing restrictions on players or groups though, as there is a risk that we take away their ability to make decisions for themselves in a game situation.

Secondly - managing difference. We all have players with a variety of ability levels (which can be for any number of reasons and we shouldn't assume will always be so) and it can be difficult designing sessions that appropriately challenge individuals at the right level. As Jamie put it, the high achievers get bored and switch off whilst the low achievers lose heart and give up, so we can 'lose' both ends of the spectrum. Recognising this as a potential problem means we can tackle it differently. For example, the set up for the first drill involved three grids, but they weren't of equal size. The smaller grid could be used to make it harder for 'better' players and conversely a larger pitch would make it easier for 'lesser' players, but the task and learning would be the same. By the end of the session one of the pitches had goals, which again can be used to encourage the 'lesser' players (if grouped together) by psychologically rewarding them with the feeling of scoring which they might not ordinarily get. Conversely, the 'best' players were playing as a group and had their task slightly altered in that they alone had to play the 'offside rule'. It is obviously important not to tell the players why they have slightly different sessions within a session (so as not to de-motivate players at the lower ability level) and we should recognise that players have different strengths / weaknesses and that the same player could be an over-achiever in one aspect of the game and an under-achiever in another. The key point is to be flexible and adapt the session to the individual player needs.

Hope some or all of this is of use to you. Many thanks to Jamie and Pavel for the session and the permissions to publish.