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Author: Jamie Birch🔥 Date: Category: Likes: 0 URL: https://www.skool.com/coachingacademy/checking-for-understanding-as-a-coach-4-tips

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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥

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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • Jul 28Probe, don’t preach is great advice.2Reply

Kevin Middleton⭐🔥

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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • Jul 28Probe, don’t preach is great advice.2Reply

Kevin Middleton⭐🔥

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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • Jul 28Probe, don’t preach is great advice.2Reply

Stephen Kavanagh

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Stephen Kavanagh • Jul 28Thanks @Jamie Birch this is great. As mentioned before this is a real focus for me to improve.2Reply

Jamie Birch🔥

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Jamie Birch🔥 • Jul 28@Stephen Kavanagh Glad you like it - keep us updated with your progress. No one’s ever perfect at it but i certainly helps with engagement and player development.1Reply

Jamie Birch🔥

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Jamie Birch🔥 • Jul 29More thoughts1:412Reply

Kevin Middleton⭐🔥

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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • Jul 29@Jamie Birch Brilliant video Jamie, I agree that in the early years, you’re concentrating on drilling the drill and less about checking for understanding. That really chimed with me.And it is why I’ve supplied coaching prompts with every single exercise that’s defined in the Game Model Course.These prompts are for coaches, but they’re player-centred. They check for understanding, but also make players think. Football intelligence comes from thinking inside the exercise, understanding why certain… See more2Reply

Stephen Kavanagh

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Stephen Kavanagh • Jul 29One reason I’m trying to improve my questions and checking for understanding is from direct experience. I have asked the kids a question and found they don’t have in their heads the thing I thought I was putting there. This is definitely to do with structure, language, naming the thing consistently, spotting it consistently and checking regularly. This is all me, not them, and it is a critical challenge for my coaching.2Reply

Jamie Birch🔥

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Jamie Birch🔥 • Jul 29@Stephen Kavanagh the fact that you’re consciously aware of it and trying to improve it gives you an edge already. Do you use visual aids at all? Sometimes when explaining a session a small tactics board can really help set the scene. Doesn’t have to be war and peace but just to land the point visually, it’s fun to ask them to place the markers where they think they should be if x or y happened as well.1Reply

Stephen Kavanagh

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Stephen Kavanagh • Jul 29I’ve tried in the past with not much success as they get bored really quickly. But I’ve used it indoors with more success when we’ve got 3 teams, 2 on and 1 off - you’ve got 4 minutes to use the board and it isn’t stopping them from an activity. It is harder outdoors, but I’ll have a think about how I can utilise it. Maybe even when setting out a new practice activity I can use it to describe the why - when we’ve got the ball, in this area of the pitch in this situation (I’m wholesale adopting Moment/Slice/Situation).1Reply

Steven Hall

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Steven Hall • Jul 30Hi this is brilliant advice I think as a grassroots coach you spend the time thinking and executing the drill and adapting around player numbers/positions they play and how they fit into what your drill is about that once the drill is running and then they are doing it well, sometimes you feel almost a sense of relief it’s worked out, that you don’t check that the players fully understand how it relates to the game in a Sunday. I’ve done loads of drills before and then in a Sunday it just doesn’… See more2Reply

Kevin Middleton⭐🔥

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Kevin Middleton⭐🔥 • Jul 30@Steven Hall Good feedback, Steven. Very honest. Thank you for that.As Doug Lemov says in his amazing book, The Coach’s Guide to Teaching……There is a difference between “I taught it” and “they learned it.”That quote has stuck with me since I read it. I think understanding comes from checking and repeating the core concepts over and over again.2Reply

Jamie Birch🔥

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Jamie Birch🔥 • Jul 30@Steven Hall Thanks Steven, i think the important bit is we shouldn’t beat ourselves up about it - we ALL go through this stage, it’s a lot of pressure - 10-16 players, staring at you, weighing you up, potentially parents watching the session as well - when you’re new or in those early years you just want the structure of the session to land. Experience teaches you to relax outside of that as you know how to adapt when players are missing or when things break down at that allows you to think in … See more1Reply

Chris Unruh

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Chris Unruh • Aug 1Participation Overall is low enough that it kinda sorts itself out. There’s a rec level where generally parents couldn’t care less or have very low expectations. Then there’s a development level which is basically 3x the soccer over the year and some start to take it too seriously. We have open borders within the city and if you want to play development and the check cashes you’re in.Just starting to hear parents be more concerned with winning. Generally coaches pretty good and focus us certainl… See more0Reply

Chris Unruh

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Chris Unruh • Aug 1I consider myself a bit more of a hybrid. I think developing players is primary but that there is nothing wrong with competing and trying to win at the same time. There’s also nothing wrong with losing. It doesn’t make you a bad person. I find when winning still matters it helps immensely to lose as it gives opportunities to get buy in to avoid losing again.Maybe I’m a triple hybrid because I also want them to have fun. It’s doable but takes effort and walking a fine line.1Reply

Jamie Birch🔥

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Jamie Birch🔥 • Aug 1@Chris Unruh there’s nothing wrong with being comfortable with all of those things. That’s to your credit. I’ve always thought losing to be important, and how you learn to deal with loss as a player or coach. It builds character. I think you can see who’s got character when you’re a few goals down, how are the players responding, how are they communicating now, are they still brave enough to get on the ball and influence etc.1Reply

Chris Unruh

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Chris Unruh • Aug 1@Jamie Birch Totally agree. We’re kind of in a world where everyone needs to be a winner and losing is somehow completely avoidable. No posted standings or results til 14 here. What is so wrong about losing a team game? That’s where the growth can be developed so so much easier. And you’re not going to win all of your life either1Reply