“Meet the players where they are and start from there.”
This simple principle from coach Ray Power sounds obvious. Of course you start where players are. Where else would you start?
Yet most coaches do the opposite. They arrive with a vision and try to force players into it - regardless of whether those players are ready.
The Vision Trap
I’ve fallen into this trap. Most coaches have.
You take over a new team with a clear picture in your head. Maybe you want to play out from the back. Press high and win the ball quickly. Create fluid attacking movement with quick combinations.
You’ve seen it work. You understand it. You can visualise it perfectly.
Then you meet your actual players.
They can’t pass 15 yards accurately under pressure. They don’t understand spacing. They panic when opponents close them down. Your beautiful vision meets brutal reality.
What happens next determines everything.
The Frustration Spiral
Most coaches respond to this gap by pushing harder on the vision. More instruction. More correction. More frustration when players can’t execute what seems so clear in the coach’s mind.
“I overestimated the level I could get these boys to. Very humbling but it helped my approach - learned the hard way to meet them where they are instead of where I want them to be.”
That honest reflection from a coach in our community captures what many experience. The gap between vision and reality creates failure - for players and coaches.
Sessions become corrective rather than developmental. Every activity highlights what players can’t do instead of building on what they can. Confidence erodes. Enjoyment disappears.
Nobody’s getting better. Everyone’s getting frustrated.
What Meeting Them Actually Means
Accurate Assessment First
Before planning anything, genuinely understand where your players are:
- What can they currently do technically?
- What do they understand tactically?
- What’s their physical development stage?
- What’s their mental and emotional readiness?
Not where you hope they are. Not where they should be for their age. Where they actually are right now.
This requires observation without judgment. Watch. Note. Understand. Resist the urge to immediately fix everything you see.
Start From Reality
Your first sessions should work at their current level. Create success before introducing stretch.
If they can’t pass 10 yards accurately, don’t design sessions requiring 30-yard switches. If they don’t understand basic positioning, don’t introduce complex rotations.
Start with what they can do. Let them experience competence. Build from that foundation.
Progressive Challenge
From the reality baseline, add incremental challenge:
- Slightly faster execution
- Slightly more defensive pressure
- Slightly more tactical complexity
- Slightly less time and space
Each step builds on demonstrated competence. Each stretch is achievable because the foundation exists.
This isn’t lowering standards. It’s building toward standards intelligently.
Why This Works Psychologically
Confidence Compounds
Players who experience success become confident. Confident players take risks. Risk-taking accelerates development.
Starting too advanced creates failure. Failure creates fear. Fear makes players cautious. Caution limits development.
The path to your ambitious vision runs through early success, not early struggle.
Enjoyment Creates Retention
Players return to things they enjoy. They enjoy things they can do successfully.
Meeting them where they are creates enjoyment. Enjoyment creates retention. Retention enables the long-term development your vision requires.
The talented player who quits because football stopped being fun never reaches their potential. The average player who keeps playing because they love it often exceeds expectations.
Trust Builds Through Understanding
When players see you understand their level - really understand it, not just tolerate it - they trust your coaching.
When they feel you’re asking the impossible, they doubt your competence. Why should they listen to someone who clearly doesn’t understand what they can do?
Trust enables coaching. Coaching enables development. Development moves everyone toward the vision.
Practical Application
The Assessment Month
Spend your first month primarily observing. Run sessions, but make watching the priority.
What can each player do comfortably? Where do they struggle? What do they understand? What confuses them?
This investment in understanding pays off all season.
The Reality Baseline
For each player, record honest assessments:
- Technical strengths and gaps
- Tactical understanding level
- Physical development stage
- Mental approach and confidence
This becomes your development starting point. Not your hoped-for starting point. Your actual one.
Session Design From Truth
Design sessions where:
- Most players can succeed with their current ability
- Some elements require effort and concentration
- Small stretches challenge everyone appropriately
Widespread failure means you’ve misjudged the level. Adjust immediately.
Regular Recalibration
As players develop, reassess. What was stretching last month might be comfortable now. New challenges become appropriate.
Meeting them where they are isn’t a September activity. It’s an ongoing practice throughout the season and across years.
Your Vision Still Matters
This isn’t about abandoning ambition. Your vision indicates direction - where you’re heading together.
But the vision is the destination, not the starting point.
Getting from where they are to where you want them may take years, not weeks. Patience isn’t optional.
And sometimes - this is the hard part - you’ll realise your vision isn’t appropriate for these particular players. Adapt your vision to their reality when necessary. The players you have are the players you coach.
The Simple Truth
Stop coaching the players you wish you had. Start coaching the players you actually have.
Meet them where they are. Build from there. Keep your vision as the direction of travel.
That’s how development actually happens.
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