Practice Isn’t Only About Player Development. Practice Is Also About YOUR Development!

After finishing my monthly phone call with Gary to update him on some projects I’m working on, I started to sift through some things I had saved on my computer. I was looking to see if there was anything else that I needed to talk to him about. Some were ideas for articles, some were ideas for podcasts. I guess you could say I was taking a little bit of inventory.

Then, I came across this short video and it reminded me of something I’ve been wanting to spotlight.

When I first started watching it, I struggled to remember exactly why I saved it. But in the last 15 seconds of the video, it hit me.

All too often someone is forgotten when soccer people discuss the subjects of practice and development.

Who is that person?

You, the coach.

Sure, there are a plethora of educational opportunities out there for you. You can learn about this drill or that drill. There are tons of books you can read and videos you can watch.

But how often do you hear any type of discussion about coaches actually practicing any type of material? Or how often do you hear about coaches perfecting their delivery? Or how often do you hear about coaches attempting to master their execution?

It’s rare.

But seriously, think about your own development as a coach.

How often are you practicing? I don’t mean taking courses, reading books, or watching videos. I mean actually practicing your stuff.

How often are you realistically working on the delivery of your message and your execution?

I’m not trying to give you a homework assignment or say you should be talking to yourself in the mirror.

Maybe I’m just pointing out the obvious, but the two or three sessions that you have with your players every week are actually your practices, too.

And what you choose to do during that time will impact your delivery, your execution, and your development as a coach as well as the development of your players.

I’ll probably tackle some more of this topic in upcoming podcast episodes. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher if you want to make sure you get it.

The bottom line is that if you choose to “mix it up” every week and have no real vision or plan, your execution will never improve and you are never going to master anything. And neither will your players.