Jamie
Hello and welcome to CoachCast by England Football Learning. The brand new coaching podcast designed to give you expert insight, session ideas and a platform to discuss your coaching questions and challenges. I'm Jamie...
Louise
And I'm Louise. In each episode of this series, one of our experts dissect a specific topic then speaks to a grassroots coach ith the aim of helping them and you develop more skilful players. So here we are back again with another episode of CoachCast. In today's episode, we're gonna be talking about 'finishing', what it is and how you can work on it with your players.
Jamie
And the expert taking us through this topic joins us in the studio live now. It's Sarah Lowden. Hi Sarah, how are you?
Sarah
I'm good, thanks, Jamie. How are you?
Jamie
Yeah, not too bad, thank you very much. Great to have you in.
Sarah
Yeah, it's really nice to be here.
Louise
Thanks for your time today. Before we start, do you want to tell our listeners a little bit more about yourself and your role at the FA?
Sarah
Yeah, no problem. So, my name's Sarah Lowden. I work as part of the grassroots department. My role is Diversity and Inclusion Regional Development Officer and I work with grassroots cultures to support them working in the game.
Louise
Fantastic. Let's make a start by asking what does 'finishing' mean?
Sarah
This is the million-dollar question. So finishing, I think if we asked three different people that were working in football, they might have a different opinion. So an example of that would be, finishing in somebody's mind might be, well, it's final third play, it's getting the ball out wide, it's working with strikers or it's working on crossing and finishing. For some other people, they might think it's kind of the technical repetition of ball striking. So dead ball situations, moving balls, they might just think it's actually the execution and the ball-striking element of finishing, where it might be you work with one player and you do a lot of repeated practice, for example, to a goal. It's really important that we define what it is because some people could call that attacking play in general. So for me, and I guess that the importance of what I'm going to talk about today is around the actual skills associated with finishing. So where it occurs on the pitch, what kind of skills you need to be good at getting yourself into good goal-scoring opportunities, the timing skills, the movement skills, the things that are associated around where a player might be in the box and what kind of challenges and things they have to get past to actually be successful at scoring. So that will be the lens for me today in terms of those different skills associated before, during and after the execution of actually the final action in front of goal.
Jamie
What some of the different ways that players can score a goal?
Sarah
Yeah, so there are lots of different ways. I think we've done a brilliant analysis so far on the men's Euros that was done just recently in the summer. If you look at the stats that were collected on that, obviously a lot of inside-foot strikes; a lot of strikes that you might define as kind of like a lacy shot, so at the top of the foot; headers; volleys; whipped, it might be a chip. So there are loads of different ways that actually you can score a goal and that's what I would call the 'final action'. So literally, what part of the body does it hit off you before it goes in the net? And the percentage of this might look different if you compare grassroots football to other areas of the game, like professional men's or women's matches, for example, because I know the analysis was based on that. So sometimes we've got to be careful not to get too literal with the stats and what we see actually at the very, very top level because that looks so different at grassroots football, and it's important that we understand that context and we think about that actually when we're planning practices, because the context is the most important thing. So whether you're working with adult players, young players, taking that into context is the most important thing when you're looking at how goals are scored and what kind of skills you need to develop.
Louise
Can you think of any professional players that showcase those techniques well and that would be good examples for us to learn from?
Sarah
For me when I look at perception skills of a finisher, so again, looking at what do they do before they're in that position or the ball comes to them before they actually have that final action? What do they do during in terms of their techniques or how do they execute that? Their body positioning, what kind of technique they might use on their foot, for example, their balance, and then actually how they follow up that finish. A key player for me would definitely be Mo Salah. I just think he's so clever in terms of how he positions himself and how he uses disguise to get shots off in a box that's got lots of defenders in it, loads of traffic and he's still able to twist and turn his body and be able to get shots off from all different areas of the box, for example. So yeah, he would definitely be a player that I would say is excellent at this. And if we were to look back quite a few years ago now, I think that one of my favourites is Jermain Defoe. So if you watch the clips from the goals that he's scored over the years, he's someone that I described as a real natural finisher in and around the box. So the skills that really stand out for him is around his movement, his timing and his positioning that help him score the goals. So he had a really excellent ability to score in and out of the box with both feet, which is really, really impressive and how he was able to kind of scan when the ball was coming from different angles and be able to know what kind of technique he needed to execute as the ball was traveling, as the ball was coming from behind, in front, and he had all those range of skills to be able to adapt his body position and his technique to finish. If we're looking at the female game, I think Ellen White is someone that I would describe again as a really clever finisher. Again, positioning. I think again it comes back to these perception skills around. These players are really good at knowing where the ball's gonna drop, the spin on the ball and therefore what kind of technique they're gonna need to use, how they're going to adjust their bodies in terms of the angles that they're at, where the defenders are, how fast that ball might be coming in for example, and they're really good at picking up all this information and cues around, "Okay, how do I need to adapt myself now to make sure that this final action is a finish on goal and is successful?" And one thing I'd say about Ellen White as well is her ability to always get the second phase. So sometimes not all finishes are clean, and what I mean by clean is that it leaves your foot or part of your body and it goes straight in the net. Actually someone that I would describe as really good at doing that second phase stuff is Ellen White, knowing that "Right, if another teammate has had a strike at goal, I then know here to be in terms of the rebound to then finish it." So again massive on this perception skills and just knowing the areas of the box and where to be and when to score.
Louise
So it sounds like there are a lot of skills involved in finishing, but would you say that finishing as a whole is a key skill? And when should coaches try and introduce it to their players?
Sarah
I think it's the most important part of the game. If we score goals, we win games. It is a scoring game. If we can get kids and players to be really confident and in the mindset that they want to score goals, they want to practice this skill in a range of different techniques, then I think that is the most important thing we need to go after. So, going back to that question, you asked, when do we bring it in? We bring it in as early as possible. So for example, in practices, do we have practices where if we don't have an actual goal in terms of a goal with a net, can we have practices where the end purpose of that practice is to finish into a target because that's the game? Actually, we're moving the ball across players or individuals to get the ball into a target. So having practices that are directional, having practices that have an end action in terms of a target or a passing gate or an area for the ball to get to because that is the game.
Jamie
So while everyone loves scoring and again, as you said, it is a key skill, finishing sessions can be quite chaotic and messy because footballs are flying everywhere. So what would your advice be for coaches who may be reluctant to focus on it because of that?
Sarah
Yeah, I can understand why perhaps some coaches might shy away from finishing practices and games because you might think, "Oh, I need a lot of footballs." It does help to have as many as you can for repetition purposes, but actually, if you're in a situation where, I don't know, you might have limited footballs or limited space, it's all about how clever we can be to design the practices. So where you place the goals for example, I know that's a common thing. So where I've tended to coach, the goals tend to be right by the fence. So sometimes, yeah, I'll admit to you, I get a bit nervous because I'm thinking, "Right, if this goes in the top bins or they aim high, I know it's going right over the fence." So actually what I do is I just bring the goal forward, if you've got the space. And again, it's just kind of planning for that and if you are limited and you don't want to lose your footballs, especially if there are trees behind there and there's no chance of you getting the footballs back, it's just being a little bit clever and thinking about, "Right, what can I expect from this practice and then where do I need to adapt things? So there's also an assumption in the question that you've asked of me, actually. It would appear to me that if the coaches are worried about footballs flying everywhere, then it might tell me that a lot of the practices are probably unopposed, standing in lines, waiting to dribble and strike the ball without any pressure of defenders or perhaps a practice where it's just constant shots being taken every few seconds, which in some cases I've seen and I feel more sorry for the goalkeepers because actually we need to remember that they're included in finishing practices as well for their own development. So the first thing that I say is try and always include some transition in the practices. So for example, you might have a 3v3 or a 3v2 practice with a goal and a target at either end. This keeps the practice real to the game, it allows lots of transition both in and out of possession because remember, we might want to include counterattacking in there, which is a big thing for obviously developing our finishing skills, as well. So how do I react on the counter-attack? An area that's not really been mentioned a lot is around the psychology of scoring and the motivation to actually want to score the goals and keep being resilient, to keep trying. Sometimes you have to be quite patient to wait for your chance, as well. So how can you keep that concentration in games to wait for your chance to get another chance to score? So if I give you an example at the at the top level, strikers might only get 7, 8, 9, 10 chances per game if they're lucky to convert into goals. So the ability to refocus yourself and perhaps when you miss or make a mistake is really a key skill and we can encourage that as coaches, as well. So yeah, in terms of when you're talking about the chaos, it's definitely about embracing it. If I was working with slightly older players, I would certainly factor that into the practice design because that is the game. A striker is a big part of the game. So for you to sense moments in areas and situations that allow you to get into those goal-scoring opportunities, we've got to allow for that in our practice design. So when we talk about the 'before', during and after moments of finishing, I'd say you need to be really skilful in different ways across those three. So for example, before, it might be how am I sensing the space and the situation that is around me? How can I place myself in a good position depending on who has the ball, how many defenders you have around you, and also an important one which is sometimes difficult to replicate in training is the state of the game. So if we've got 10 minutes left and it's 3-2 and I might feel under some real pressure to score or I've got to take my chances, how does that affect your decision making when you're in front of goal? If you winning, you might be able to take more risks. So again, these are just things that we want to observe as coaches and be mindful of, and it is a real skill, but we can adapt certain conditions and constraints that actually can help us develop that side of the game, as well. If I look at the 'during', so actually the during action of goal scoring, do you have good movement skills and timing to actually get into a good position with your body as the ball arrives? Is the technique good to secure your first touch or your strike? Are you clever to perhaps use good deception skills on and off the ball to give yourself the best chance to score, as well? So they're all things that you can look at in the 'during' and then if we think about the 'after', this might look like, are you ready to attack a second ball where maybe it hits the goalkeeper or a post or have you just hit the ball and got a strike off and then just stood still? Can we encourage that? Because we know that you might get second phase where it hits off something or a defender. Can you position yourself in a way where you can actually finish that a second time around? So in summary, a practice that allows some of the above elements to be practiced is good, avoiding repetition from the exact same point, as well, I would say it's a good way to develop those skills. So if you start a practice for example, from exactly the same point every time, they're probably going to get good at knowing when the ball is in that position there and maybe struggle to adapt to when the ball comes in from different angles. So if you can mix that up and change the way that you start the ball or you start the practice for example, that will have a really good return, as well. And having practice where players can connect with one another as well as important and reading the situations of your teammates. You know, you always hear about how the perfect combination is two pairs of strikers or two players. So that connectivity part between teammates is really, really important again and knowing my strengths of my teammates and what movements they're they're likely to do or where they're likely to pass the ball now. So having chaos practices, I think that's the reason why they're good to have because there's so much that goes on in there, and so much for their learning that it's just really good to develop those skills.
Jamie
So thinking about realism, I suppose if I can take your mind back to maybe some sessions when you were younger, certainly when I was younger, I had some of these sessions. It's kind of a stereotypical finishing practice, where a coach would lay the ball off for you, you're all in the line, you take the shot, then go to the back of the queue and wait to go again. There's still learning in that but is that an approach that is still needed?
Sarah
I can understand why that might be a go-to for coaches because again, if I go back to the first question, you asked me about what is finishing and how we define that? In some coaches' minds that might be what it is. So can you literally with no pressure, just you and the football, get that ball in the back of the net? And I can understand where they come from and I've done that in my times as well and actually I think that there is a place for it, if you're working with players who maybe don't have the technical experience or they have not been involved in football a long time and it's something that they're literally learning is, how do I pass or strike a ball? I don't think there's too much wrong with it, but just don't spend a lot of time on it because actually if I spend, 90% of my time developing the finishing skills and the practice looks like that they're learning a wrong habit because if you look at how goals are scored in the game, look at how many players are involved, where does the ball come from before that final action before a goal is scored? What kind of time and pressure is involved when that player is on the ball and they actually they wriggle out a movement to then get that shot off? Those are the things that we need to replicate. So I'm not saying that we should never do unopposed practices, I think there's just a time place and a balance. So I imagine practice design and what we put on as coaches as the diet that we feed the players. So if we're only feeding them that one practice for example, that's what they're going to get good at. How do they then transfer what they practice, like that kind of practice that you're talking about into a real game? Because the picture looks completely different. So how can they make sense of that? And when we're talking about learning, we have to try and practice as realistic movements and situations as we can, so that actually they can apply it in a match day in scenario. So I think it's like a spectrum and it's getting a balance across the spectrum. And the most important thing is to know your players and know what they need and that's our biggest job as a coach is to give the players what they need and hopefully what they want as well; make it enjoyable, make it messy, make it where they can have loads of repetition and loads of goals and go, "Right, what did I do there? How might I change my approach next time?" or, "What do I need to do to make sure that goes in next time?" Because I think that's the fun of learning and that's the benefit we've got when if we tell kids that were doing a finishing practice, they probably get excited because they know what's coming.
Louise
So in your opinion, what should a finishing practice ideally look like?
Sarah
So in my opinion, I think that a finishing practice should look like the context of the players and what they would get on a match day if we can. So the right dimensions of the pitch, so if I'm working with children compared to adults, that the size and the dimensions might look different, I would like it to involve an element of transition and make it variable because that's what you get in the game. So I think a big element that we miss apart from the technical and the physical elements of finishing practice is actually the psyche corner. How do we encourage them to stay confident and to keep trying? If I've missed a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, how do I then reset my thinking to go, "Well next time I'm not going to get annoyed, I'm not going to get angry, I'm just going to go back and go, right, try again." So practices that would involve a lot of work around that with high repetition and loads of chances to really self-organize and reflect or peer-learn. That's what I say a good finishing practice would look like.
Louise
Would you say that there's any benefit to starting with a finishing practice as opposed to ending with one?
Sarah
Yeah, I think I've tried different techniques of when to bring the actual finishing element into a session. I think that classically we tend to use it as a reward, especially if we're working with younger kids, it almost seems to be that we'll end in finishing or if you're good, if you work hard we'll finish in a shooting practice, for example. But I think there's definite benefits of, why don't we flip that? Why don't we start the session with your arrival activity and your skilled practice while everybody's coming through to the session, we're setting up a small-sided game or a small-sided practice where we're gonna work on the finishing bit. And actually when we talk about whole-part-whole, why don't we go part-whole-part? Especially when we're looking at finishing. So then maybe we start with finishing in small areas for example, then we play a game and then actually go back to it to see have we improved or is there anything that we've done from practice one to then practice three at the end? And as coaches, how we engage the players is really, really important. We talk about, how do we connect with them as soon as they arrive? And this can be a really good technique to do that, especially if you're looking at running a session on a Friday night where especially with younger players they're tired, but I get it with adult players, as well. Like, they might have been at work all week or studying, etcetera. So actually I think starting with high-energy finishing practice is not a bad thing to do at all.
Jamie
When you're thinking of primary-age players, how would you work on finishing with them and then also how would you tailor your approach for the older age groups?
Sarah
Yeah, so working with younger children, again, if we go back to the context is always the most important thing. So if I'm working with a group that maybe their matchday is 5v5 or 7v7, if I'm working on, this is a finishing topic, I might set them up as little 2v2s and so it might just be two little boxes with a goal at the end and it's literally 2v2s and try and finish. Anything that we can involve a target and a direction to help them adjust their bodies and think about space and time, I think that's the right way to go. So it's just making it age-appropriate as we do with all our other practices, really. As long as they've got a target, it might be a target player, it might be a mini goal, it might be a gate, it might be to get into a zone, it's just activating their brain to think, "Right, okay, how do I finish into an area or a target?" which I know it can be a challenge if you don't always have goals but can you improvise with something else? Or it might even be if you've got no goals and you set up a practice, it might be you've got two cones that have got a football on it. So actually it's a 2v2 game but then they've got to try and score by knocking the football over at the end. I know that's kind of extreme but if you are in a position where you don't have the luxury of goals for example, you can always come up with some other idea where they have to hit a certain target because that's the skill that we're trying to replicate. And then again obviously if we just go up the age groups, so if you're working with teenage players, think about again, what's their context? What do they play on the weekend? And just making it space-age-appropriate and always going back to step principle. So if we need to adapt something, how do we adapt the space? How do we maybe adapt the task? It might be the equipment as I've already mentioned, for example, and it might be the players that are involved. So I'd always say that if you don't thin you're getting enough repetition from a bigger game practice where there's lots of players involved, just split it. You know, if I go one way, if you think of a pitch, just split it and then go across the pitch rather than lateral if that makes sense. So there are always ways and means to do it and it's just thinking, right, how can you adapt in the moment? And using step to do that regardless of the age group you're working with a really good tool.
Jamie
Finishing, like we said is a such a key skill, but what skills do players need to be able to finish successfully?
Sarah
Yeah, so first, to break this down in the simplest form, I would say that their ability to, we call it 'scanning', but essentially what we mean is how do they pick up information that is around them in terms of where they might be positioned, the space that's available to the side of them, in front of them, behind them, how many players are in and around them, because then that's going to affect what technique I might use to take my first touch. Is there a bit of space behind me where if I've looked and I can turn and I can take that first touch behind me and then actually my next action is a shot, then that's a real powerful skill. If we look at top-level football, if you look at how much time players spend on the ball, it's not actually that much, probably two or three seconds. Obviously it'll look different across the footage that you watch. But especially when it comes to finishing, a lot of one-touch finishes, a lot where maybe they've only got on the ball for one or two seconds. So if we drill that right the way back down to grassroots football, obviously it's not going to look like that, but again, just getting the players to appreciate space, time and I said it a lot, but those perception skills are really, really important, their position in terms of where they actually stand in the practice or where they move to, how do I connect with a teammate if I recognize my teammates gonna run forward, I might actually run an opposite way to make some space. A really good tool that I use is that when we're looking to get shots off in and around the goal area, I might make two movements. So I might make one movement to drag a player away to create me some space and then I might make a second movement for the ball or where I think a teammate's gonna pass me the ball in to. So again, we can replicate that through loads of small-sided practices; 2v2s, 3v3s, 4v4s, no matter what age. And also overloads, as well. So 3v2s, just repeating and practicing that skill of picking up information, movement, timing, and then the actual execution of the skill as well and what technique I might employ to actually score a goal.
Louise
How can coaches help players develop those skills?
Sarah
I think when we're setting up finishing practices, we've got to make the players feel really comfortable that they're all right to make mistakes, they're all right to miss open targets, they're all right to try a technique and, "Oh, that's gone wrong." because also there's a social element to this as well where especially for working with teenage players, for example, they don't want to be embarrassed. So if we're doing for example, isolated practices or small-number practices where maybe their skills journey is not at a level where they're going to be successful a lot. You know, if we've got a 1v1 practice or a 2v1 practice where everybody else is watching them, we've got to think about, what's the consequences then for that player in their motivation? If we're in a small-sided ame where it's constant and there's loads of transition, actually, we might be able to make that player's self-esteem maintain or actually get better because they're not isolated if it's a technique that they're not excellent at yet. And also I think we've got a job as coaches to encourage practice. So sometimes we've only got an hour with kids or players, how are we encouraging them to actually go and practice outside of the time that we have with them? So that might be just some 'ball and wall' I call it, repetition. It might be a little 2v2 games in the school or with siblings, with friends because again, the more repetition they can get at doing this, the better it's going to be for them and the more we expose them and the more experiences we give them of small-sided games, different practices, then it's going to be better for their learning and they can make better decisions in the game.
Louise
If we try to summarize what we've spoken about so far, what would your top tips be for coaches working on finishing with their players?
Sarah
My top tip would be to embrace chaos and mess. Don't think that finishing practices have to look really clean and loads of goals from point X or point B. Embrace that across the four corners. We need to develop players skills, where it's not just technical repetition, it's actually the psyche corner, the social corner, the physical corner as well. Try and make the space and the situations as real as possible and always use step principle to adapt your session. So if you need to get more repetition and give the players more time on the ball because maybe they need that, be comfortable to do that, but also be comfortable to challenge them as well in smaller spaces, more players, more little skills and movements to try. And make it fun, get feedback from your players, like, make it as fun as possible because, it's the most important part of the game in my opinion, is how we score goals. So the more varied experience we can give the players and hopefully they enjoy that learning process, the better that's going to be for their skills journey as they go up to the age groups.
Jamie
Now, this is the part of the show where we're joined by a grassroots coach. We'll hear about their experiences so far and find out what coaching challenge they're currently facing. Our expert will then hopefully be able to provide them with the guidance they need. Today, we're delighted to be joined by Julie from Liverpool. Hi Julie, welcome to the show.
Julie
Thank you very much for having me.
Louise
Hi Julie, thanks for joining us. Can you tell us a little bit about your coaching journey so far?
Julie
Yeah, sure. I've been coaching abroad for a little while and I've come back to England and I'm enjoying being here. I coach a women's team, a university in the Northwest here, and I also coach a women's club team, as well.
Louise
So what is the coaching challenge that you're currently facing?
Julie
So, my coaching challenge is around limited space, balls, equipment, those kind of things and the number of players, and if there's only me or another coach, two coaches, how would you facilitate that when you've got half a pitch?
Sarah
Yeah, so thanks for sharing that challenge, Julie. I think it's really common. In the grassroots world we often work on limited space, limited equipment where we're trying to get a session that involves as many players as we can, often under some limited resources. So my advice would be around finishing. I spoke about this already in the podcast is that, if there are two of you as coaches, actually you can do dual practices side by side. So if you were working on finishing, it might be that one of you can work in and around the goal to set up an area, a double-penalty box area, for example, where you might have six to eight players involved at once and it's almost like a mini game, but actually the focus is on finishing the movement, the positioning that they get themselves into to get off a different range of shots. So actually, we don't need a lot of footballs, we don't need to have an area necessarily right in front of goal, as well. This could be anywhere if you've got a target. I explained it earlier as, we want to use goals if we can, but actually in some clubs you might not even have that available. But as long as we're using targets, for example, then that could work as well. So it's the same thing if we've got the goalkeeper involved, it might be great for them to practice that skill as well, but you don't necessarily need a goalkeeper, if for example, one coach has taken half of the players and then you're working with the other half of the players, you can just set targets in the goal. So for example, like, hitting the corners, you can put a point system on it that if they finish in the middle of the goal or if they finish around in the corners, you can award different points to encourage them to use different techniques. So that would be something that I would say is keep it like a bit of a game. In an ideal world you might have two goals, so that actually two teams have got a chance to attack different goals, or if you've only got one goal you can just swap it, so you can have one team working to scoring in the goal and then you swap it around. You might time it, so you might give them three or four minutes. If you're working with adult players, that's usually a good timing. And keep it competitive, so they've got a bit of competition to it as well to keep it realistic and the tempo right. So that would be one thing that I would suggest, especially if you've got two coaches where you can split the group.
Julie
Are you suggesting that just one group focuses on the finishing and the other group goes and does something else? Or is it a suggestion of two different finishing exercises with that split?
Sarah
Yeah, that's a great question. So it would depend on what the needs of your players are. So if you wanted everybody to work on that one skill in the evening or where the session is, you could set up dual practices, like I said, so, say for example, you were working around the penalty box with a big goal and then the other coaches may be working at the side with other targets, again, it's just how you design the practices. It could be the same, you could set up one where yours is more like a game and then the other coaches may be working on smaller numbers with higher repetitions, and again, you're still working on the same thing and then what you might do over a given time is then have them swap. So we call that a 'carousel' practice where actually there are two or three different practices going on at the same time and then the players get to experience going from A, across to B, or to C. So then actually they've got different practices to explore, really. So a good one might be where like, say if you are working with the 11-a-side side goal, for example, and then maybe another coach is working at the side on a smaller goal and they've got different targets to hit, we're still letting them explore using different skills. So that would be one solution that I would say that you could use in terms of you and that other coach. So everybody is experiencing the same skill but it just looks different, which is good for their learning,
Julie
Awesome, thanks.
Jamie
Do you have any other challenges or questions you'd like to ask, Julie?
Julie
One of the difficulties is really what do we class finishing as? Like, is it a behaviour? Or are we focusing specifically on it, ;ike, just in isolation or, Sarah's just suggested there in small-sided games where habits and behaviours are reinforced? I suppose that thought was my start point. Yeah, so I guess that's really how we define it, and then where you go from there.
Sarah
Well, I think what's great that Julie's just said there is about the context and knowing her players and actually, again, I know we've covered it in the podcast but defining what that finishing means. So does you team need to work on how they attack that final third of play from open play, for example? Or is it just stuff in and around the box? For example, is it that final action? The way I define finishing is literally that final action before scoring a goal. So that last touch or that last strike or that last moment before the ball is actually in the back of the net. And as I said, there are loads of different skills and loads of perception skills, movement skills, how they time their movements, how they read what is going on around them to position themselves in a really good position, how they work angles in front of the goal and that's why I would recommend a small-sided-game-type practice to develop all of those skills. And I think, you know, Julie, what you said there around, what do your players need, so do some of them just need repetition of working in twos or threes attacking the goal? So actually they're looking at their movement in the run of play before that final action in front of goal, or is it when the ball is coming into the box and then how they're working with one another to play quickly off limited touches to score goals, for example. It just depends on what the players need and therefore in the practice design, that's what we're trying to give the players is that opportunity to practice the skills that they need to do most. Can I pick up as well, I think you mentioned about habits? If we look at across the four corners, when we talk about habits and maybe if we model on some of the professional players that we would say are absolutely excellent finishers, I bet that the psychological resilience and their mentality of actually wanting to score, wanting to finish, wanting to work hard to get into positions to score goals, I think that's something that we can encourage as coaches, as well. We can do that through not only our practice design, but actually how we talk to the players, how we encourage them, how we manage their mistakes, because mistakes will happen and that's part of learning. So as you said there, Julie, how do we get players in those habits and able to go, right, they might have missed five shots, but actually how do we encourage them to keep going and try the next one? You know, reflect on your movement skills, your timing, what kind of information did you need to pick up? What did you see in that moment where you made that decision? Because when we talk about finishing, it's all about decision making and decision making in terms of what technique you might employ, who's around you, so the more that we can get the players just in that mindset and resilient and to keep trying, keep exploring, keep refining your skills, the better I think it's going to be for their development. But of course, we can do that through a lot of our coach behaviour, not just the practice design and, you know what? We should expect mistakes, we should expect loads of mistakes around this given topic. And I think that's the beauty of how we set up the practices, is loads of repetition, make it as real as possible if we can, and make it relative to the age, stage and context that the players are working in.
Julie
Yeah, I agree. I mean, for me, goal scoring is a mentality in and of itself, to be honest with you, and if you don't have that, I think it's a difficult one to overcome.
Jamie
So Julie, how was that chat? Is everything all right?
Julie
Yeah, really good. Thanks.
Jamie
Great, well, thank you very much for your time today, Julie. We hope that advice is good and look forward to hearing how you progress.
Julie
Thanks, I appreciate that. Thanks, Sarah.
Sarah
Thanks, Julie.
Jamie
We're coming up to the end the episode now, but before we blow the full-time whistle, we're going to trial a little feature we like to call 'Swift Session'. This is where we challenge our guests to come up with a session idea that relates to the theme of the episode.
Louise
So this time around we're looking for something that's based on finishing, as well as being a session that's fun, engaging, and gives players a chance to be skilful. So it can involve any number of activities, but you'll only have 30 seconds to explain your ideas. Are you up for the challenge?
Sarah
Yeah, let's go.
Louise
All right. So I'll just get the timer set up. So that's 30 seconds on the clock and if you're ready, time starts... now.
Sarah
Okay, so if I'm working with adult players, I'd set up an area that was the size of two penalty boxes, it would have a goal at each end and then I would have two teams in the middle with a goalkeeper each. You can use this with 8 to 14 players and basically it's a game. If you score you then get the ball back from your goalkeeper and attack again. So it's just a small-sided game, plenty of shots off. And then time that in 3x3 minutes as blocks to make it really competitive. And if I'm working with younger kids, I might do a 2v2 or 3v3 in the middle in a 15x20 area instead.
Louise
Perfect. Are you happy with that?
Sarah
Yeah, really fun.
Louise
Great. Okay, before we finish the show, do you have any last key messages for coaches to take away?
Sarah
If you're looking at finishing, just think about how it looks in the game. Make it fun, embrace the chaos and remember: it is the best part of the game. Players love it. So the more we can do practicing those skills, the better it is for them. And actually, do you know what? It's the most fun to coach as well in my opinion. So yeah, get your finishing practices on.
Jamie
Well, it's certainly been fun to chat about. So, thank you very much for joining us today on CoachCast.
Sarah
Thanks, Jamie. Thanks, Louise.
Jamie
Well, that's all we have time for today. But if you want to find out more about what we've discussed on this episode, head over to thebootroom. thefa. com and check outm, "What should a finishing session look like for 5 to 11s?" You can also head over to our YouTube channel, England Football Learning to watch "Two-Goal Games", a session which is quick and easy to set up by our early years specialist Pete Sturgis.
Louise
And while you're on our YouTube channel, make sure you hit that subscribe button. You can also follow us on Twitter where our handle is @EnglandLearning. That way, you can keep in touch with all of our content. And finally, if you want to chat about today's episode, or you just want to jump into a coaching conversation, you can do so by swinging over to the FA community. We'll be back soon with another episode of CoachCast. So keep an eye on our social media channels and wherever you get your podcast from, from all of us at England Football Learning, thanks for listening.