Please Note: The transcript is automatically generated by Supertranslate.beta in case you come across any typos or misquotes during your reading.
[Jamie]
Hello and welcome to Coachcast by England Football Learning, the coaching podcast that brings you insight from people across the game. As always, I'm Jamie and I'm here with Louise and we're chatting to Taff Rahman, an FA youth coach developer, to hear about his journey so far and to talk about practice design. Well, hi Taff, welcome to Coachcast for the first time. How are you?
[Taff]
I'm very well, thank you. And thank you for having me and sharing that uplifting music.
[Jamie]
I'm glad you like it. I'm glad you like it.
[Louise]
Just to start us off, could you tell us a bit about your role and what it is that you do?
[Taff]
So my role is a youth national coach developer, very much twofold. One is delivering courses across the board from AYA, A-Licence, Talent ID. And second part of that is going into the clubs and supporting the coaches within their environment with their players. So they can start the journey on the courses and finish that through their club development.
[Jamie]
Fantastic, thanks for that Taff. Just before we dive into the main part of the show, and that's where we discover more about you and your experiences, as this is a coaching podcast, coaches could be on the way to training right now. So we like to kind of give them some good advice at the top of the show.
[Louise]
Yep, so we call this your arrival activity. So it warms you up. So yeah, we're gonna give you 30 seconds and we're gonna ask you to give us as many top coaching tips as you can in those 30 seconds. You up for that challenge?
[Taff]
Definitely.
[Louise]
OK, that sounds confident. Once the music starts, you can begin.
[Taff]
So for me, you have to plan and you have to plan for the needs of the players and also plan for the what ifs. At the same time, within the detail of the session, how do you make the session simple, even simpler in design and delivery. Overall for me, I like to look at as how can we make it like a movie. So having some sort of trailer that excites the players and then some sort of setting the scene, a little bit of messiness and then bringing it all together. So that could be...
[Jamie]
Perfect.
[Taff]
That went a lot quicker than I thought.
[Jamie]
I love the idea of making it like a movie. Do you want to just kind of wrap that idea up for us Taff?
[Taff]
Yeah, so ultimately like having that arrival activity that really gets them engaged like a movie, it sets the scene, it gives a little bit of the elements of what you're going to work on today and then really going into the practices where it will challenge them in different ways, whether it's technical practice, whether it's some sort of skill practice and then bringing it together with something that's meaningful that they can take away. So in that way, and that might be one movie and it might be episodes building up multiple different ways.
[Jamie]
I like the way you summarise that. That's really good. Well, Taf, we'll get into the main part of the episode now. And we always start this bit off by asking our guests, what was your first experience of football like?
[Taff]
Honestly, my first experience was probably...grew up in London, so playing in a city or in the States in small cages. That was the fundamental years of my involvement with football. And that was a whole load of variety, playing from grassroots to district to your local one youth club versus another youth club and so forth. So in that way, I got a good variety when I was younger.
[Louise]
Sounds like it kind of dominated a lot of your time, perhaps.
[Taff]
I hope my family members are not listening or my dad or... Because I did spend a lot of time in terms of being in that cage and kicking the ball, whether it was groups of friends or by myself and definitely dominate. So far exceeded some of the homework time.
[Louise]
Yeah, But I guess that shows that there's a love of football there and it's obviously just a passion that you built. So yeah, really exciting.
[Louise]
When did your interest in coaching start and how did you get involved in that side?
[Taff]
I think it was a little bit by default, but I think back at it, growing up in Camden in London, going to the youth clubs, which was made up of all different ages, boys, girls. And I remember we didn't have a football team and we didn't enter into a grassroots setup. So it was purely like getting loads of friends. And then one of the youth workers was like, oh, you're quite good at this. Do you want to take the group to this tournament? And I would say that was my early interaction within without realizing possibly even coaching and managing a group of friends within tournament settings and organizing and so forth. So that was around my primary, early secondary age groups. But my love for coaching, I suppose, developed after I dropped out the game around 24, 25. And that's when I started to coach with the local youth service in Camden and ultimately started to work with various different grassroots clubs and excelling in that way.
[Louise]
Do you feel like because you had that kind of informal introduction to it, do you feel like your first experience of coaching, did it feel less daunting or what was your first experience coaching like?
[Taff]
I would say like definitely it wasn't daunting because it was a group of friends just wanting to play football and we were looking for organised opportunities. So it was more so nothing per se technical or tactical. It was just like, oh, let's just get players on the pitch. Let's try to go and win the game. Let's have fun. So it was a lot more about organising and being more, I suppose, playing with friends, being a lot more inclusive and letting everyone having a go and so forth. So in that way, I would say it was an unplanned, positive way of coming into coaching.
[Louise]
Yeah. And when you actually, when you were 24 and you actually went into it then, How was your first experience of actual coaching there, proper coaching?
[Taff]
That was something that I soon found out was very, very difficult. Going into working with youth services and going into schools and delivering coaching sessions, having a plan and expecting that plan to work soon hit me on the face that it's not necessarily you plan and you get the outcome, but more so how do you plan and cater for the different needs of the players or the learners in the schools. And that really made me realize it's not expectations, but it's more so working to the needs and the environment of the young people in order to support and create an environment that allows them to develop, enjoy, practice based on their needs and where they are.
[Jamie]
What would you say you enjoy most about coaching?
[Taff]
Ultimately for me is seeing people progress and express themselves. Although yes, as a coach we can implement or put together a lot of things around plans and sessions and so forth, but for me it's the overriding self-expression and enjoyment and seeing them come up with new things in their own way is a huge part of the coaching side that I really enjoy. So within that, how can I best set lots of space for freedom and for them to come up with new things that come off the cuff or something that they've seen on TV or something that they come up as friends? So in that way, giving that space to express.
[Jamie]
You've kind of delved into it a little bit in your intro, Taff, but can you give us a little bit more insight into what your journey's been like from your first starting out to the role that you have today?
[Taff]
So in terms of my coaching journey, like I mentioned, as a young player, I was coming through Arsenal Youth Reserves and then quite materialising to that, then I had some fantastic coaches that left so many different nuggets of inquiry that made me go into coaching even more. And when I look back at it, it was a lot around how they make the session enjoyable, how they make it challenging, how they get the best out of me. And that put me through to working within that environment of the Camden Council and Youth Services. That led on to working with district team, found myself going back to Arsenal and working within the academy at Arsenal, spent five years over there. And then I spent some time traveling around the world looking at coaching, sports, people development, both from South America to Southeast Asia to regions of North Africa. And then from that, I returned and worked at Spurs Academy for a number of years before moving on to working as a coach at the FA while being on the FA mentee program, which was a huge developmental opportunity. I had a fantastic opportunity to work with Michael Johnson, with a guy in our national team in South America, which really brought together a lot of my learnings from the younger days and through my coaching journey using a very diverse, culturally challenging, culturally different to me and what I've recognised and what I've grown up with and working with that national team and ultimately qualifying for the Gold Cup for the first time in the country's history. And having returned from that, worked at Luton Town before going on to working as a national coach developer for the last, or coming up to two years now.
[Louise]
Sounds like a really exciting and varied career that you've had and kind of I imagine you've had all sorts of different, well you mentioned you'd had lots of different inputs from lots of different people and potentially lots of advice. With all that in mind, what advice would you give your younger self to prepare them for stepping into the world of coaching?
[Taff]
I think the big one for me that I've come to realise is not to set implicit expectations, but really getting to know the players, getting to know your co-coaches that you're working with, getting to know the environment, and working from that space at the same time having short, medium, long-term development plans and syllabuses or individual player development programs that support the individual within the whole. So in that way, really taking a lot of stock and designing and planning some things that are not concrete, that are fluid and can be changed, giving that flexibility to meet the needs of what's in front.
[Jamie]
Taff, you've mentioned that you've worked with quite a lot of coaches. What would you say would be the best piece of advice you've ever received, potentially, from one of them? Or perhaps even teachers or even parents, family, friends, what would be the best piece of advice overall you've received?
[Taff]
I think one of the biggest things for me is I've come to realise is answering the why are you going to do what you're going to do? Why are you going to design a practice in that way? And that ultimately gets me in that thinking stage of planning and thinking a lot more broader. And at the same time, that question has popped up numerous times from different coaches, which has helped me to stay open. And more I've stayed open, more I realized there's more possibilities on how I can achieve, or how I can support players and coaches in their development. So my two folds will be in terms of really recognising why you're doing what you're doing and through that process, staying open to what presents itself and developing from there.
[Jamie]
Now, Taff, we're starting this season of Coachcast by talking all about sessions and as well as obviously telling us and the listeners about yourself and your experiences and sharing some best practice. You've also joined us to discuss practice design. So to start, in your opinion, What's the most important thing coaches need to remember when they're working on practice design?
[Taff]
I think going back to what I just mentioned initially, just now around understanding your why you're doing what you're doing and how you're going to go about doing it and exactly what you're going to do in terms of trying to bring that learning outcome out or support in its development. In terms of practice design, really considering in terms of the spectrum of technique to a full-blown game and how does that look like? Where are their players in terms of their needs and how can we scaffold that pathway up or how can we actually make it a little bit more maybe individualised in terms of having certain practices for certain players or certain groups depending on where they are within their development.
[Louise]
And do you have any quick top tips to give new coaches who are perhaps designing practices for the first time?
[Taff]
The way I like to look at it is considering where the players are and ultimately through the practice spectrum kind of notion, do they know their ABCs? Can they spell words? So like ABCs could be the technique. Can they spell words? That could be like technical to technical skill. Can they put it into a sentence? That could be a skill in a 2v2, an overload, underload game. And then ultimately, can they actually express themselves within the context of the bigger picture, which might be like reading a book. So it might be a 6v6 full-blown game. So in that way, recognizing where are they within their development, where is the group in its development, and how do I shape practices that allows them to go through that learning journey?
[Louise]
So I guess the key thing is knowing your players first before you start kind of planning the session.
[Taff]
Absolutely. Rather than knowing where you want to get to or what the outcomes that you want to get as a coach, it's more so recognising where is the players, what's the environment that I need to create, how am I going to deliver this that best suits them? And in that way, taking the players on a journey of discovery and learning and development.
[Jamie]
I suppose that's one real good way to kind of make a positive impact on their own journey, isn't it? Kind of putting them center of your approach to practice design?
[Taff]
Ben Lee Absolutely. And we've got to recognize that when a player or you have a team, just because you have a new season, and it's a, for example, an under 10s team doesn't mean they are all under 10s. Some might be Q1 under 10, some might be Q4, some might have started football a month ago, some might have started two years ago. So in that way, really recognizing, well, it's not just a group and this is not their starting point and the end point. Each player's starting point, end point will be different. Now how do I best recognize that and plan in order to support all of them?
[Jamie]
Now, when it comes to practice design, there are four main types of practice that coaches can use. So can you kind of talk our listeners through these at all, please?
[Taff]
Yeah. So In terms of that similarly connects to what I was talking about previously about the notion of ABCs and learning words and sentences and reading a book. So looking at unopposed practices to post practices, if we just look at two spectrums on that and within the unopposed, we might have completely unopposed, or we might go with a little bit of interference in order to actually take it towards a skill and then we might go on to playing some overloads and underloads which is heading towards that element of skill and then matching player for player within a 6v6 7v7 game that's a full-blown skillful game so in that way so depending where the players are considering what would be best for their needs. So if we're looking to get players to accelerate their skill, we might start with some technical games or technical practices that helps them to establish that baseline and ultimately progress through that pathway through interference. So that might be a passing practice, four players trying to work the ball end to end with two defenders. And you might have one defender that's fully opposed and one might be defending a line, something like that. So you're building up that scale of difficulty as you're going through the practice spectrum from the technique to the skill. So in that way, you should allow the players to practice their technique, cognitively start making decisions and observations and think how they can find solutions in order to take that forward into a full-blown game.
[Jamie]
You've done really well there in terms of talking us through the practice spectrum, but I suppose to paint a picture for the listeners, do you have any examples maybe that you could share of like success stories where you've maybe used each type of approach from the spectrum at all?
[Taff]
For me like sometimes when working with a group right at the beginning and that might be in a new environment in terms of establishing where they are maybe playing the game and observing them maybe starting with some technical practices to see where they are and going through that. And I've used that a number of times in order to help myself to recognize, okay, I need to clear the decks almost, let's do some technical practices, let's see where they are. Okay, let's take that and build up to something else with some interference and something that's going to start to challenge their technique under a little bit of pressure and see how they react to that. Then I can start picking off players. Okay, that player might need this. We now have to consider this for this player, then taking that into a skillful practice where it might be an overload, under load game and seeing okay, how are they doing that technically? How are they doing that as a skill, maybe individual skill, but also what's it like when there's lots of real movement interference and how do they actually observe on when and how to do and execute their technical skill. So I've used that a number of times in terms of just observing groups to get an idea on where they are and then from there start to build a more of an individualised and a group development plan.
[Louise]
And in your opinion, how important is it that coaches design practices that show realism, relevance and repetition?
[Taff]
Ultimately, this really highlights and gets it connected to the game. So in terms of getting that repetition, realism and relevance for the players is crucial from a learning perspective, but also making learning meaningful. So for example, if we had a 7v7 game And we wanted to work with the striker. Now the striker might need, or in their development plan, to score or shoot, practice that element. So how do we actually get that to increase in terms of repetition? In terms of relevance, well, they play in an attacking position, they're likely to actually do that more. So how do we encourage that? And ultimately, how do we get the realism? It's a game. It's a 7v7 game. So it might be something adding some sort of challenge for the striker where, OK, if we play through the striker and they have a shot and score, it's worth two goals. Now, that might give the rest of the players choices to play into that striker. So either they'll get more repetition through that, they'll get more realism because they'll be looking to shoot from outside the box or near the box, and ultimately it's in a game. So trying to merge all of those three elements within a game could increase the repetition, the realism, and the relevance for individual players. Now, how can we manipulate that in order to maybe work with defenders or midfielders? That's the thought plan and the planning that's required pre-session. At the same time, if we were looking at a more simplistic format and building that up, we might have started with a technical practice with that striker where they are getting some sort of wall pass and getting a shot from outside of the box. Now they're getting lots of repetition, but the realism isn't quite there because we haven't got the defenders. So that might be the technical practice. We might build that wall pass up into a one-two with a defender closing down. Now we've got some interference and we're getting a little bit more realism because there's an element of pressure. And then ultimately taking that into a game would really connect all the dots of getting the repetition, realism and relevance all connected up.
[Jamie]
It's a really important thing for coaches just to think about in terms of that will just ultimately help them link their learning from practice to match day if it's realistic, relevant and they obviously have the repetition of those skills so definitely something to think about with your players, think about what's real, what's relevant and how you can kind of get the repetition of skills for your players. On top of that, is it also important to show an awareness of and use invasion game principles when designing practices and sessions?
[Taff]
Absolutely, because that also gets the players thinking when and how to consider their opportunities to find spaces or play through spaces or invade spaces or make movements or runs in behind. And that gives teammates the choice when and how, what kind of execution they use to play a pass maybe. And that's ultimately the game. Without that element, you might be doing lots of technical practices, but that won't really connect up to the bigger picture. So invasion games are just as important. If not, that is the game ultimately. So in that way, it definitely needs to be in there.
[Louise]
Other than what we've already discussed, how else can coaches design effective practices for the players? Is there anything else you can think of that would be good to explain?
[Taff]
From my experience, what I found is that as much as I can observe and plan myself, If you do have the opportunities to work with a co-coach and additional members of staff, it's to get their opinions and viewpoint on what they're seeing on the game, on the individuals and where they are, and collectively plan on how you're going to go about delivering that. At the same time, working as a co-coaching team, maybe certain people work on certain elements. So if we're really looking for, as I mentioned that previous example of that striker getting more repetition, realism and relevance, the other coach might work with a defender who's up against that striker and really make it even more difficult or work on their ILP in order to actually take the session maybe a little bit more challenging or intensify a little bit more. So ultimately working as a co-coaching team will support the learning even more.
[Jamie]
I suppose for anyone who maybe doesn't have a co-coach, I suppose quite a key message in there is almost just knowing the player's needs and wants, realistically. What do they need for their development?
[Taff]
Absolutely. So within that, and I get that some people might find themselves in an individual situation where they're coaching a group, but then with that same kind of element, having a challenge for the team that you're coaching, but also maybe setting some individual collective challenges for the opposition team. So then that way, at least there is a little bit more of a challenge between each other, which will get both groups working and thinking more effectively and more harder to actually solve that problem.
[Louise]
And do you think it's useful to kind of share that plan with the players so that they can take a bit of ownership of what you're trying to do?
[Taff]
Absolutely. And within that planning process, for me, involving the players is critical because one you're getting the buy-in and at the same time, they might come up with things that they want to improve on or they've been practicing. So although we can actually have loads of learning objectives, trying to make it meaningful learning to them is getting them on board and ultimately what they also want to do. So in that way, yes, the co-coaches doesn't have to be another coach. The co-coach could be the under-10s player on the opposition team or the goalkeeper and so forth.
[Louise]
And I guess it gives them the opportunity to see their own progress and stuff as well, which is really rewarding for them.
[Taff]
Most definitely. Most definitely. And I've done it before and I've seen players come up with and they've seen things. I'm like, I didn't see that. So you realise the value of having the players also working with you within that kind of notion.
[Jamie]
Thinking about when you're actually in the practice and maybe it's a question that maybe some new coaches might want the answer to, how can coaches tell if their practice is going well or not and how can they make changes to enhance the benefits and returns from their practice?
[Taff]
That's a very good question. I think sometimes we can be really caught up on looking at the outcome of the practice and that being the paramount answer to, oh, is it going well or is it not going well? I think if we rewind back, it's having those objectives for the practice that you're doing and seeing players are trying. Players might not be successful at doing it, but they're trying and almost asking questions to the players when they have been unsuccessful or when they have been successful. How did you do that? Why did you do that? What did you recognize? And some of them might have made the poor execution, but in their head, they probably thinking, oh, I wanted to do that, but I couldn't quite do it. So that's also success because within their mind, they're thinking about doing the right things and they're not quite there at executing them. So in that way, not being wedded to getting the outcome, but really engage with the players and finding out, okay, what are they progressing with? How are they finding the practice? You'll be able to see it within the faces of the players if it's challenging, if it's not, if it's enjoyable, if it's not. And getting that feedback back and forth between the players and the coaches is just as important to knowing if the session is not necessarily going well, but it's actually engaging and meaningful to them.
[Jamie]
James Morehead And how would you make changes to a session, whether it's going well or not? Like what sort of advice would you give coaches to help them change sessions to enhance benefits and returns?
[Taff]
With that initial statement around not being wedded to the outcome, and when we do our planning, having that openness, that, you know what, I've designed the practice and I've done it myself numerous times and I'm sure I'll do it again and again, where you've designed something and it's a little bit too small, so you have to change it. And it's okay to change it because you're reacting to what's going on and you're responding to what you're seeing. So in that way, being able to be adaptable within the session and saying, okay, we need to change. You're asking the players, how do you feel about this? Is this working? Because they're in the experience and they can truly give an insight on what they're feeling and what's happening for them. So having that two-way dialogue. So while ink is permanency in some ways, you can always edit and change your session plan to actually meet the needs because the practice is happening live. So what can you do in live in the moment that will help the players. That's the planning part. You're planning, doing and reviewing as you're going along.
[Jamie]
I think that's a really important point for listeners, particularly if any of the listeners are new coaches is like, you don't worry, things, you know, things won't go perfectly, that's fine. We can always adapt it. And you mentioned Taff there in terms about adapting space. So obviously key framework there that you've kind of referred to is the STEP framework. Do you just want to kind of unravel for any new listeners what the step framework is and how that's useful for practice design.
[Taff]
So in terms of like the spaces you've mentioned there, the technique, the equipment, the players, and how you go about doing that in terms of the, in terms of the setup. So being okay with changing the space, being okay with changing the tasks, being okay with like utilizing equipment in different ways, being okay with, okay, this player needed this, but actually they're excelling. Let's set them a new challenge or this player is not quite there or not quite there in that session. Maybe for whatever reason that's gone on, maybe they've got some issues or challenges outside of the pitch, is actually catering something for that player to support them. So in that way, being able to be adaptive within that steps principle is very important and also makes you as a coach more connected in the live moments of what's going on, being able to actually utilise that.
[Louise]
And I think that the step principles are really good thing to kind of fall back on, like if you're trying to think of how to adapt things, if you just go to those four things, it allows you to think, oh, what could I change that might make it different?
[Taff]
Definitely. Definitely. So I think when you're observing from the side, going through that steps principle of the space, the task, the equipment, the players, and looking at through one of those lenses at a time, or if you're fortunate to have an assistant coach maybe splitting that off or asking some of the players and then getting that feedback in order to make some interventions at some point in between.
[Jamie]
So we've gone into detail on step there and in your previous answer you also kind of touched on player ownership in terms of talking, getting their interactions, their thoughts and kind of another approach that maybe coaches could use is constraints. So do you have maybe an example of how constraints could be used effectively within practices to kind of bring out different returns at all?
[Taff]
I think going back to that point of, we talked about that striker, making it repetitive, making it real, getting that relevance for them. And it might be a constraint could be that striker might be an under maturated, under 14 player playing against a over maturated and that's a constraint for them because now they got to find solution against a bigger, more physical player. So you might consider something like that in order to challenge your players to find solutions under different constraints that they will face in the game or as they go through their development journey. So really considering what are the constraints that's required in order to support the player's development.
[Louise]
I think that's really interesting, a good way of kind of building creativity in players as well with kind of putting the constraints in and seeing what happens, how they develop themselves there.
[Taff]
Yeah. Just on that, like really, Sometimes you might make it really blatant in terms of the constraints. Sometimes it might be they have no clue and just observing from the outside exactly like what you've just mentioned about them solving the problem and us as coaches not being too quick to actually give the answers. Because the answers are just analytical, just theory and just words. Really, they're in the experience and they need to feel the moments and explore and look and see what the answers are or what the execution and then the decision making, the relationship between that. So being okay with sometimes letting that constraint play out, and it might play out in frustration for some players, it might play out that they don't actually per se get success in terms of meeting the objective of the outcome. But it's like a gym session where you work out, you need that stress and the adaptation overnight to come back the next day. And that might be something that ultimately you see success or the outcome of the objective being met on the next session.
[Louise]
Yeah, exactly. And I guess one thing to think about is that a lot of coaches might face the issue of players with different abilities. Do you have any advice to help coaches design practices that cater for everybody?
[Taff]
There's a number of ways that you can do that in terms of how you go through the practice spectrum using that format. So if we go from like unopposed to opposed practices and we build that up, if we could have potentially maybe elements at the beginning when we're working on unopposed stuff where everyone's taking part, but then it might be that from a coach perspective, I recognize, okay, these are excelling. I might put them in a group and I might help these ones that are not quite excelling, but giving them opportunities that's based on where they are. So in that way, being flexible within your session delivery and planning that, okay, if I need to separate some players and group them, have I thought and planned for that in order to help everyone. And at the same time, within the game, it might be quite difficult to do that within the game. But this is where individual challenges might help to support different players to meet their needs. So while it's easier, per se, with the technical and post-pistuff to actually serve everyone, when we go into the game and everyone's moving and there's lots of different elements taking place, it might be that we use individual challenges or we might use zones or certain objectives in order to help the needs of everyone.
[Louise]
And I guess that goes back again to knowing your players and kind of knowing where those differences are and where you need to put those challenges in.
[Taff]
Absolutely. And also knowing yourself in the sense that, okay, am I adaptable enough? Can I actually change? Have I planned enough to be able to be more responsive rather than reacting and going into a frenzy rather than, okay, I thought about this. Yeah, we can do this if that happens. So it's both knowing the players and knowing your capabilities and reflecting on yourself in order to help the players.
[Louise]
Also, talking about kind of differences between players, some players may have additional needs. Do you have any useful tips to help people keep their practices accessible for everybody?
[Taff]
Definitely. And I think I can't think of a session when I've had the perfect numbers or the players in the perfect position. So in that way, catering for players and their needs is always an ongoing challenge and also players that are coming back from injury. So it's finding those creative solutions on how can you involve them. So if there's a player that's coming back from injury, I might have them as a bounce player somewhere where they're in the practice, they're not in the practice, but they're involved. So they're getting their challenge. It might be that someone who needs they're working on their dribbling skills. I'll be very conscious if there was a 1v1, 2v2 situation that I'm pairing them up with the right challenge and the right elements in order to help that. So continuously thinking about how do I design practices and how do I manage practices in order to involve players in training, players that need different things, also the goalkeepers who sometimes feel isolated because they're either left on the outside or somewhere else. Even in some possession practices, I've used goalkeepers in the middle and they're diving and diving around, working on diving and capturing the ball, catching the ball or deflecting the ball away. Something that they might have done in isolation in other sessions. So got to be really thoughtful that it's a team game. How do we actually utilize all the players, keep them all engaged at the same time with additional coaches or volunteers, keeping everyone intact and involved and inclusive.
[Jamie]
Will Barron And I suppose just adding on to that, do you have any top tips maybe if coaches are working with players that may have impairments at all?
[Taff]
Definitely in terms of having had a number of learners across our courses with certain difficulties or learning disabilities is making sure that things are communicated or things are shared in a way that allows them to digest or have the time to oversee. And it goes back to the planning stage. It's knowing yourselves, but knowing your staff team, knowing your players, knowing those around you. And once we establish the needs of the individuals, we can then automatically start thinking, okay, if that's their need, we might have to do A, B and C in order to help them. So having those conversations with players, with staff, with extended volunteers and so forth, in order to get clarity on their needs. But then at the same time, asking them, well, how can we best serve you? Or have you been in this situation previously that's really worked well, because that might be good learning for me as a coach and coming from that open space to work in tandem. So it's enjoyable and beneficial for everyone.
[Jamie]
Brilliant. Now, there's a lot for coaches to kind of consider there. We broke down a lot of different aspects of practice design, and we kind of know that as a lot of coaches don't have time, and maybe a lot of time, to actually plan practices. Maybe instead of creating brand new practice every time, is it okay to recycle their practices and practice design at all?
[Taff]
Most definitely. Even if we recycle the same practice a number of times, the players will be getting a different experience within that practice. So in that way, it's not the session, it's what's happening within the session that the players are benefiting or getting challenged by. At the same time, doing the same practice, the players have learned the practice in terms of its rules and boundaries and so forth. So we're saving time within that. Can we work more on, for me, I just look at how do I make it even more refined? How can I add elements of challenge? How can I add elements of enjoyment? So trying to take the same practice, but making it even more refined as we go along that engages the players. And ultimately, like I mentioned, it's what's happening within the practice, because within the practice, the players will be working out the problems and finding solutions, and players will be improving in different ways and different speeds. But my role is ultimately how can I come up with new challenges, new problem solving objectives that gets them thinking even more? Because at the end of the day, the practice, the game, it's not changing. It's still got two goals. So in that way, it doesn't matter if we have the same practice, but how do we actually engage them from a new space as we go along?
[Louise]
And I guess it's like each time you do a practice as well, the place that the players are at will be different because they'll have developed slightly or changed or tried something. And so it'll be, I suppose it's seeing that it's not just the practice, it's the players as well that are changing each time.
[Taff]
Absolutely.
[Louise]
Looking back at everything we've discussed, can you summarise the key top tips on practice design that you want coaches to take away from this episode?
[Taff]
I think for me, ultimately, it goes back to that initial bit around planning for the needs of your players, planning for the what-ifs, making sure that you're starting from why you're doing what you're doing, how you're going to go about doing it, and what is it exactly that you're going to do in order to help that. Then making sure you're planning and doing and reviewing as you go along so you can be adaptive and you can respond to what's happening in the session and that should give some more information on how it's going in order to make those changes. I think a big factor like we talked about earlier, knowing your players, getting to know their players, knowing what their needs are and shaping practices from them. And then finally for me, I would say is knowing yourself and having that awareness that you know what, it's fine to change something, to adapt, to get it wrong, and being open with the players and working collaboratively with the players, but also with coaches in order to serve the environment.
[Louise]
Yeah, fantastic. And thinking of like, if you were to set a challenge for the listeners, almost like to go away and try something based on what we've discussed today to kind of get them on the track of like building good practice design, what would you suggest?
[Taff]
So for example, you can take someone like Jude Bellingham or Phil Foden, who are very good at receiving in tight spaces to play forward. And with that said, you might do a practice design where starting with that technical element within that practice spectrum and getting them high repetition on receiving and to play forward. You might build that into a almost a technical skill practice where there is more interference and a little bit more pressure and they're working to maybe operate the ball and get it from one end to the other. And that might go into some sort of overload, under load game of them having to receive in the middle to play forward to score and ultimately taking it to a full-blown skillful game 6v6, 7v7 where those midfielders are working in tight spaces to receive the ball and play forward, join, score, ultimately getting that long thread from the technical element to a full blown pressure of the game.
[Louise]
Yeah. Okay. That sounds like a fun challenge for people to have a go at.
[Jamie]
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Give it a go and then let us know how you get on, on the England football community. We'd love to see how that's gone on for you. Well, Taff, we are coming up to the end of the show now, but regular listeners will know that means it's time for our Swift Session feature.
[Louise]
Yep. So this is your final challenge for the show. We're going to give you 30 seconds and we're going to ask you to explain a session idea to us in those 30 seconds. Are you up for the challenge?
[Taff]
Yeah, let's go and do this.
[Louise]
Okay, when you hear the music, you can begin.
[Taff]
So relating to that Jude and Phil Foden example of receiving to play forward, In a space of 25 by 25, four groups of three players with one on one side, one in the middle, one on the other side, the aim is, and the objective is to operate the ball, get it through the middle player who receives to play forward into the end player on the other side and the players in the middle move to receive again to actually play forward. So with that, there's some interference, there's some decision making to get the ball from one side to the other.
[Louise]
Perfect. It was just over but we'll allow that because it was very succinct.
[Jamie]
Well thank you very much for that Taff. It was a good idea for people to try out. Again let us know on the community if you give that practice a try. But thank you very much for your time Taff and telling us about your journey and also giving us an insight into practice design. Hopefully you've enjoyed being on the show, we've enjoyed having you on and you've shared plenty of top tips for listeners to take away today.
[Taff]
No thank you for having me it's been an absolute pleasure sharing.
[Jamie]
Brilliant thank you very much. Right well that is all we have time for today but don't forget to check out the description for the transcription of this episode and for all the links to our platforms. There you'll be able to click through to the England Football Community and this is where you can post your coaching questions for us to discuss on the podcast or just simply to connect with loads of wonderful coaches.
[Louise]
Yep, we'd love to help you out with your coaching questions so please do check it out. We'll be back soon with another episode of Coachcast so if you haven't already, hit subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode. From all of us at England Football Learning, thanks for listening.