As a coach, you have a coach’s toolkit which includes: stop-freeze, guided discovery/questions, coaching in the flow, natural stoppage and individual reference. These 4 tools can be used in several different ways and each one has it’s own time and place of usage.
The Warm Up
Here you can use any of the tools, so long as they do not continuously interrupt the flow of this stage. Consistently stopping the practice to teach a minute detail can hurt development.
Orientation Stage
The orientation stage is focused on introducing the problem and the overall goal of the situation (i.e.: to score, to build out of our defensive third, etc.). How they get to the solution should not be taught in this stage, but you can help by using certain components of your toolkit.
- In the Flow: Talk to players and ask questions of players as the exercise is going on.
- Individual Reference: Remove a player from the exercise briefly and ask him/her some questions. Use guided discovery/questions to ask them about their role on the field.
- Guided Discovery/Questions: Ask questions of your players that provoke thought and for them to begin to take initiative. Use the 5 W’s to ask why a certain situation keeps occurring and what cues/actions lead to that occurring.
- Natural Stoppage: The ball being played out of bounds is a perfect time for natural stoppage and the use of guided questions for the team. Perhaps we are too compact when in possession so asking “how can we make the field as wide as possible?” can influence players to begin to spread out when in possession.
By you simply using these tools, players put words into their actions. It is often the case that we do things out of habit and do not realize it until it is addressed. So by you asking a simple question, the player could solve his own problem without you having to stop the flow of the practice.
Learning Stage
In the learning stage, you are here to teach the solution if players have not yet discovered it. Each tool used from the previous stage carries over this stage as well. Some new ones to use in this stage include:
- Freeze: This is only allowed in this stage and your implementation stage. The freeze is where you completely stop the play as it’s going on. Think Adam Sandler in the movie Click. Everyone goes back to where they were when the play broke down. It is important to know when to use a freeze situation. If one player made a mistake, don’t use a freeze situation. IF several players made mistakes, causing the play to break down, then you can use a freeze. Here, you use guided questions to the team and individual players as well in order to figure out a reason as to why the play broke down. Concluding your freeze, you must demonstrate how you fix the problem, and then allow players to repeat the demonstration. If the demonstration does not work, do not be afraid to bring it back, and try it again until it works.
Implementation Stage
Think of this as you being at the game this weekend. Will you have the chance to just stop the game and give your coaching points? If you give the ref a large sum of money perhaps, but even so I don’t think the parents, opposing coach, and most importantly your players will be too pleased. That being said, if it is absolutely necessary, you may use a freeze. Besides that, all other components of your coaches toolkit are fair game.
As mentioned earlier, the the 5 W’s are an important part of the planning of your training session and also the coaching within your training session. Without the use of them, your session may not be as organized or as strong as you think!
“Most people get excited about games, but I’ve got to be excited about practice, because that’s my classroom.”
Pat Summitt, Basketball