This article was provided by Training & Conditioning

As your athletes perform summer workouts to prepare for a new season on the gridiron, their nutrition choices may determine the success or failure of their training programs.
By Dr. Kris Clark

Kris Clark, PhD, RD, FACSM, is an Assistant Professor and the Director of Sports Nutrition at Pennsylvania State University, where she coordinates nutrition planning for more than 800 varsity athletes. She can be reached at: [email protected]

In March 2009, Penn State quarterback Shane McGregor came to me for advice. He wanted to cut body fat and gain weight by increasing muscle mass, so we began with a body composition analysis. It revealed that of his 211 pounds, 165 were lean mass, leaving his body fat at roughly 22 percent. That was our starting point, and after talking through his goals, I put him on a comprehensive nutrition plan.

By October, Shane was 17 pounds lighter, but that didn’t tell the whole story. His body comp test showed a loss of 22 pounds of fat, accompanied by a gain of five pounds of lean muscle. He looked fitter and felt better than ever. In fact, he was so happy with the results that he came to me again this spring, this time wanting to add 12 more lean pounds by August while keeping his body fat in its new range of roughly 10 percent. He’s now on pace to accomplish that goal.

In football, every pound matters. Players can make major performance gains by adding “good” weight, dropping “bad” weight, or like Shane, doing some of both. And the optimal ratios vary greatly depending on position, playing style, body chemistry, and a host of other factors.

As your football players prepare for the upcoming summer, they should know this is the best time of year to optimize their nutritional habits and thereby improve body composition. A successful plan to do so focuses on energy consumption and expenditure, nutrient timing, and willingness to pay attention to a few key nutrient categories.

BALANCING ENERGY
One of the most common off-season goals for football players is to add strength, so many of them hit the weightroom with intensity over the spring and summer. They often don’t realize how much their success depends on their fueling strategy.

To increase strength and mass, athletes must be in a state of positive energy balance–they must consume more calories than they’re burning. Even if it’s unlikely that a player will make a habit of counting his daily calories, examining energy expenditure creates an important guidepost around which to set goals for meals and workouts.

To make this calculation, you must first determine baseline resting energy expenditure (REE), then multiply it by an activity factor. The Harris-Benedict equation calculates REE as follows:

66.5 + (13.75 x weight in kg) + (5.0 x height in cm) – (6.78 x age in years) = REE

For example, with a 199-pound athlete (90.4 kg) who is 6-foot-3 (190.5 cm) and 20 years old, you’d come up with 66.5 + 1243 + 952.5 – 135.6 = 2126.4, which we’ll round to 2,125 for simplicity. Standard activity multipliers for football players are:

Little/no strenuous activity = REE x 1.6-1.7
Moderate strenuous activity = REE x 1.8-1.9
Heavy strenuous activity = REE x 2.1-2.4

Assuming this athlete is performing highly strenuous off-season workouts, we’ll use the activity multiplier of 2.1 to 2.4, making for a calorie range of 4,463 to 5,100 per day.

That figure represents energy expenditure–the amount that the athlete must eat to avoid a calorie deficit. To gain weight, he must consume even more energy.

If he understands that calories from all five food groups are essential for getting the full spectrum of macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals–that is, if he’s a generally healthy eater–then the extra calories in his diet should come from the same types of foods he’s already eating every day. When a football player is looking to gain weight, I typically suggest increasing energy intake by 500 to 700 calories per day. About half of the “new” calories should come from foods high in carbohydrates, a quarter from protein-rich items, and a quarter from healthy sources of fat. (For some easy ways to add more healthy calories to a diet for weight gain, see “Stacking Calories” below.)

If an athlete isn’t already a fairly healthy eater, you should take a step back and explain the basics of healthy macronutrient balance. One of the most critical areas to address with these athletes is carbohydrate consumption, because carbs provide the bulk of energy that’s available to the body during daily workouts.

As a general rule, 55 to 60 percent of all calories in a football player’s diet should come from foods rich in carbohydrates. Remind athletes that carbohydrates are not their own food group, but rather a class of nutrients found in all five basic groups. In fact, the vast majority of food sources contain at least some carbs.

Roughly 80 percent of calories from foods in the grain and vegetable groups, 100 percent of the calories in fruit, and approximately 60 percent of the calories in dairy products come from carbohydrates. Even some foods traditionally thought of as protein sources, such as beans, nuts, seeds, and nut butters, contain a significant amount of carbs. With the exception of animal tissue (meat) and eggs, carbs are plentiful everywhere, so eating an adequate supply should never be difficult.

If an athlete needs further reinforcement on the importance of carbs, try pointing out that many of the best sources are plant-based foods, which also provide other significant “perks.” For instance, orange vegetables, citrus fruit, and green leafy vegetables are rich in antioxidants and hundreds of phytochemicals, which research shows can prevent muscle damage due to intense exercise. In addition, these compounds help stabilize free radicals, which essentially means they neutralize harmful chemicals formed when they body is under physical stress. So besides greater energy stores and support for muscle growth, a carb-rich diet will help speed recovery during periods of intense training.

PROTEIN: THE BUILDING BLOCKS
The only macronutrient with a recommended daily allowance (RDA) is protein. That fact underscores its importance for overall health, but for football players, it’s even more critical. Without an adequate supply of protein and the amino acids it provides, the body can’t translate hard work in the weightroom into substantial muscle growth.

The RDA for protein in the average healthy adult is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. For athletes, the overwhelming consensus of published research supports a higher daily figure for muscle maintenance, tissue growth, and optimal recovery.

In football, research has produced a few different target numbers, but one of the most common recommendations is a protein intake of up to two grams per kilogram per day. Besides all the benefits of the protein itself, this level practically ensures a positive nitrogen balance in the body (since protein provides nitrogen), which will also aid in muscle growth.

Many football players have the misconception that more protein always results in more muscle. They may consume massive quantities of protein shakes, lean meat, and other protein-rich items during intense off-season weight training hoping to maximize new muscle, only to be disappointed when it doesn’t produce the desired outcome.

The truth is that excess protein (beyond about two grams per kilogram per day) will not produce additional muscle growth. Even worse, too much protein can have negative side effects. If it displaces carbohydrates in the diet, athletes will have less energy for workouts and daily activities, and they may even experience muscle loss. Research has also linked excess dietary protein to increased risk for lower bone density, dehydration, and kidney stress.

The key, once again, is macronutrient balance–optimal muscle growth occurs when protein works together with a ready supply of dietary carbohydrates. For years, researchers have debated whether carbohydrates alone, protein alone, or a combination of both promotes faster recovery, greater strength gains, and more mass, and while the debate still exists, more and more researchers are coming on board with the combination approach. A recent study from the University of Texas provides the latest evidence: It showed that carbohydrates and protein together, consumed immediately after an intense two-hour weight training session, increased insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) and improved amino acid absorption by muscle cells more effectively than protein only.

The study also highlighted another crucial component of protein and carbohydrate consumption–timing. For football players looking to add muscle and recover quickly from lifting sessions, it’s essential to provide the body with protein and carbs as soon as possible after a workout to promote glycogen replacement and other main aspects of recovery. I always advise our players to eat something containing protein and carbs immediately after working out, even if it’s as simple as cereal and milk, a cheese sandwich, or yogurt and a bagel. Post-workout shakes, bars, and gels are other convenient and effective options.

FAT & WEIGHT LOSS
Fat is probably the most misunderstood macronutrient among athletes. It plays a vital role in strength building, yet fear of gaining “fat weight” prevents many young people from eating enough of even healthy fats. This often proves counterproductive–several studies have demonstrated that diets in which less than 20 percent of total calories come from fat result in decreased serum testosterone, androstenedione, and free testosterone. That’s a huge drawback for football players looking to get stronger.

Some of the best options for getting an adequate supply of monounsaturated fats (the healthier alternative to saturated fat) are olive and canola oils, nut-based oils, peanut butter and other nut butters, fish, lean meat (beef, pork, chicken, and turkey), dairy products, and eggs with yolks. Besides healthy fat, many of these foods contain omega-3 fatty acids, which can benefit athletes during intense training by helping to regulate the inflammatory response in muscles after a workout.

The athletes most likely to restrict fat to an unhealthy degree are those actively trying to lose weight in their off-season. For these individuals, it’s essential to stress that the way to drop unwanted pounds is by moderately reducing calorie consumption–not avoiding healthy fat intake.

For football players, I typically recommend reducing daily calories by 200 to 500 below the range needed for weight maintenance, which results in the loss of half a pound to one pound per week. Anything faster than that, particularly when an athlete is actively training, and the weight loss will likely come from muscle and not just adipose (fatty) tissue.

Of course, most athletes aren’t adept at counting calories on the fly, so when one of our players is looking to lose weight, I ask him to keep a three-day log of all foods and beverages he consumes. When reviewing the results, it’s often easy to cut out those 200 to 500 calories without significantly upsetting his diet. Sometimes it’s just a matter of cutting out sugary soft drinks, replacing the afternoon junk food fix with a healthy piece of fruit, or switching from sports drinks to water for hydration throughout the day.

I’m frequently surprised by how many athletes don’t know how to read food labels, so I keep some in my office–things like a box of cereal, a jar of peanut butter, and a bag of potato chips–to give them a basic primer on keeping track of calories. Once my players know what to look for, they find it’s easy to keep a rough count of their calorie consumption throughout the day, and they can also keep an eye on carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake while they’re at it.

Sometimes, talking about foods or beverages in terms of activity is a powerful motivator for helping athletes cut excess “empty” calories. For instance, I’ll tell a player that he’d have to run about 1.5 miles to burn off the calories in one 12-ounce beer, or three miles to burn off a couple servings of potato chips or a high-calorie energy drink. These translations make it easy for athletes to improve their nutritional choices on a daily basis, replacing abstract numbers with a more concrete relationship between intake and physical impact.

For all aspects of off-season nutrition, education is the key to athletes’ success, no matter what their body composition goals are. As your football players prepare for the upcoming season, now is the perfect time to talk to them about simple changes that can have a huge impact on their ability to rise to the challenges and demands of their sport.

Sidebar: 5,000-CALORIE MENUS
Football players looking to gain weight may need to consume 5,000 or more calories per day for optimal fueling. That might seem like a Herculean task, but it’s not difficult if an athlete focuses on calorie-dense food and beverage choices throughout the day. These sample daily menus each provide roughly 5,000 calories.

DAY ONE
BREAKFAST: 1,095 calories
2.5 cups of raisin bran
1 banana
1 cup of 2% milk
2 cups of orange juice
1 cup of chocolate milk

MID-MORNING SNACK: 760 calories
1 bagel
2 tablespoons of peanut butter
2 cups of 2% milk

LUNCH: 815 calories
1/4-pound cheeseburger with whole wheat bun, lettuce, and tomato
Side salad with veggies, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, and reduced-fat dressing
2 cups of 2% milk

AFTERNOON SNACK: 550 calories
1 cup of cottage cheese
1 cup of applesauce
1 cup of fruit juice
2 full-size graham crackers

DINNER: 1,420 calories
2 cups of pasta
1 cup of marinara sauce
6-ounce chicken breast
1 cup of green beans
1 cup of 2% milk
1 cup of ice cream with chocolate syrup

LATE-NIGHT SNACK: 360 calories
20 pretzels
1/2 cup of grapes
1 cup of 2% milk

DAY TWO
BREAKFAST: 940 calories
2 packs of instant oatmeal
1 banana
1 cup of 2% milk
2 cups of apple juice
3 scrambled eggs

MID-MORNING SNACK: 610 calories
2 ounces of almonds
1/2 cup of raisins or other dried fruit
1 apple or pear

LUNCH: 895 calories
Sandwich with whole wheat bread, six ounces of chicken or turkey, lettuce, tomato, two slices of cheese, and two tablespoons of mayo or salad dressing
2 cups of vegetable soup
2 cups of lemonade

AFTERNOON SNACK: 815 calories
1 bagel
5 ounces of tuna (packed in water) with a tablespoon of mayo
1 slice of cheese
1 cup of applesauce

DINNER: 1,340 calories
1 1/2 cups of rice
6-ounce chicken breast
1 1/2 cups of peas and carrots
2 cups of 2% milk
1 cup of ice cream with chocolate syrup

LATE-NIGHT SNACK: 630 calories
1 apple
2 tablespoons of peanut butter
1 cup of chocolate milk

Sidebar: STACKING CALORIES
One challenge for athletes looking to gain weight is that they’re usually eating as much as their appetite allows, so they don’t see obvious ways to add extra calories without feeling overstuffed. In these instances, I recommend a practice called stacking calories–making minor tweaks to existing food and beverage choices to increase their caloric content. Healthy fats are more calorie-dense than carbohydrates or lean protein, so here are a few suggestions I offer to athletes who need to stack their calories:

• When making a peanut butter and jelly (or banana) sandwich, apply a thicker coating of peanut butter, and try adding a third piece of bread for an extra layer. Two extra tablespoons of peanut butter provide roughly 190 calories, and the third slice of bread can easily add over 100.

• Drizzle four tablespoons of olive oil over cooked noodles before adding tomato sauce. Each tablespoon contains about 135 calories, so this adds more than 500 to the meal.

• Make rice or oatmeal with whole milk instead of water, and add chopped nuts or dried fruit. Each of these adjustments can add roughly 200 calories.

• Instead of eating salsa with tortilla chips, switch to guacamole. Each serving of guacamole typically packs over 150 calories, and avocados are a great source of healthy fat and omega-3 fatty acids.

• Add extra cheese or meat to any sandwich or wrap. Each extra slice of cheese or ounce of meat can add about 100 calories.

This article was provided by the Coaches Network

By Kevin Bryant

I have attended the Oregon Athletic Directors Association annual conference every year since 1999. This past spring, there was a first: A break-out session led by a sports psychologist. At these outstanding annual meetings, we’ve learned lessons on a broad spectrum of topics, but never before had attendees been introduced to mental skills training.

Implementing sports psychology into high school sports has been slow for several reasons. First, mental training can seem like a “mystical” area, so we do not have much confidence in it. Second, many coaches feel that spending practice time on techniques and tactics offers greater payoff.

But I believe the time has come to invest in mental skills training (MST) at the high school level.

Consider this quote by inventor Charles Kettering: “There exist limitless opportunities in every industry. Where there is an open mind, there will always be a frontier.” Sport psychology is a frontier that can provide limitless opportunity in our “industry” for life-long impact and influence. It is a program for those of us looking to establish a lasting legacy and to invest our best in the lives of coaches and student-athletes.

WHAT IT OFFERS

The overarching goal of a basic MST program is to help athletes become self-directed in their approach to sport and life, which leads them to be their best competitive and academic selves. Many coaches work hard to motivate their players each and every day. With MST, athletes learn how to motivate themselves, based on their unique personalities and goals. This will impact both individual and team performance.

Author and veteran tennis coach Ronald Woods sums up the objective nicely: “Place the responsibility directly on the players so that they realize that they can control their own destiny and future development,” he wrote in “The Mental Side of High School Tennis,” an article published in the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.

The empowerment Woods speaks of easily carries over to academic goals, making for stronger student-athletes overall. “When athletic programs offer both physical and mental skills training, they provide a better argument that participation in competitive sport can also be a valuable educational experience,” wrote Weinberg and Williams in Applied Sports Psychology. Students can use the mental techniques they learn in class, at work, or in negotiating their next steps in life, and these skills will last long after their competitive sports careers are over.

For the here and now, MST leads to effective goal-setting, better focus on the task at hand, and an ability to adjust to adverse situations. This can be just what a teenager needs, as they struggle with uncertainty, immaturity, and a lack of self-confidence during the often difficult high school years.

But of course, the benefits do not manifest overnight. Coaches must spend time teaching mental skills just as they do physical ones. The most effective plan for implementation includes four stages: education, acquisition of skills, implementation, and evaluation.

EDUCATION FIRST

The best way to integrate MST into a high school athletic department is to start with the coaches. Ideally, an athletic director can conduct a training session in the late spring so that each coach has the summer to put a program in place for his or her specific teams in the upcoming year.

From there coaches can introduce MST to student-athletes. Initial steps should include sending a letter home to parents that describes the training and holding a few sessions with student-athletes. Depending on the school culture, a meeting with parents might also be a good idea.

At the first meeting with athletes, coaches should educate by outlining the four key mental skills. They include the following:

Goal setting provides direction, increases motivation, directs attention, and raises self-confidence. Athletes can be taught about the different types of goals—season-long vs. weekly, individual vs. team, practice vs. competitive, process vs. outcome.

Imagery helps athletes create a blueprint for performing a skill. This may include body position, sequencing, timing, and specific movements. Incorporating as many senses as possible makes it easier to create a more vivid image.

Energy management allows athletes to perform at their best emotionally. They learn to manage emotions during competition and gain a sense of control over a situation. This can ensure that energy is directed toward becoming focused and not wasted on corralling one’s feelings. It can also lessen anxiety and apprehension and boost positive expectations.

An interesting aspect of energy management is learning to suppress the judgmental impulse. We spend a lot of effort on evaluating ourselves and our surroundings. During competition, this can be counter-productive, taking an athlete’s focus away from the task at hand.

Self-talk assists athletes in reaching their ideal mental state. It entails finding cue words to help players focus and keep a positive outlook. We all have to deal with “the critic” in our heads, and self-talk gives us responses to the negative statements we have about ourselves.

Another aspect of the education phase is to administer an initial assessment of the student-athletes’ mental skills through the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory (ACSI). Its questions delve into the following areas:

• Coping with adversity

• Coachability

• Concentration

• Confidence and achievement motivation

• Goal setting and mental preparation

• Peaking under pressure

• Freedom from worry.

Each athlete’s test results provide baseline data on his or her mental skills. By answering the assessment’s questions and then self-scoring, the athletes gain an understanding of their weaknesses in mental skills and why such skills are necessary.

CLASSROOM PRACTICE

The next part of the program is the acquisition phase—team sessions revolving around the development of the four key skills. I suggest conducting four 30-minute meetings, with each focusing on one skill. The best way to teach these techniques is to keep things simple and use examples that your student-athletes will understand.

Consider starting with something to catch their attention. For instance, to introduce the session on energy management to a tennis team, a coach could show a short clip of the final few points of the 2010 Wimbledon match between John Isner and Nicholas Mahut, which lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes over three days (the final score was 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7-9), 7-6(7-3), 70-68 for a total of 183 games). After viewing this video, ask the athletes, “So why might energy management be important in tennis?”

From there, coaches can lead athletes through a discussion on the emotions they feel when they find themselves at certain junctures in a match. For example, have the players think about what they feel when they are up 5-2 in the third set. Then have them think about being down 2-5 in the third set. Prompts can include:

• What is going through your mind?

• How do you overcome the anxiety that accompanies being down 2-5?

• What strategies focus you on the task at hand and not the score?

• How can you suppress the impulse to be judgmental?

Lesson plans should differ depending on the sport and maturity level of participants. The coach should also gauge how fast or slow to present the information based on the particular make-up of the team. (See “Lesson Plan” on page 46 for a sample.)
MST INTO PLAY

The implementation phase is where the skills learned are put to use. Coaches should prompt athletes to do this with quick reminders before practices and games. But it will ultimately come down to each athlete incorporating the techniques moment to moment.

It can help to take 30 minutes weekly for discussion. This can be scheduled as part of practice or accomplished whenever there are down times such as during bus rides or a weather delay. Having honest discussions as a team about the challenges and successes related to exercising basic mental skills will result in growth, just like discussing proper technique in sports skills enhances physical performance.

The final stage of an MST program is the evaluation phase, in which coaches monitor progress through several avenues. One is by having athletes complete feedback forms after the initial education sessions, at the mid-point of the season, and as the season comes to a close.

A second tool is weekly comment and observation sheets where athletes share how the program is working for them and what specific help they need to become more proficient in the use of mental skills. Keeping a log of thoughts, successes, and failures will allow athletes and coaches to gain awareness and to improve. (See “Resources,” below, for access to a sample player log.)

The goal of this basic MST program is for high school athletes to acquire the mental skills necessary for success in their sport and in life. Further, the program will help our young people become more self-activated, invested in their personal growth, and effective on any field of play.

Kevin Bryant, CMAA, is the founder and owner of HSADHELP.com, a company focused on assisting, encouraging and challenging high school athletic administrators to be their best. He is a former president of the Oregon Athletic Directors Association

This article was provided by the Coaches Network

By Alan Hargreaves and Richard Bate

There is nothing worse than a player who won’t or can’t listen. Because successful communication with your players is crucial, it pays to have some insight into the field of knowledge called communication. This field of knowledge has much to teach us, including the fact that, although we all have the ability to receive as well as transmit messages, many of us—especially coaches—are more skilled at transmitting than receiving! We might improve ourselves as coaches simply by becoming better listeners! Also, we know that body language, posture, and gestures (nonverbal communication) are all very important in transmitting messages to others, especially messages of enthusiasm and commitment.
What we say or do usually carries with it an emotional message. For example, some people can convey intense anger with a softly spoken word or inject humor into the most violent-looking gestures. We want to highlight three types of communication that will enable you to gain access to the minds of your players. These three types, which are often combined, are verbal, visual, and physical communication.

Verbal Communication

As coaches, we probably use verbal communication more than any other method. We know from experience that talking with players, rather than at them, can be one of the most effective means of communication. When you tell players what to do, always consider how they will receive your message; try to anticipate their reactions.
Double Positive Approach
Receiving good news is always pleasant; we all enjoy being praised, provided that it is sincere praise. When you see a successful performance, stop the practice and explain and demonstrate why the performance is successful. We call this the double positive approach because you simultaneously reinforce the player for good play while establishing the correct points of technique for the benefit of all players engaged in the practice.
However, players do make mistakes. When coaching players who can be especially sensitive, try to correct mistakes without discouraging them. If you go directly to the negative—the failure or mistake—you can very easily make a player feel insecure to such an extent that he may avoid trying again. Instead, begin with a positive opening remark before you correct what the player is doing wrong (e.g., “Good try, but . . .” or, “Yes, that move was OK, but . . . ”).
By giving an encouraging opening comment, you make the player feel secure and thus receptive. To be really effective, you must open the player’s mind to advice. In this way you avoid creating the closed mind of the irritated or reluctant player, whose negative emotions might momentarily interfere with cooperation and reason.
In our view, the double positive approach is the most important of all of the strategies. If you can spend most of your coaching life looking for and positively reinforcing what is right, good, and correct, then you are much more likely to be a happy, successful, and respected coach.

Question-and-Answer Technique

We believe it is a mistake for any coach to continually tell players what they should be doing. You can often achieve far more by asking players rather than telling. We recommend what is known as the question-and-answer technique. For example, if you ask your players a question such as, “Who can tell me why that was such a good pass?” or “What defensive systems are our opponents using?” you will achieve two objectives. First, you will elicit the correct technical diagnosis; and second, by involving the players in the discussion, you will encourage them to develop their own powers of observation and critical analysis. Getting players to appreciate and develop their own knowledge of the game is surely at the heart of good coaching, and the question-and-answer technique enhances this process.

Visual Communication

Good visual communication—the ability to demonstrate well—is a priceless gift. Not only does a good demonstration provide a picture for your players, but it also adds to your credibility and prevents the boredom of long verbal explanations. Following are some important characteristics of a good demonstration:
Simplicity. Emphasize only one major point and perhaps one minor point each time you demonstrate. Bring out additional features in the next demonstration.
Reasonable goals. Your demonstration should always set goals that are within the ability of your players.
Appropriate body language. If you want players to move quickly and urgently, demonstrate the correct pace and tempo of the movement. If you want to stress calmness and composure, let your body movements and your voice convey these qualities.
Talking while demonstrating. This enables you to draw attention to key points while you are actually demonstrating them.
Refraining from overdemonstrating. Restrict demonstrations to one or two repetitions. You may occasionally need to demonstrate a skill three times, but four or more demonstrations will usually bore your audience.

What if My Demonstration Goes Wrong?

You cannot afford to continually make errors in front of your students. How, then, do you handle a mistake when demonstrating? You may find the following strategies useful:
Always try to rehearse in private. If you need a server, practice with that person. If the server makes a mistake in the actual demonstration, don’t try to compensate; stop and try again.
Before you demonstrate, say to the group, “I may need two or three attempts to get this demonstration right.” If you alert the group to the possibility of failure, it won’t be a disaster if you fail. Furthermore, this implies that the players too must be prepared for failure and that failure is not necessarily a bad thing. Of course, succeeding the first time is a bonus.
Stop after your third unsuccessful attempt at demonstrating. Don’t keep on failing! If you are not successful by the third attempt, start the players working with a comment such as, “Sorry, it’s not going well for me today, but you can see what is needed!” No one is perfect, and the players would rather practice themselves than watch you fail. A sincere coach has nothing to fear from an occasional failure.

What Do I Do if I Simply Can’t Demonstrate?

The ability to give good demonstrations is a priceless asset. There are limits, however, and no one who is seriously interested in coaching soccer should be discouraged by an inability to demonstrate. You would not, for example, expect every track coach to sprint 100 meters in under 10 seconds! What matters most is that you know what should be done and why and can get that knowledge across to your players.
If you do not feel confident enough to demonstrate, consider using a preselected demonstrator, the discovery approach, a group challenge, or visual aids.
Preselected Demonstrator: Select a good performer, take him to one side, and have him rehearse the skill or movement several times. Then let this player demonstrate for the entire group.

Discovery Approach: With this method you introduce the topic and start the group off without an introductory demonstration. For example, to coach accuracy in passing, you might start with the players in pairs passing to each other, or you might organize mini-games of 3-on-3. As the players pass, watch for players who pass accurately; then stop the practice and ask the accurate passers to demonstrate for the others.

Group Challenge: Give small groups of players the same task. After a set period of time, let each group demonstrate in turn. In this way you will produce a number of tactical moves to discuss with the players. Further, you will have challenged your players’ initiative.

Visual Aids: Coaching videos, handouts, and charts are useful, but you must use them with care. Examine them in advance, and show only sections you want students to see. Showing a video of a complete game can often be a waste of time, for example—be selective.

Physical Communication

Physical communication involves guiding players’ limbs through the correct movement. This is more important when coaching younger players. Young children must discover how to perform new skills, and they learn more by doing and feeling the correct pattern or shape of the movement than by listening.
This technique affords a special advantage when coaching younger players. Young athletes really respond to being coached by someone who is literally on their own level rather than someone towering above them and perhaps talking down to them in more ways than one.
The overriding strategy is really quite straightforward: observe the players, diagnose their strengths and weaknesses, and then select the methods of communication you think will best suit the group at that particular time. Then, depending on their skill levels, concentrate on making each drill a little more demanding than the previous one.
This is an excerpt from Skills & Strategies for Coaching Soccer, Second Edition, published by Human Kinetics

This post was written by Bert DeSalvo on his Coaching Blog,

Earn the Right to Win

Tom Coughlin

Notes taken by Bert DeSalvo, @CoachDeSalvo

Introduction – Prepare to Win

“Achieving any goal begins with through preparation.” (p. 2)

“Having a structure to rely on means that when my teams have reached our goal, we can look back at the steps we took along the way to get there. And do it again.” (p. 3)

• Can repeat the process!
• Schedules, lists (lists of lists)
• Systematic approach to success

“Preparation creates confidence.” (p. 6)

“Details count.” (p. 9)

“There is no discussion about methods. The team is my responsibility.” (p. 10)

• Nobody is above the team – Follow the rules
• Rules provide a framework

Chapter 1 – Build the Structure

A. Set a Goal

“My basic philosophy has always been simple and direct: Create an environment and provide the direction necessary to allow our players to perform to the best of their ability, which will lead directly to success.” (p. 17)

“Creating a structure in which winning is the expectation rather than the hope is a long-term proposition.” (p.17)

“The important thing is to make progress, recognize these needs that have to be addressed, and make a plan to do that.” (p. 17)

“Once you establish your goal you can’t take your focus off of your objective.” (p. 18)

• Sends wrong message
• Competition

B. Know What You Have to Work With

“The best place to begin your preparation is to honestly assess the existing situation: How deep in the mud are you? What is the current status of your organization?” (p. 21)

• Starts with critical self-appraisal; Don’t blame others – “We can’t improve without realistic self-appraisal.” (p. 22)
• What’s your situation?
  – RIT/Jax – Blank Slates
  – Boston College/NY Giants – Losing Teams
• Coughlin saw NYG as a loss of pride
  – His goal was to restore pride “by being firm, fair, honest and demanding and by paying close attention to our preparation.” (p. 24)

C. Create a Structure

• Establish priorities (Coaching, staff, roster, etc.)
• “Create an overall culture that would govern everything.” (p. 24)
  – Philosophy ensures consistency of purpose and action  “Allows us to move forward together.” (p. 24)

Coughlin’s Philosophy:

“Structure and organized. A program in which everyone knows their responsibilities and that they will be held accountable for the job they were hired to do. It isn’t complicated; it’s pretty much black and white: This is how things are going to be done, and if you can’t do it this way, we’re going to find somebody who can.” (p. 26)

“Consistency, reliability, and determination guarantee progress.”

• Need buy–Consistency provides this
• Know expectations–Explain them clearly
• Have confidence–Structure will not change

“The Structure is a statement: This is who we are, this is what we do, and this is the way we do it.” (p. 27)

“Once you’ve set up a system with clear goals you also have to make a commitment to consistency.” (p. 27)

• Stick to it – Even under duress
• To make it work you must stay the course (after setting a goal, assessing the situation and building a system)

D. Establish the Rules and Enforce Them

“The culture of an organization is defined by its rules.” (p. 32)

• Must be sensible, realistic and timely
• Clearly stated–No gray areas – “Everything needs to be spelled out, with no room for interpretation.” (p. 33)
• Have other purposes too
  – “Designed to bring the team together, create a professional atmosphere/environment in which we can get all of our work done with a minimum of distraction, and help develop pride in the organization.” (p. 33)
• Setting rules helps you find out who is committed to the program and who isn’t

Examples of Coughlin’s Rules:

1. Be on time every time
2. Know your assignments of the field
3. Conduct yourself like a professional on and off the field
4. Demonstrate pride in our organization
5. Respect your teammates
6. Pay complete attention in our meetings

“When I set the rules I always felt it was better to start out with a firm set, and then, if the situation warranted it, make the necessary adjustments.” (p. 34)

“As a leader, your credibility depends completely on the way you enforce the rules you’ve made. For them to have any value, they have to apply equally to everyone.” (p. 37)

“The day you don’t enforce your rules you might as well just do away with them.” (p. 38)

“When you don’t enforce the rules, people begin to lose respect for you.” (p. 38)

“If you are in a leadership position in any organization, in any job, and you compromise principles the first time you face adversity, you’ll lose all your credibility.” (p. 40)

“Once again, ‘earning the right to win’ means making a difficult or even unpopular decision and sticking to it.” (p. 40)

“The principles and values that form the cornerstone of our beliefs cannot be compromised.” (p. 40)

E. Be Resilient

“There will be times when we all have to overcome adversity – but we believe adversity makes us stronger.” (p. 41) (i.e. injuries = ‘next man up’)

“If you manage to overcome that many obstacles to your goal, you have earned the right to win.” (p. 45)

F. Build an Organization with Character

“The key to building a system that functions smoothly is to find people who share your vision, hire them, and allow them to do their job.” (p. 45)

• Have to hire people who will carry out your vision/philosophy
• The better your people, the better the organization will be

“The success of the program will rise or fall on the ability, initiative, imagination, and determination of the members of our staff.” (p. 46)
Coughlin looks for:

1. Great All-American work ethic
   a. Know the demands of the job
   b. Go beyond this!
2. Commitment (players move to Jax – Means all in!)
   3. Enthusiasm

“Character-based, valued centered philosophy has always been the backbone of my organization.” (p. 47)
“Character is essential.” (p. 50)

Coughlin conducts interviews w/free agents, coaches, draftees to get to know them as people

“You want to work with dedicated people you can depend on to be there when things get tough. The more of those good character people you have in key positions the better chance you have to succeed.” (p. 51)

“Character also accelerates the growth of talent.” (p. 51) [JPP]

“We find the complainers and the whiners, the people who aren’t willing to put in long hours, the people more interested in self-promotion than the success of the team and get rid of them as quickly as possible.” (p. 53)

“Sometimes you just need to get rid of a bad apple. Cutting those people really will cut your losses. Anyone who is serious about building a long-term program has had to do this.” (p. 54)

“No one is irreplaceable.” (p. 55)

G. Delegate Authority

“A successful coach or manager delegates responsibility and allows people he/she trusts to do their job.” (p. 56)

Ultimate responsibility is on the head coach though.

You can read inside the book by clicking on the image at the left.

You can read the rest of Coach DeSalvo’s notes at this link: Earn the Right to Win