Training - Coach interventions

A coach's interventions in the training process are very important to achieve the desired goals. These interventions can be:

before training;
during training;
after training.

Before training

          The coach should explain the objectives of the workout before the workout. Why it is important to achieve these objectives, what influence these objectives can have on the development of the style of play.
          How the coach conveys this information determines whether the intervention will be successful. In fact this intervention has a considerable influence on how players interpret the training and how they will perform it.
          The explanations that the coach gives before a training session should be simple and clear and should capture the players' attention.
          A demonstration can be used to complement an explanation, demonstrations are essential in educating players to solve a game situation or perform an action. To be effective, the demonstration must reproduce as accurately as possible a situation that is to happen in a football game.
          An example of a demonstration that can accompany an explanation before a training session is the presentation and resolution of a tactical situation that is going to happen in training with the help of a tactical board.

During training

          The coach's interventions during a training session should be a set of positive actions that do not hinder or restrict the players' way of thinking or their particular way of solving a game situation.
          Feedback given to players after a particular move is a tool to enrich the learning process. Without the coach's interventions in the training process, learning is almost non-existent.
          Coach interventions during a training session can be for:

correcting mistakes;
motivating players.

           Consequently the role of an intervention from the coach is to focus the players' attention exactly where the coach wants it to be. Basically it is about guiding the players to solve game situations according to their style of play and individual development.
       This is why the coach's intervention is particularly important for improving the players' understanding of the game and reinforcing certain aspects.
           Intervention during a training session is a coach-player dialogue where the way of solving, interpreting game situations and training is the common subject.
Therefore if the coach does not intervene properly many actions or game situations will not be assimilated correctly.
           The quality of the intervention also depends on how well the coach is prepared and his ability to identify the actions of the players that are not going in the desired direction.
           Another very important aspect for coaches to take into account is the frequency of interventions during a training session, they should not stop the training very often and should not be very long.

After training

        The coach's intervention after a workout accentuates the positive and negative aspects of the workout that took place.
        After the positive and negative aspects have been pointed out, a dialogue between coach and player is promoted, the aim of this dialogue being to develop the specific knowledge desired. This moment has a considerable influence on the construction of the style of play and on the integration of its principles.
        A key tool is the coach's ability to ask meaningful questions that get players thinking.
        The use of questions from the coach, develops the players' personalities, gives them the opportunity to assume their own answers and interpretations.
        It is much more beneficial for a player to find the solution through their own answers rather than being given the answer directly.
        The key to effective questioning is the coach's ability to listen to the answers and direct the players to a complete answer.