This is great video depicting why Barca is successful. They know how to adapt to how other teams play them. Their movement off the ball is simply incredible. There is no such thing as set positions!!
Ever since Daniel Coyle (The Talent Code) suggested that 10,000 hours of preparation/training is the magic number in terms of attaining mastery level at a chosen discipline internet blogs, Twitter tweets and Facebook updates have been alive with debate as to the merits and flaws in this line of thought.
The key issue though is not whether Daniel Coyle is right in saying that 10,000 hours is the pertinent figure but in fact that he is simply illustrating that for any of us to set out on a path to mastery in/of a discipline, it will take us a large investment of time and hard work. 10,000 hours is not absolute; rather it is an arbitrary figure for illustrative purposes (though some people may take this long, others won’t). And, who cares exactly how long it takes??? Why do we need to think that success takes a finite amount of time?? Do we need the security blanket of knowing how much will be enough??
So often we see quoted Zig Ziglar’s statement that “success is not a destination, it’s a journey” and this is exactly the points being illustrated in publications such as The Talent Code and Bounce (Matthew Syed). Let’s forget about the figures and statistics for a second and understand that there is no linear graph or trajectory for explaining progression and attaining mastery. Having studied high performance, observed high performers at close quarters and been lucky enough to work with some high achievers and performers, there are some characteristics which seem to be consistent among them from which we can learn about the process of getting to the top of your chosen discipline.
• Goal Oriented: Achievers are driven people and are focused over the long term by constant setting and resetting of goals. This allows them to make consistent progress and to have a relentless forward motion. Their actions are prioritised by courtesy of the plans that are borne of their goals.
• Purposeful: These are people on a mission. They know where they are going and take learning seriously; every practice/training session has a learning outcome and to use the cliché, “every day is a school day”.
• Engagement: A fairly over-used term of late, however achievers know that all practice is important and they strive to approach it in a frame of mind where they can get the best for and from themselves.
• Progressive: Quite simply, high achievers want to be moving forward at all times and seeking now challenges.
• Mentor(s): Most will have a mentor type figure(s) who has achieved what they want or something similar and who knows what needs to be done to achieve. These mentors provide guidance, advice and act as a soundboard.
• Specific: Achievers are choosy about how they spend their practice time...they adopt the mindset “why do it if it isn’t going to positively affect the journey to achieving the goal”?
• Reflection: Achievers take and make the time to reflect and look back to see what they can learn from their actions. They don’t view situations as win-lose, but rather every situation and outcome is a win because at the very least you won a learning opportunity.
• Sense of Fun: The temptation is to see high achievers as hard-nosed and overly serious. This may be true in the midst of a performance. However, you will find that these people are in their element chasing their goals/dreams and actually generate a huge amount of fun and enjoyment along the way.
• Coaching: Wherever there is an achievement or winning performance, somewhere in the background is/are a clever, sensitive, progressive coach(es) who knows his/her charge as well as anyone. This knowledge helps the coach(es) facilitate the achiever in being the best they can be. Likewise, this can only be achieved by a coach who is also on a learning pathway to fulfilling and maximising their potential as a coach. As renowned performance academic Anders Ericsson (1993) said, “deliberate practice requires concentration, effort, time, energy, repetitions and feedback from a knowledgeable instructor”
• Know Thyself: Achievers take time to personally develop. Just as important as the focus on specific practice is the growth of the person from a mental, emotional and spiritual point of view. The “inner-game” is massively important and a sense of calm, balance and satisfaction here underpins all achievements. So too, the development of a “growth mindset”, as espoused by Carol Dweck is hugely important. This mindset allows a desire to progress and challenge oneself even if it means some slower progress and perceived downward performance trajectories. The opposite and less attractive is to have a “fixed mindset” which sees the fear of failure kick in, a lack of willing to place faith in ability and hesitancy to jump without the aid of a safety net, so to speak. The growth mindset can only be nurtured with constant focus and awareness.
• Future-Proof: The achievers among us learn from the past but keep both eyes fixed on the future. They strive to become the player/athlete they will need to be in the future. In essence, they ignore the status quo and aim to create the future quo.
One thing we do know is that everyone is different and most will take different paths towards similar destinations. This may take 10,000 hours or may take less. But the most important thing to know, and learn from high achievers, is that if the will is strong enough, is backed up by an equally strong “why” and there exists an insatiable appetite to succeed, anyone can achieve what they set their sights on. Sure, talent plays a role, but more and more we are seeing that preparation plays a bigger one. So let’s not get too caught up debating about what amount of hours players need to spend to achieve the heights; let’s focus more on how they’ll spend their preparation time on the journey to the top.
By: Paul Carke
ODP Coach Zef Kabashi Becomes the First Coach to Receive the NYMISOA Sportsmanship Award With Two Different College Programs
By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
November 21, 2011 - Nearly 100 intercollegiate soccer officials from the five boroughs of New York City plus the suburbs of Long Island and Westchester officiate in the New York Metro Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association (NYMISOA). Every year, these officials vote on which coaches have displayed the highest amount of sportsmanship during the college and junior college season. Congratulations to Zef Kabashi as the Carle Place resident became the first coach to receive the NYMISOA Sportsmanship Award with two different college programs. He won coaching the Hostos Community College men in 2007 and after resurrecting the Queensborough Community College men’s soccer program this year.
Zef was honored at the NYMISOA Awards Dinner on November 14 at the Sterling in Bethpage, Long Island.
“I have refereed a game that Zef coached as well as a senior game in which he played and I see why our referees consistently vote for Zef for sportsmanship as he brings a positive attitude to the game,” commented NYMISOA Vice President Randy Vogt. “While he is leading his team, Zef simply lets the officials officiate the match without complaints.”
In the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA), Zef is a popular coach with the Boys-Under-17 Olympic Development Program South team as well as the Boys-Under-18 Downtown United team that plays in the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League.
Especially on this Thanksgiving week, ENYYSA is very thankful to coaches such as Zef for all they do to develop soccer skills and instill character in their players.
With 120,000 youth soccer players and more than 25,000 volunteers, the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association stretches from Montauk Point, Long Island to the Canadian border. Members are affiliated with 12 leagues throughout the association, which covers the entire state of New York east of Route 81. ENYYSA exists to promote and enhance the game of soccer for children and teenagers between the ages of 5 and 19 years old, and to encourage the healthy development of youth players, coaches, referees and administrators. All levels of soccer are offered––from intramural, travel team and premier players as well as Special Children. No child who wants to play soccer is turned away. ENYYSA is a proud member of the United States Soccer Federation and United States Youth Soccer Association. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.
"Trabajo mejor pensando que tengo la libertad de elegir mi futuro." Pep Guardiola (I work better thinking that I have the freedom to choose my future.)
"Conversaciones sobre el futuro" (Conversations about the future) is a short video that puts together two celebrities talking about their life and how they approach their work.
Personally, these two personalities, Guardiola, a soccer player and Trueva, a filmmaker represents my two greatest interests. I could relate to what they both had to say and could not stop thinking about how clear their ideas are and, with great conviction, how they could tell the truth about their professions.
I hope you take the time to watch it closely until the end. English subtitles are available. Watch the video below.
Imagine you’re coaching a big soccer game, against an undefeated team that has beaten your team in all your previous matches. Your 11-year-olds are playing well and are ahead. Then, in the closing minutes, the official makes a bad call that goes against you and, because of it, you lose. After the game, the parents of your players scream at the official. The kids are disappointed, looking up at you. What do you do?
Or you’re coaching tee-ball and one of your 5-year-old players has failed to get a hit so far. Now, he’s up again in a crucial situation and is nervous. All eyes are on him. His first swing misses high. The second misses low and knocks the ball off the tee. You call him over to offer some help. What do you say?
The meaning that coaches or parents help young people derive from sports can shape their lives.
Or you’re a parent and your 14-year-old daughter has just come off the basketball court. In the final seconds of the game, with her team behind by a point, she was fouled and awarded two free throws. What do you say if she missed both of them and her team lost? What if she triumphed? (Tune in on Wednesday for the answers!)
Coaches can be enormously influential in the lives of children. If you ask a random group of adults to recall something of significance that happened in their fourth or fifth grade classroom, many will draw a blank. But ask about a sports memory from childhood and you’re likely to hear about a game winning hit, or a dropped pass, that, decades later, can still elicit emotion. The meaning that coaches or parents help young people derive from such moments can shape their lives.
But today’s youth coaches often struggle to provide sound, evidence-based, and age-appropriate guidance to players. Part of the problem is that of the 2.5 million American adults who serve as volunteer coaches for youth sports less than 10 percent receive any formal training. Most become coaches because their kid is on the team ― and they basically improvise. I did this in soccer and, through my over-eagerness, almost destroyed my then-6-year-old son’s delight for the game.
But a bigger problem is that youth sports has come to emulate the win-at-all-costs ethos of professional sports. While youth and professional sports look alike, adults often forget that they are fundamentally different enterprises. Professional sports is an entertainment business. Youth sports is supposed to be about education and human development.
That’s why it is so disturbing that, over the past two decades, researchers have found that poor sportsmanship and acts of aggression have become common in youth sports settings. Cheating has also become more accepted. Coaches give their stars the most play. Parents and fans boo opponents or harangue officials (mimicking professional events). They put pressure on children to perform well, with hopes for scholarships or fulfilling their own childhood dreams. Probably the most serious indictment of the system is that the vast majority of youths ― some 70 to 80 percent ― drop out of sports shortly after middle school. For many, sports become too competitive and selective. In short, they stop being fun.
What’s needed is a culture change. That’s the goal of the Positive Coaching Alliance, a modest-size organization that punches well above its weight. P.C.A. has trained 450,000 adults, mostly coaches and youth sports leaders, who reach about 4 million children and youths. The organization is working to spread the message that youth sports is about giving young athletes a positive, character-building experience ― not to become major league athletes, but to become “major league people.”
P.C.A. has conducted in-person and on-line trainings with coaches from 1,700 youth sports organizations including Little League Baseball, the American Youth Soccer Association, U.S. Lacrosse, and the Amateur Athletic Union, which has committed to put all of its 50,000 coaches through P.C.A.’s online trainings. The Dallas Independent School District, which oversees 800 youth sports coaches, has enlisted P.C.A. for trainings. “There’s been such a push from parents about winning at all costs,” explained Jeff Johnson, the district’s athletic director. “Sportsmanship sometimes goes out the window. The positive coaching has helped my coaches think about more than just winning.”
Many advocates dream of reforming youth sports, but P.C.A. is distinctive for its approach. Through its messaging, it reassures coaches that it’s O.K. to win ― that, in fact, a “relentlessly positive” coach will usually be more successful on the scoreboard. As such, P.C.A. has been able to penetrate the hard-nosed culture of competitive sports. The organization is supported by top professional coaches like Phil Jackson who led the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls to 11 National Basketball League titles, and Doc Rivers of the Boston Celtics. This gives the organization credibility. Finally, P.C.A. has artfully packaged complex psychological research into simple tools that any coach or parent can put into practice. As a father of an 8-year-old who has happily regained his love of soccer thanks to a very positive coach, I can attest to the value of its teachings. Research has found that youth attrition rates are 80 percent lower for children whose coaches practice positive coaching (pdf, p.11).
P.C.A. was founded by Jim Thompson, a teacher who previously directed the Public Management Program at Stanford Business School. Years before, Thompson had taught in a classroom with severely emotionally-disturbed students, where he became skilled at managing and motivating children. When his son turned 6 and started getting into sports, Thompson discovered parents and coaches violating all the rules he’d learned: putting pressure on children to perform, trying to give kids technical advice while they were anxious or frustrated, rewarding misbehavior by giving it extra attention, making children worry about making mistakes. He started coaching, discovered he loved it, and collected his ideas in a book: “Positive Coaching, Building Character and Self Esteem Through Sports.” (He has since authored seven others.) With the support of Stanford’s Athletic Department, he launched P.C.A. in 1998.
The core of P.C.A.’s approach is to train “double goal” coaches: coaches who balance the goal of winning, with the second, and more important, goal of teaching life lessons. Coaches are taught to help children focus on improving their own game, helping their teammates improve their game, and improving the game as a whole. (In life, this translates to improving yourself, being a leader who helps others flourish, and working to make society better.) P.C.A. encourages parents to let go of winning and concentrate on life lessons. “There are only two groups of people whose job is to win games,” says Thompson. “Coaches and players. Parents have a much more important job: to guide their child’s character development.”
Because there are so many opportunities to fail in sports, it is a gold mine of teachable moments.
To deliver these concepts, Thompson built up a network of 100 expert trainers and developed catchy acronyms and simplified conceptual tools. For example, sports psychologists know that athletes who focus on things they can control, as opposed to external factors, are less anxious, more confident, and consequentially, happier and better performers. Thompson wondered how to translate the ideas so they could be picked up by any coach.
He came up with the “ELM Tree of Mastery” to help coaches remember that the feedback that most helps young athletes develop their potential is not praise for good performance or criticism for bad performance. What works best is helping children understand that they control three key variables: their level of Effort, whether they Learn from experiences, and how they respond to Mistakes.
Because there are so many opportunities to fail in sports, it is a gold mine of teachable moments. “If a child misses a big play, it’s a perfect opportunity to talk about resiliency,” explains Thompson. “‘I know you’re disappointed and I feel bad for you, but the question is what are you going to do now? Are you going to hang your head? Or are you going to bounce back with renewed determination?’”
“The single most important thing we do is help coaches teach kids not to be afraid to make mistakes,” he adds.
In a fast-moving game, things happen in seconds. When a 12–year-old kid makes a mistake on an athletic field, he will immediately look over to his coach or parent. “If the coach is saying, ‘Don’t worry about it,’ it’s actually not very helpful,” notes Thompson. The key is to get rid of the mistake quickly and decisively. So P.C.A. encourages coaches to establish a “mistake ritual.” One technique, adopted by many, is teaching players to “flush” their mistakes. Using a hand gesture that mimics flushing a toilet, a coach can signal from the sideline and players can signal to each other. “So the kid looks at the coach and the coach goes: ‘Flush it.’ The teammates are saying: ‘Hey, Flush it, we’ll get it back.’ And the kid plays better. Because if you’re not beating yourself up, you can focus on the next play.” After the game, the coach can talk to the player about what happened and why.
P.C.A.’s techniques are grounded in the idea that every child has a kind of “emotional tank.” When it gets drained, it’s difficult to take on challenges or perform well. Coaches need to learn to recognize this and adjust accordingly. P.C.A. even has a “magic ratio” ― the ideal ratio of positive (i.e., tank filling) statements to criticism ― should be 5 to 1.
Focusing on filling the emotional tank is not wimpy or soft. Professional coaches, like Phil Jackson, have used it to great success. It takes effort to do well. Coaches need to observe players closely so they can offer specific and honest feedback. (Kids know false praise when they hear it.)
Nor does it mean a coach can’t have hard conversations with players. The key is not to withhold criticism, but to deliver it in a way that is helpful. If the child is angry or sulking or defensive, she’s not going to be listening very well anyway. “When you ask people to focus on mastery, it’s not soft,” notes Thompson. “And screaming at a kid is not tough. That’s just a lack of impulse control.”
Ken Eriksen, head coach for the U.S.A. Softball Women’s National Team, has incorporated another technique from P.C.A. called the “criticism sandwich.” “I love the philosophy of praise-critique-praise,” he told me, speaking by phone from the Pan American Games in Mexico. “Instead of getting into a kid: ‘Hey, What’s the matter with you? Didn’t we just go over this?’ I like to take the approach: ‘Hey, young lady, you’re doing a great job. You know on that approach to a ground ball, maybe I would use a different footwork. Other than that I cannot commend you enough on your hard work.’ It works so much better.”
“People often think that youth sports is simple, but it’s actually very complex,” observes Thompson. “The symbolism of sports is so powerful. You’ve got coaches whose identity is tied to whether their team wins or not. You’ve got parents who have all this anxiety about their kids being successful and happy, living in a culture that put so much emphasis on winning or getting into the best schools. And you’ve got the kids who are nervous, worried about establishing their own identity, who want to please their parents, and are afraid about looking bad in public.
“But because sports is so valued, we have the opportunity to change the way people relate to their kids through it. Most research indicates that people coach the way they were coached. So you now have kids who are growing up coached with this model and soon they’ll become coaches themselves, so I think the general impact on our society could be huge.”
Have you had a memorable experience with a coach that stuck with you (good or bad)? On Wednesday, I’ll respond to comments, provide some more details about P.C.A.’s techniques, and reveal how Thompson told me he would handle each of the scenarios above.
From New York Times, 10/23/11
David Bornstein is the author of “How to Change the World,” which has been published in 20 languages, and “The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank,” and is co-author of “Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know.” He is the founder of dowser.org, a media site that reports on social innovation.
Richard St. John was on his way to the TED conference when a girl on the plane asked him, "What really leads to success?" Even though he had achieved some success, he couldn't explain how he did it. So he spent the next ten years researching success and asking over 500 extraordinarily successful people in many fields what helped them succeed. After analyzing, sorting, and correlating millions of words of research, and building one of the most organized databases on the subject of success, he discovered The 8 Traits Successful People Have in Common and wrote the bestseller 8 To Be Great:
- Passion. We’ve got to love what we do…and that passion should be contagious to our teams. I’ve caught the volleyball bug and my goal is to infect my team with it. I want the passion I have for my sport to go through my team like a cold in a kindergarten classroom. Wooden word: Enthusiasm.
- Work. Oh, this is a good one… and I’ll bet it’s the step most folks would like to skip on their way to success. It won’t be easy, but the good part is there’s no magic bullet. Good, old-fashioned work is what’s going to ensure our success. Wooden word: Industriousness.
- Good. At a certain point, we’ve got to be good at what we do. Whether it’s as a coach or as a player. This certainly isn’t saying that failure won’t be on the path to success, but being good (knowledgeable, learned, confident) at what we do is essential to our success. Wooden word: Skill.
- Focus. This isn’t for the jack-of-all-trades (but master of none) kinda person… this is for the the person who knows what they want and are willing to put all of their energy toward accomplishing it. The path to success will always have distractions, being focused will keep us from straying from our goals. Wooden word: Alertness.
- Push. On the way to success, we’ll feel unworthy, nervous, like we don’t measure up, like we won’t accomplish our goals, like we’re not worthy of success… and more! But we keep going anyway. Wooden word: Initiative.
- Serve. Success doesn’t happen in a vacuum. I believe that the more people we help on our way up the path to success, the sweeter that feeling of victory will be… because it’ll be shared. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my success to be built upon the destruction of others…but rather through my building others up. Wooden word: Team Spirit.
- Ideas. When we were younger, my brother and I would sit down and come up with ideas that would make us rich someday. Sometimes crazy, silly, weird…and sometimes good. Unfortunately, we never acted on any of our ideas. I’m sure we’ve all got crazy ideas in our heads that we believe would benefit our community (as well as ourselves)…let’s go make it happen! Wooden word: Poise.
- Persist. Jimmy Valvano said it best: “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” Success isn’t easy…or else everyone would be doing it. We know as we set out that the path to success will be tough, but we press on. When we’re feeling down, we can revisit our goals to recapture that feeling we had when we first started out. Be resolved to see things through ‘til the end. Wooden word: Intentness.
Check out the Richard St. John video on TED.com.
Source: Women Talk Sports.
This post serves the purpose of sharing useful links and resources. Please, paste the link and a blurb about it.
Coaches,
A player of mine on the U13 Gold team found this video. I thought it would be great to share with you guys about, "Total Football"
Enjoy.
An article from the Arsenal News Review about Manchester United's game against Tottenham Hotspurs.
Fabregas & Barcelona, the next great tactical revolution?
Written by Alan Miles
With the signing of Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas, Barcelona could begin the next great tactical revolution. Pep Guardiola has become adept at using midfielders 'out of position' at centre-back. But what if that was the plan all along?
Coaches a great article to read about Barcelona.
Coach Paul Jeffries sent me his views and I think it would be best to share them on here.
