How to make your coaching points stick
Same words. Different day.
I’m watching film with a player.
I pause the clip.
“Remember, in this situation, your hands need to be here,” I say.
I use my mouse to make two yellow marks on the screen.
Even as I say it, the coaching point feels redundant.
Boring even.
(Up until that moment, this player had heard that coaching point dozens of times.)
I expect a bored, tired nod.
Instead…
The player looks shocked.
As if he’s hearing the words for the first time.
(As if he’s hearing the English language for the first time.)
He nods firmly.
In that moment, for whatever reason, the coaching point stuck.
—
So…
How does this happen?
How do you get a coaching point to stick?
Trick question.
Because the answer changes day to day.
It changes player to player.
It changes based on what the player had for lunch that day, how they did on their last midterm, whatever’s going on in their social life, etc…
But this fact shouldn’t discourage you.
Actually, it’s great news.
Because if you can get your approach to match this reality, you’ll have an advantage over your opponents.
The secret?
Repetition.
The coaching point must be made in meetings, during film study, on the chalkboard, in walk throughs, during practice, during games…
Because you never know when that golden moment will arrive.
This is why simplicity and consistency are key.
If you’re throwing too many different coaching points at them, and the information keeps changing, your chances of having something stick decline drastically.
Blast the fundamentals.
Over and over again.
Eventually, they’ll stick.
All the best,
Jon Svec
Defensive Coordinator
St. Francis Xavier University
X-Men Football
Email: jsvec@stfx.ca
Twitter: @jonsvecx