ENJOY YOUR FOOTBALL
No matter what age, ability or level enjoy your football…
It sounds like an obvious thing to do but sometimes as we build up to match day, kick off and during a game our emotions can get too much.
Nerves can get the better of us and cause too much stress effecting our performance.
Whether its too much pressure from parents and coaches, too much expectation or the child feels that he or she has to perform to earn the praise of their coach, parents or friends.
It’s important to teach kids how to understand and manage their emotions before big moments, so they can attack challenges with confidence and let their skills shine through.
Everyone gets a little nervous before a big game. However, for those who experience the severe symptoms associated with social anxiety disorder (SAD), the quality of their athletic performance will often suffer.
One of the things I love about coaching football at all levels is, the diversity and individual personalities you are blessed to meet and help develop not only in a sporting capacity but on a personal level.
It’s my dedicated role as a coach that I go beyond football education and go deeper to coach with a purpose, to make a bigger impact on the students that attend my academy. Let’s briefly touch the surface on some more disorders that can effect a child’s confidence.
It’s a learning process which I love as much as coaching the technical aspects of goalkeeping, if a student has dyslexia and/or dyspraxia for example how can I help them get the most out of my sessions. How can I help them understand the message that other students will find easy to take on board.
A picture tells a thousand words. I love this smiley picture of one of our J4K students..
‘If they can’t learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn’
I love this quote from Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas…
Teaching a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be challenging especially in a group environment, ASD is a lack or delay in social and communication skills. Again how can I help, how can I best support the child and their family within my sessions.
The Autism Parenting Magazine give a great insight in to ASD and how you can help improve social skills in this article (Autism Social Skills: How to Enhance Social Interaction)
Something to take in to real consideration is the varied degree of these disorders and if they have been identified by the parent’s of the student. Often is the case the parent will have a chat with me when their child first attends the sessions, and I can reassure them that we will do everything to support them and their child.
Early in my career I had parents talk to me about certain disorders which I hadn’t heard of before, I simply spoke with them and got an understanding from them of how I could best approach the sessions to make their child feel at ease. I then went away and self studied to help myself really understand each individual case.
This way I am supporting the family network and they then become reassured I have their child’s development in my best interest.
I can’t stress the importance of this part I play as a coach, I use the word blessed a lot when talking about my role but it truly is a blessing to play a part in a students development.
Coaching Case Studies
I will share some case studies I have experienced as a coach, early in my coaching career I had a child aged 8yrs who had anxiety in large groups so on some occasions he would sit in the car and come out after the session had started or find it to much and would go home.
Long story short today aged 20 yrs he is a coach himself at a professional football club and I have kept in touch with him and his parents through their journey.
I currently have a student with autism who if he doesn’t have a goal in his session he will not want to attend training, so we find a way to support him and understand the bigger picture.
I have coached a student with selective mutism which has been life changing for myself and the child, I never forget the moment after about the 4th session training with him when he smiled. Until that point he showed no emotions, life changing.
I could write all day about about my experiences, the message I would encourage is study the information, go beyond an FA coaching course. Football is the stage I coach on but it’s a platform I use to mentor beyond football.
We will look at nerves specifically and what can we do to help them?
Preparation and visualisation – are great ways to create a positive mindset and picture how the game is going to go. This can be done the night before a game, on the way to the game…
Spending time the night before your game, on the way to the game, before kick off to vision how the game will go in a positive way can breath self confidence and give you the ability to go in to the game 100% focused.
I am a big fan of basketball and grew up in an era where Michael Jordan was the ultimate player and stand out athlete in the game. I used to love watching his DVD collection and remember him talking about how he would vision the game going, down to fine detail of each shot.
Winners are winners for a reason, they believe they are winners!
If its in business, sport or being the best mum or dad what separates the best from the rest is the self belief that they are the best. That they can achieve there set goals and go on to greater things and keep evolving.
Why not try this out for your next game?
Vision your preparation, vision your perfect game down to the fine details of each save, each kick…
See how this changes your outlook on the game, your emotions and if you feel more confident in your own ability.
Distraction – you often see professional footballers wearing headphones as they get out of the team bus, some see it as unsociable or just trying to look cool. But this can be a great way to tune in to your ‘in the zone’ place and put yourself in the right frame of mind and ultimately distract any nerves that might otherwise creep in to your thought process.
Focus on what you can control – If you find yourself worrying about who is in the crowd watching you, or the other team being better than you—remind yourself that these are aspects that are out of your control. What you can control is your own performance, how well prepared you are, and how well you react during the match. Turn your attention to YOU!
Express your feelings – many children will have anxiety issues but hide them very well, even from their own parents. If your feeling under too much pressure to play in a certain game let your parents, friends or coaches know. Sharing emotions can be very difficult but are a great way to overcome and understand how you feel and that its ok to feel this way. As a coach I always look for signs when I greet a student, are they themselves, how has there day gone? If I identify maybe a mood change can I then engage with the student to put them at ease and help them overcome any anxiety or stress.
Good nerves – Feeling nervous before a match is natural and part of your body’s way of helping you do your best. The “stress hormones” (like adrenaline) that your body produces at times like these can actually help you focus and help you perform at the highest level.
I hope you enjoyed my blog, enjoy your football!!
Best wishes
Jason