Every week a coach takes to the field, to coach their respective team and in some cases, leads them in a fixture in the following days.
For some this is voluntary and others, it’s paid. One thing that is the same for both coaches, is what they’re coaching…or should be, in this case.

At the start of the training session, a coach should have some sort of plan that can be used to execute a given intention. Whether this is achieved or not, is another discussion, but as long as the intention is there, we have a starting point.
The next question is, what are the coaches intentions based upon? Was it last weeks result, pressure from the parents or just a ‘feeling’, that the coach had? While none of the previous mentioned are objective, they are familiar as we know and are often used as a subjective starting point.
Each coach has there own application of doing things (subjective), but if you also use a subjective factor from outside of facts (objectivity), you will eventually encounter some chaos. Subjectivity + subjectivity…..
By using this start point, you are also leaving many things open to interpretation and why would your opinion be more suited, than some else’s?

From reading the above passage, a subjective starting point, probably isn’t the best idea. If you did use this approach, my question would be; what are you coaching and how did you come to that decision?

Firstly, before any coach steps onto the touch line or into any training arena, they should have an understanding of the sport that they are participating in. If a coach doesn’t know a lot about football (bare brain), what could the players possibly learn from this person?
Imagine that someone walked into a cockpit of an aeroplane, with no experience or very minimal training. How could they possibly begin to understand the job that they have signed up for?
If you take the game of football for example, the weight on the shoulders of the coach is extremely different that that of the pilot. As we know, if a coach makes a wrong decision, no one will die….

We can’t use this as an excuse though and must have a higher bar. How could we achieve this?

Coaches will have to take a certification of some sort, before being ‘licensed’ and allowed to lead a certain group. These certifications are different, depending on what federation you use and what pathway you to choose to take. One thing they all should have in common though, is what content they provide.
At the end of the course and in most cases, coaches are given their certification, independent of their competency levels.

Back on the grass with their respective clubs, the coaches now need to deliver a training session that will aid the learning of all and hopefully improve performance.

What starting point does the coach need for this?
What is the coach going to instruct and how is it going to effect all players?
What information do you know on the given topic?

If you don’t know the ‘what’, how can you expect to coach the ‘what’? The ‘what’ in our case is football….

This question should be reflected on, by all coaches at every opportunity available. Stepping onto the pitch and coaching can be daunting enough, but going onto the field and not knowing ‘what to do’ or ‘what to say’, leaves you in a very difficult position.