25 years of working with sports coaches who want their kids to pick up skills that help them win.
25 years of being assertive about the importance of fundamental movement skills and not winning the argument. Instead, wearing compromise, frustration, and failure.
But this time it’s different.
Ask any coach what they struggle with and they will tell you one of three things.
Lack of contact time.
Lack of money and resources.
Player buy-in and adherence (compliance).
Ask a coach what they need and they will tell you a mentor (what they actually want is someone to tell them they are right). But for now, stubbornness will do.
Sport-specific coaches don’t develop fundamental movement skills in their athletes because they don’t have the time.
Sport-specific coaches don’t develop fundamental movement skills in their athletes because they don’t have the resources.
Sport-specific coaches don’t develop fundamental movement skills because the kids want to play [insert sport] not train.
Coaches are stubborn.
I thought I was right. I wanted kids to be athletic and THEN play sports. If I argued for long enough I got 20 minutes at the start of a session.
But, sport-specific coaches were and are right. There is little time to prepare kids. We don’t have enough of the right kit and kids like to have fun. Playing sport is fun. Press-ups are not.
Big ideas need 3 things.
A narrative change.
Some data to back up the start we are selling ourselves.
And a to-do list. A new way of doing things,
What’s exciting about this new opportunity is there is no narrative change and no need for more data. This opportunity is about how we use our time.
In football, Funino, a small-sided football gives kids more touches of a ball, more decisions to make, and more movement in a 7-minute period when compared to technical drills or large-sided games typically used by a coach. Sport-specific coaches can deliver sessions in less time.
Is the change worth it? Yes. More in less time. What’s not to like?
What changed?
I made the jump. I was wrong and sport-specific coaches were right. So while I wait in line to get picked, for a grant for more money to buy kit, get a better pitch, and more resources. I’ll follow the guidelines and make my games small-sided.
And I’ll make better use of my time. Since I have now given the kids more touches of the ball, more decisions, and more time using sports-specific movements. I can use my spare time to teach them how to sprint, jump, throw, catch and chase.
You don’t need a big idea. Instead. Meet people where they are. Give them what they already have and something they don’t.
You might enjoy this. Kit was from parents bringing in hula hoops, one small goal, and a stack of tennis balls.