The Importance of Setting High Expectations

High Expectation Practices Transfer To Game Days 

Practices set the tone for how players will react and develop through the training activities created by their coaches. My background includes coaching college level players and over the last 7 years I have been instructing our youngest players on the soccer field. People always asked how my coaching has changed moving from fast paced games and highly skilled players to more of a developmental level. My answer is quite simple – nothing has changed. My focus on preparing the very best training session is still the same, the words I use to motivate and challenge the players are still the same, my sense of understanding the diverse needs of every player on my team is still the same, and my desire to teach new concepts is still the same.

The key ingredient in all of my training session is setting high expectations for my players. In fact, if you came to my U10 practice you would see the very same activities I used at the college level. We may take some more time to acquire the concept or skill at the U10 level but we will get there! My mindset is that if we can challenge our players to step outside of their comfort zone and find methods to resolve whatever issue is hampering their understanding or development of the skill, we will prepare a better soccer decision maker on the field. Part of my coaching philosophy, that I make very clear to the players at practice, is that I want them to try something new and make mistakes. Without the errors, we cannot teach and the players will not develop. The activities I select for my youth teams are challenging and force the players to “think” about what they did, what they should do, and what they can do better next time. We need to rehearse with the players what we are looking for by painting a clear picture on the field and then we need to get them to that level – through repetition, practice, and motivational words.

For me, having high expectations means we want players to achieve at a level they never thought they could. As coaches we are the facilitators to get them to that level through our explanations and field demonstrations. We also need to have a keen understanding of how to express what we are looking for to each player since most have different learning styles. If you attend one of my practices you will hear me! I am very vocal during each activity teaching as they move and play. My words are filled with over-arching instructions and positive comments. Since I have a very limited time to teach each week with 90 minute sessions for my teams, I want to use the most of my training sessions and do not like quiet training environments!

What typically happens at my sessions is that players will absorb the information about the activity, they will become mindful of how they are performing the task, they may fail a few times, and then through those challenges they will feel a sense of accomplishment when they do reach the level we as coaches expected as they progress through the activity. Practice is the time to break down the abilities of each of our players and build them back up so they become an improved player. How do you know they improved? Ask them. Towards the end of every practice go up to your players individually and ask them how was practice, what did you like, what was difficult, and did you get better today?

High expectations from start to finish not only assists in developing players but it creates a team culture for striving to achieve even when the tasks are difficult. Eventually this type of training will transfers into game day when we are playing a better skilled opponent and we need to find a way to sort through the challenges. If our training sessions are more difficult than any game we will play, we will rise to the occasion when needed and fight through the struggles because our players have been accustomed to this kind of mindset throughout their practices.