The Silent Coach

Scenario

The pupils line up nervously outside the examination room, there is an air of anticipation for what’s ahead. They sheepishly enter the room, walk past the row of desks and chairs until they find their seat. You can feel the tension as the pupils wait for instructions from the teacher. The exam papers are handed out and the teacher yells begin.
Just as the pupils settle into the rhythm of their exam paper, parents, spectators and teachers swarm the examination room and start screaming instructions. ‘Remember to check your spelling’, ‘Make sure you read the question fully and answer all questions’, ‘Don’t forget to move on to the next question if you’re stuck’, ‘Ensure you write with flair and show off your depth of knowledge’

The scenario obviously would never happen. It would clearly create added tension, confusion and distraction away from the ultimate goal. By telling all the pupils what to do and when to do it, we wouldn’t therefore know if the pupil has learnt anything.

Yet every Saturday morning, I travel to Regents Park and I think to myself, how can I get the best out of the players in today’s match? What can I say to them that will have a positive effect on their performance? Often the answer isn’t in words, it’s in silence. If we look at a football match through the lens of an examination, we can then judge the players knowledge, decision making and skills on that given day. The way the players perform will enable the coach to draw up conclusions on how best to support the player during training. If the player is constantly receiving barking instructions, streams of advice and being told what to do, we will never know what the player is really developing.

What is a silent coach?

The Silent Coach attempts to create an environment for their players that allows them to problem solve rather than dictating to them what the answers are. This is not to say the coach remains silent throughout the whole game, rather the coach understands the power that silence can have on making a learning centred environment for their players.

What effect can this approach have on the players?

At United Dragons, we are of the opinion that any player who steps over the white line to play a game of football must be afforded the autonomy to make decisions for themselves and for the team. If the player makes a bad decision that results in conceding a goal, does it really matter? No is the answer. What matters is the player understands why he/she made that choice and how to learn from a mistake. If a player has an opportunity to shoot and he/she hears the coach yell ‘SHOOT’ what will happen? The player will probably shoot under unnecessary panic. The reality is, the coach can not see what that player can see and there may have been a better option for the player. But by yelling SHOOT, the decision was take away from the player in that moment.

I must emphasise, being a silent coach is not simply remaining silent on the side-lines. We at United Dragons will continue to encourage the players, support the players and ultimately listen to the players.

Challenge

Next time we are in Regents Park, I challenge you all to count how many times the coach takes the decision making process away from a player by yelling an instruction. How many times can you count a negative comment being made by a coach?