Pedagogy - The Balance Between Collective and Individual Feedback
For those of you who coach alone, how do you balance providing both collective and individual feedback? As someone who has been the sole coach for a team of 16 players and another of 14 players, I went through a period where I found it difficult to find time to provide individual feedback and easily fell into only giving collective feedback. How do you find the time to give individual feedback?
As a solo coach, it can be challenging to constantly provide individual feedback to all players. I experienced a period of about six months where I had to work alone with two different teams consisting of 14 and 16 ambitious and driven players aged 14 and 15, respectively. Without a coaching colleague to delegate tasks and areas of focus to, I found myself focusing mostly on the team as a whole and giving more collective feedback. This was because, as a solo coach, there is an overwhelming amount to monitor and analyze during training sessions and matches. Reviewing the collective principles and the team's working methods and performances felt like an easier and less time-consuming task for me compared to analyzing each player's actions and performances. With two teams to coach as a single coach, there are more players to provide feedback to and less time for me to give it, as I have to move from one training session directly to the next. Therefore, I felt this approach would create the best possible training environment given the circumstances within the teams. However, this led to me completely overlooking the need to provide individual feedback to the players.
I realized early on, after about a month as the sole coach of both teams, that individual feedback was necessary, but I tried to determine which was more important: individual or collective feedback, rather than finding a balance between the two. This was because I felt I didn't have time to give both and felt the need to focus on one or the other. This led to me struggling to find a balance between the two and, as mentioned above, easily falling into only giving collective feedback. Another factor was that as the only coach, I needed to stand on the sidelines and instruct the drill, which naturally gave me a more holistic perspective, making it easier to spot collective patterns and methods and provide feedback on those. However, with a focus on collective principles, individual feedback can still emerge unintentionally, as situations arise where feedback to an individual is necessary for the collective principle to be understood. For example, if a winger moves too far inside instead of staying wide to create space. However, this type of individual feedback can mean that not all players receive the feedback they need to feel seen, resulting in a general lack of individual feedback.
So, the question is, why is it problematic that the players did not receive individual feedback? Players need individual feedback on their intentions and actions to achieve maximum development. Feedback given to the group regarding collective principles and methods may be irrelevant for some players, as some may not need to develop in that area even if the majority of the team does. This will slow down that player's development since they are not getting relevant feedback or an individual goal to work towards. Without a goal to strive for, in the form of something that particular player needs to improve, there is a high risk that the individual will not feel challenged, which in turn can lead to a loss of motivation to strive for improvement.
Individual feedback not only contributes positively to a player's development but also positively affects the individual's mental health. It is extremely important for a player to feel seen by the coach in order to feel good and thrive. A player’s well-being is directly linked to their development in football, which adds weight to how important individual feedback is for players.
The problem "solved itself" after about three to four months when the players got used to certain drills, even though I could use new constraints, the basic structure of the drill would be familiar to the players. That is, if you have a drill that is very flexible and can be used repeatedly with different focus areas, the players will get used to it more quickly. This meant I didn't have to stand on the sidelines instructing the drill but could instead step into the drill (i.e., move around within the playing area with the players instead of standing on the side) and gain a new perspective, seeing the players' intentions and actions more from their own perspective. This led me to notice more things that required individual feedback and more naturally found a balance between collective and individual feedback.
I have reflected on the problem afterward to try to find a solution from the start, in case I encounter the problem again with a new group in the future. I believe the solution I "found" is useful but takes too long before it can be implemented. This is because the players need to get used to the drills so that you, as a coach, can move around the field and focus more on analyzing individuals. If you, as a coach, can find a flexible drill that can be used to train different focus areas, the players will learn how the drill works more quickly, and the opportunity for the coach to focus more on the individuals will open up.
It only takes a minute, if even that, to make players feel seen. It would have been good to have an app or a notebook where I could check off which players I have given individual feedback to, so I could ensure that all players receive some type of individual feedback each week.
Do you have any tips for how as a solo trainer you can find a good balance between collective and individual feedback to create the best development environment possible?