I have just joined as a coach for an Under 12's side.?

Football CoachCoach

James, I can only sympathise with you on this subject. There is no straight forward and generic answer.

The only advice I can offer which to some extent has worked for me in the same situation is that you need to find out what makes each player "tick". i.e. what makes him respond in a more positive manner. Remember boys develop mentally and physically at varying rates. I am finding that many of my players are vocal in the safety of a training session and yet when it comes to the game itself they freeze as if they are feeling pressure. This is something I do not want to affect any player and therefore I have taken some 1%3A1 training sessions which include theory of the game and practical drills to find out more about them and to ask what they like/dislike about the actual game scenario. 9/10 the answer is that they don't want to make a poor decison leading to a mistake and possibly a goal against them. I conteract this by ensuring they understand that there is no such thing as a wrong decision at this level but a chance to learn to do the same thing in another way perhaps next time.

The main message I keep drilling into my team is that 80% of sporting ability and successs in the head - use of the senses - eyes to see, ears to hear/listen, mouth to speak/shout and brain to compute. The rest is natural ability which will enhance with practice.

I always make sure that they know that what ever the score as long as they know they have tried their best - that is all that counts. Hopefully this way the boys will relax and enjoy the game more and not feel under pressure. Ofcourse we don't know what the parents are telling them on the build up to the game - this is another subject!

Hope this rambling helps.....good luck