Hello all, im coaching a ladies first team and im trying?

Hockey CoachCoach

hi buddie firstly the strickers not comin to trainin would drive me nuts, you have to chat with the captain and them, you need to work together, and stop waistin the teams time to help our the selfish strickers, just them get on with it, on a sat. (do you really think a few words, rather than drill and pratice are gonna make them better on the day?) as far as munbers turnin up......the better you make trainin the more they will come, might take a few weeks, but your hard work will pay off. make sure you never have them waitin in lines for a go, think about the pase buildin as you session progesses and make some of it just plan fun!! good luck sam ps hopes ya can cope with my writin i'm dyslexic

Alain PaumenCoach, Belgium

I guess that you will have more then 11 players. For me players not attending practice, means also starting on the bench, even when they are the better players. Communicate the 'rules' in advance, and then stick to them. Better loose a couple of games in the beginning, but have a fully motivated team afterwards. If you don't work like that, more players will stop attending training (certainly when weather conditions decrease...)

Shelley BruceCoach, England

Hi John, Here are a few suggestions that have worked for me.

1) Building a team goal/vision - get the team together after your Saturday match (when they are all there) for a 15-20 minutes team talk.

• You need to firstly understand what is important to them all. Ask them all what they want to get out of playing hockey individually and as a team e.g. improve skills, team work thru to finishing in top 4 of league table.
• Summarise and get them to agree 2-3 mutual goals.
• Then ask them what things need to change in the club or team to achieve these goals e.g.ground rules, training, development.
• What is really important is to have ways to reward the behaviour you want e.g.celebrate things done right or successes e.g. most improved player award after each game.
• Very important - also ask team what they think the consequences of not doing something should be going forward e.g. not turning up to training - start on bench, etc.
• Get someone to write down the key points from the Saturday meeting and before your Tuesday session, go over these once again (important to repeat these and ensure everyone is clear).
• RESULT - The captain that was leading things was scared to challenge some of the older club members because she was worried they would leave or make the situation worse but it didn't happen like that. They got on board and were the ones to come up with the rules themselves which they have stuck to. Other members who had also been fed up got to have their say and everyone is now treated as equals. We occasionally still have problems with attendance at training but advance notice is giving and we can adjust the training plan in advance.

2) Develop some attacking and defensive principles for the team e.g. if possession is lost, everyone needs to get back behind the ball. Develop drills around your principles and reinforce each week in other drills - should get back if they lose possession in 2v1 shooting drills for example. Giving them easy principles to remember will also give them confidence in defence and they can anticipate what their team mates next move will be. RESULT - Don't expect results straight away but these will eventually sink in with loads of repetition each week.

Good luck John. Let me know how you get on. :)

Hockey CoachCoach

Thanks guys n girls, i shall put your advice to good use. Only time will tell though as im sure you will agree, its not going to happen overnight. Thanks again. Mike.