Coaching strategies to develop desired psychological attributes within academy soccer players

Figures & data

Table 1. Commitment to develop: description, strategies, and behavioral indicators.

Phase One	Phase Two
Themes associated to attribute and raw data quote example	Coaching strategy themes and raw data quote example	Behavioral indicators of successful development
Consistency of adaptive behaviors - “They [players] show unbelievable desire and commitment…all those players [who turned professional] used to do their reflections they would watch the whole game.” (Reece, PDP) The reciprocal relationship commitment has with confidence and preparation – “Belief that if you do everything right in the week then my performance will be consistent.” (Aidan, YDP) Commitment to own development - “Commitment is on and off the pitch…the way you look after yourself, then everyday looking to improve.” (Levi, YDP)	Actively encourage and reward players for consistently demonstrating positive behaviors - “Both at school and on the pitch and off the pitch, you’ve [player] been outstanding, we got a box for this game at the stadium…invite all the family.” (Owen. YDP) Communicate with parents to help inform and support the players’ Individual Learning Plan - “Informal dialogue between me [coach] and the parents, it might be a quiet word if you like, in order to get your message through to the player we might go through the parent in a different way.” (Max, YDP) Foster an academy culture that has clear expectations of player behaviors - “They [expected behaviors] are driven by the environment, by the culture of the Academy. What is perceived as good behavior, what does good look like…being consistent with the messages to the players.” (Joe, PDP) Give players individualized targets each session and advise them how to improve – “Do they [players] know how to affect their super strengths? If not, set targets each session linked to those. Psychologically from that are they more confident, a bit more resilient, a bit more resourceful? If not, you’ve got to intervene to support them.” (Callum, YPD) Provide opportunity for player ownership - “The players have the option of coming in to training earlier to meet-up, get extra work in…it’s up to them though, it’s about getting their buy-in and it [early attendance] being their decision.” (Phil, YDP) Use role models to challenge players further - “For example, ‘here’s a video on Toni Kroos and his receiving skills, have a look at this, has few touches, his awareness’ how might this influence your game?” (Tom, YDP)	Commit to extra training to improve Communicates well with others Consistently works hard Prepared for training Readily gathers information to allow them to succeed

Table 2. Coping with the demands of high-level sport: description, strategies, and behavior indicators.

Phase One	Phase Two
Themes associated to attribute and raw data quote example	Coaching strategy themes and raw data quote example	Behavioral indicators of successful development
The ability to independently cope with demands, expectations, and setbacks - “Being able to deal with setbacks because that’s the biggest thing, if you’re not prepared to learn you’re omitting yourself straight away. If you can’t deal with setbacks you won’t last in this game for two minutes.” (Luke, PDP) Strategy to cope with setbacks – “As a player gets older… it becomes more around the psychological side of dealing with those mistakes…It’s [pressure] starting to kick in earlier because your 14 year-old is being judged on whether to offer them a full-time scholarship next year. So those pressures now start to kick in.” (Clive, YDP) The pressures and setbacks that originate from deselection - “Dealing with setbacks whether that’s a case of not being selected, having to play down [lower age], playing well then all of a sudden you’re out of the team for whatever reason, it could be being substituted at half-time because they’re [player] not doing something right.” (Aidan, YDP)	Manufacture challenge within training and competition - “More competitive football program…results driven floodlit cup tournaments, tours… has really helped prepare our players for a result driven industry.” (Max, YDP) Encourage a positive and autonomous team environment - “We just did a ‘come dine with me’ the other week where the kids will cook for the parents… they could be away from their families from Sunday evening right through until Friday night.” (Phil, YDP) Honest and calm conversations with players - “We [coaches] have six week reviews with them [players]…they will present to us about their perceptions of their development and we will feedback to them about where they are on a level.” (Pat, PDP) Consistently emphasize expectations of being an academy player - “The schedule is communicated to them [players], and within that schedule what we expect today – you’re expected to be here at this time…make sure got your kit - I'm not having a go at players I'm just telling them how it is, how they need to be organized because at first team level players aren’t given room for interpretation of rules.” (Owen, YDP) Orchestrate the support system for players during times of adversity - “Support group ideally with the coach aware of everything that is going on and every conversation and strategy that’s going on to help them [players] through that [adversity]. I think with the multidisciplinary approach that we are closer than ever to working to a higher level of support for players in difficult moments.” (Owen, YDP)	Will independently cope with demands, expectations and setbacks Employ strategies to cope with a setback They manage the pressure and setbacks originating from deselection

Table 3. Self-aware and reflective: description, strategies, and behavior indicators.

Phase One	Phase Two
Themes associated to attribute and raw data quote example	Coaching strategy themes and raw data quote example	Behavioral indicators of successful development
Self-awareness impacts players behaviors - “I think that [self-awareness] starts a cycle of making decisions and basically their execution, but that’s off the pitch as well as on the pitch.” (Matt, YDP) Successful players more readily self-reflect and develop weaknesses - “Players need to find out information…it’s not a one-way street…they need to come and get information from us and come and communicate and ask us things.” (Edward, PDP) Self-awareness is an important psychological attribute - “I think developing it [self-awareness’] is something we need to with kids early on.” (Calvin, PDP) Being present in all situations to maximize development - “Being in the present…Be there. Listening to what you are saying and processing things that link to what you say to make myself better.” (Matt, YDP)	A coaching style that promotes the development of self-awareness - “If you’re [coach] just on it too much all the time then you just blend into the noise… then at some point people just switch off because you’re just noise. [Be the person who] when I have something to say people listen.” (Ben, PDP) Design an individual player development plan for each player - “Being aware of what some of their [players] weaknesses are…individual feedback coupled with an action so it can’t just be a statement of ‘this is your weakness’, it is got to be ‘this is an area of weakness, think about this or try this so there is a get out to improve upon that weakness’.” (Max, YDP) Design of practice sessions that encourages players to become more aware – “Sometimes just by putting players in the environment where they’re going to have to just deal with it [difficult situations]. Like ‘if you are obviously not comfortable on your left [foot] we’re going to put you on the left side’.” (Jim, YDP) Use players who show high levels of self-awareness as role models - “On the grass asking them [players] to watch other people, getting them to think about others’ strengths and what they mean personally, getting other players to help them and stuff like that.” (Pat, PDP) Task players to reflect on footage of previous performance - “Individual [video] clips so they [players] will see every time they’re involved in the game … a chance for them to be self-aware of something maybe that they are not doing. It could be an emotional reaction could be a technical small thing.” (Lloyd, YDP)	Aware of own emotions and able to regulate them Demonstrates a change in behaviors over time Self regulates own development

Table 4. Emotional control: description, strategies, and behavior indicators.

Phase One	Phase Two
Themes associated to attribute and raw data quote example	Coaching strategy themes and raw data quote example	Behavioral indicators of successful development
Players need to manage a wide variety of emotions across situations - “Don’t get too high with the highs don’t get too low with the lows, because that’s how your journey is going to be.” (Luke, PDP) Emotional control promotes resilience to difficult situations - “Things are not always going your way… the referees… other aspects in terms of that dealing with opposition players getting wound-up.” (Levi, YDP) Players need support in managing emotions - “The ones [players] that don’t grow up quickly and don’t mature struggle with some things.” (Aidan, YDP)	Foster competition and challenge - “Putting in some demands on the game or putting in some condition…might be a forfeit, might be little games to bring the competition element into game.” (Lloyd, YDP) Get players to focus on their strengths and set goals during times of heightened emotions - “We go to their [players] strengths…trying to help them focus on what they can control as opposed to what the issue is.” (Lloyd, YDP) Encourage players to understand why they lose emotional control - “Understand why and what sort of feelings they [players] have and then draw upon our experiences as coaches as practitioners to give that person guidance and rationality.” (Max, YDP) Provide considered and timely feedback to players about their ability to control their emotions - “As few words as possible…I think that is the key…it’s really important for us [coaches] to be considered in the language we use…what’s our tone, our pitch.” (Owen, YDP) Give players the opportunity to calm down before supporting them through their emotional response - “Worse thing you [coach] could tell someone when they’re angry is not to do something…They [players] will calm down, then its time to go and help, support and listen, then help them understand what has happened.” (Callum, YDP) Use of appropriate communication and tonality - “Withdrawing your own emotions and explaining the consequences of those behaviors.” (Jim, YDP). Use role modeling techniques - “Invest in talking to them [players], showing them clips, even real-life examples so if they behave in a certain way give him examples there and then.” (Ben, PDP)	Demonstrates control during moments of high and low emotion Focuses on goals during emotionally charged situations Independently regulates emotional responses Learns from setbacks Views competition and challenges as an opportunities to develop

Table 5. Confidence: description, strategies, and behavioral indicators.

Phase One	Phase Two
Themes associated to attribute and raw data quote example	Coaching strategy themes and raw data quote example	Behavioral indicators of successful development
Confidence influences behaviors and psych attributes - “He [international player] was always very humble, very grounded… had some bad loans, didn’t let that affect him. Self-belief is a huge thing.” (Dan, PDP) A lack of confidence inhibits risk taking - “If they don’t believe in themselves then…it’s a thing that makes them stand out.” (Levi, YDP) Confidence comes from different sources - “You’ve done everything right, you’ve trained hard you’ve worked hard, you’ve prepared, you’ve physically done everything that’s been asked of you; you’re confident knowing that you’ve done everything well.” (Aidan, YDP) Best players have resilient confidence - “You have a real habit in a belief…you’ve got something that is going to make you a player.” (Dan, PDP).	Support players to self-reflect to build confidence - “We see confidence improve where we put players in front of the Coach and a camera to present. The first time they do it [present] compared to the next, they think ‘this is not as bad as what I thought’, and they progress that way, which has been positive.” (Lloyd, YDP) Set players challenging yet achievable targets - “If we make players aware that they can work on it [performance] so they improve through tough goals we can create opportunities where you can help them in relation to what they need individually.” (Pat, PDP) Orchestrate support networks - “we will make sure they room with someone different….so that there’s an element of communication between them the players who they might not know so much to maybe develop a confidence of talking to that person.” (Lloyd, YDP) Know how best to support an individual’s confidence - “One-to-one is powerful it’s how well you know your players … which ones could benefit from being highlighted to the rest of the group, and which ones are quite happy just cracking on.” (Jim, YDP) Increase player-led opportunities to practice - “Strikers in the older age groups do added activities called breakfast clubs on their finishing, but if, by doing that they know ‘I feel like I've improved because I feel like I've spent time in a particular area’.” (Nigel, YDP) Facilitate players to develop confidence by reducing perceived pressures - “We [staff] have to get the stuff out the way that causes low confidence” (Aaron, YDP) Encourage players to further enhance their strengths - “Do what you’re good at and keep trying to do that, have that something you can pull on to do.” (Nigel, YDP) Emphasize previous accomplishments to players - “Thumbs up or an arm around the shoulder or a pat on the back…. certainly around constructive praise, realistic and constructive praise.” (Max, YDP)	Confident players will drive high standards from peers Engage effectively with teammates Players consistently perform well against coach expectations Readily communicate with coaches They are energetic and hard working Willing to be creative and not fearing of making mistakes

Table 6. Drive to achieve goals: description, strategies, and behavior indicators.

Phase One	Phase Two
Themes associated to attribute and raw data quote example	Coaching strategy themes and raw data quote example	Behavioral indicators of successful development
Engaged and focused in pursuit of individual goals - “You know it’s their [players] way of life that they want to be what they are trying to be. And it’s not ‘flavor of the month’, it’s a consistent drive.” (Matt, YDP) Players need to be driven - “It’s trying to find the bits that you don’t see them [players] doing, because that’s the internal drive.” (Calvin, PDP)	Goals need to be realistic and idiosyncratic to the player - “They [players] have their own goals that they will set for 6-week review … they’re all realistic and individual to them.” (Max, YDP) Objective measures and analysis of performance can help players to focus upon goals - “GPS data so we can look at physical performance…. that might focus a player’s efforts.” (Nigel, YDP) Learn about a player to inform coaching support toward those goals - “Through conversations and getting to know what they care about and then getting to know them as people.” (Nigel, YDP) Prescribe goals and plans for players to work toward - “We try to break down the long journey, looking at smaller goals. That helps to step things out and ensure that there’s targets there for players to work toward.” (Pat, PDP) Readily question players on their goals, performances, and challenges they may face - “We ask [players] ‘why are you here?’…. the main answer might be, ‘I'm here today because I want to get better at this part’.” (Lloyd, YDP) Encourage players to create their own goals and independently work toward achieving them “Through conversation and analysis players take those experiences and it allows them to create the evidence they need to set their own goals relating to their current needs.” (Nigel, YDP) Support players toward longer term goals by maintaining focus on it over time - “Constantly trying to relate long-term goals to what players are doing now for perspective.” (Lloyd, YDP) Encourage players to independently review their performances - “Putting emphasis on self-reflection and using things like, ‘what do you need to keep doing, start doing, stop doing?’” (Jim, YDP) Use role models to help players in the process of setting and pursuit of goals - “Watching their [players’] peers perform gives them ideas of where they need to be, what they need, and how they might get there … leads to extra work after training so they’ve identified something.” (Pat, PDP)	Able to recall the aims of the session or individual aims Goal-directed behaviors Players that practice independently to improve Players who constantly apply themselves toward their goals Players who seek out information and readily uses the resources around them to learn and develop Players will set goals that match their annual learning plan across training and games Driven players will communicate effectively with team mates to achieve goals Players understand their strengths and weaknesses, set own goals, and have ownership over development Players who complete the PMA reviews

Table 7. Strong work ethic: description, strategies, and behavior indicators.

Phase One	Phase Two
Themes associated to attribute and raw data quote example	Coaching strategy themes and raw data quote example	Behavioral indicators of successful development
Possess the right attitude and work hard - “Attitude to work is probably the highest for me. You think in any walk of life if you’ve got good attitude to do things well you will succeed.” (Edward, PDP) Serious approach to challenges and overcoming setbacks - “He was going to be on a non-contract he was probably really disappointed as in the back of the head he probably knew he was good enough [to be contracted]; but he came back with that mentality of ‘come on then bring it on!’” (Dan, PDP) Determination possessed by the best players - “They [players] have an unbelievable desire and self-determination to actually do it [become a professional].” (Aidan, YDP)	Coach reinforces good work ethic demonstrated by players - “We [coaches] have to make sure that when it [good work ethic] does happen that it is encouraged and spoken about and praised.”(Phil, YDP) Engage players through challenge - “Put an end goal in which links certain constraints in the games or practices … for example, you have a three-goal lead that must be defended.” (Jim, YDP) Facilitate player autonomy over their development - “There is a coach here on a Tuesday night that they can come in and work with.” (Lloyd, YDP) Honest communication with individual players - “You’ll just make it clear to them [players] that it’s [talent pathway] a bumpy road and the reasons why.” (Ben, PDP) Practices designed to encourage players to work hard - “Ensuring sessions have tempo, intensity, goals and competition always keeps motivation inherently high and engages people.” (Tom, YDP) Promoting self-reflection to highlight areas of improvement - “In player presentations…. they will show us or demonstrate things they are doing outside of these four walls.” (Joe, PDP) Reinforce academy culture of possessing a strong work ethic - “We have a saying which is ‘nobody works harder than us’, it’s one of our key fundamental principles.” (Callum, YDP) Role modeling of players with strong work ethics - “How they [previous players] did it in this particular session is powerful to encourage hard work.” (Pat, PDP) Support players to recognize the bigger picture as a rationale for working hard - “We discuss how they can use the opportunity they’ve got to progress as far as they can.” (Nigel, YDP) Utilize physical data to compare and monitor work ethic - “By the time you’re 18, be able to cope with 12 km in a match.” (Lloyd, YDP)	Works physically hard Obsessive attitude toward improving Attending regularly and being early to training

Table 8. Resilience: description, strategies, and behavior indicators.

Phase One	Phase Two
Themes associated to attribute and raw data quote example	Coaching strategy themes and raw data quote example	Behavioral indicators of successful development
A key attribute which compliments and promotes other psych attributes (e.g., problem solving) - “It’s [resilience] an underbelly of their character. If they are resilient then they can communicate with the players and not be afraid to talk to players…that resilience to carry on because if you don’t have that [resilience] it breaks the link and you can’t develop further. (Edward, PDP) Positively and effectively responding to setbacks – “You’ve got to be robust. You’re going into a ruthless business environment that’s cut-throat, that’s unbelievably competitive and is so unreliable so you don’t know what you’re going to get from one minute to the next. (Luke, PDP)	Use players who demonstrate resilience as role models - “You might show them [players] what good looks like or who is good at that [being resilient], nearly every professional footballer has a certain amount of resilience so you have to have that to progress to a certain level.” (Joe, PDP) Foster a culture that focuses upon strengths of the players - “Probably by being honest about the standard and quality of actions and non-effective actions, be quite consistent with that, so that they [players] know when they’ve not hit the standard it’s not a big knock to them as people. Give them an understanding of what they need to work on and how their strengths can help them to work on it.” (Nigel, YDP) Allowing players to respond independently to setback before intervening - “If you can ask direct questions that will help players remember what the problem is and how they might solve it and then they get the chance to go and practice that next time the problem comes along, they have built some resilience or built some tools to use.” (Nigel, YDP) Exposing players to adversity - “Putting them [players] into environment that they are uncomfortable with, in situations that they are uncomfortable with I'm seeing what response they have to certain situations.” (Max, YDP) Provide players with open and honest support - “Withdrawing your [own] emotion out of it: calm, explaining the benefits and consequences.” (Jim, YDP)	Responding well to mistakes within competition Wanting to get on the ball after a mistake shows resilience Change negative behaviors into positive ones over time Continuing despite adversity Looks to learn from setbacks or weaknesses Overcome setbacks independently Players are not disappointed for too long  Reduction in mistakes during performance Work hard to improve after setback