Maybe you are familiar with the feeling I used to have just minutes before your team enters the field to play a game. I always do my pre-game speech (How to do a structured pregame speech , 10 Tips to making your pregame speech stick) first and than the players will start to warm up. After they warmed up everybody goes back to the dressing room to change clothes and wear our team jerseys. The team is waiting to start the game, but there are a few minutes more to wait. Everybody is standing or sitting in the dressing room. I always had the feeling I was expected to say something, but what? Was I going to tell them the key points of the pre-game speech again, was I going to tell them something to motivate them a little more or was I going to tell them something completely different? The feeling you need to say something as a coach, but you don’t have a clue what to tell your players. It’s a feeling I don’t like, not knowing what to tell my players, or what sort of thing I need to say. I tried to use all tree possible kinds of talks or just said nothing and experienced some advantages and disadvantages of all methods.
Key points of your pre-game speech.
Tell your players the key points of the pre-game speech is a possibility. You’ll tell them to use the whole field and go wide when we are having the ball and that kind of stuff. Maybe your players will remember their tasks better is you tell them again just before the game. Some players like to hear again what they are expected to do. The advantage will be that some of your players will be able to fur full their tasks. In my experience there aren’t a lot of player who will remember their tasks better because it’s told them again, just minutes before the game. A disadvantage of giving this kind of information is that some players might mix up things. They hear things they haven’t heart before and because of that they will kind of panic. They have no clue what to do anymore and they are kind of lost. They get a feeling of insecurity and that will effect their game.
Most coaches who repeat the key point of the pre-game speech will talk real fast. They want to be sure they can tell all the key points, and the game is just minutes away. Coaches are talking so fast the players can’t keep up with it. So eventually the advantage isn’t there, because the coach is talking just to much.
A one minute motivation talk.
This is the part all sports movies are really good at. I think every sports coach saw Al Pacino’s speech in Any Given Sunday.
The advantage of this method is that you will give your players a motivation boost. They will try to give their best even more. But you can’t use this method every game, it something you can only use a couple of times, because otherwise it won’t work anymore. If you try to do a motivational talk every time, your players will think you are an actor. In my experience a motivational talk only works if the coach means every word he sais. If he of passionate about the thing he’s saying. It has to come from the heart. A possible disadvantage will be that your players are only playing with the heart, giving everything they have in the field. This sounds like something great, but is only is when they are still doing their tasks. I’ve experienced that a lot of player have problems with keeping their mind in the game after a great motivational talk.
Talk about something completely different.
I know coaches who are always asking the players what their plans are for after the game. They want to take some pressure away and talking about things after the game will definitely do that. Because you are talking about things that will happen after the game you’ll give you players the feeling the is more than just this game. If the pressure isn’t there some players will play a better game. This will be advantage of asking something completely different. But taking away the pressure can also make the concentration disappear. The players aren’t focused on the game. This will of course be a very big disadvantage.
Don’t say a thing, just let the players prepare themselves.
An other possibility is to just say nothing. Is you aren’t saying a thing, the players can prepare themselves. They can concentrate and focus on the game. A player who wants to thing about this tasks can, and a player who want to think about some motivational thing can do that. It allows every player to do what is best for them, I really like this advantage. But is your team is not independent enough, your team will need some guidance. When the are not independent the players expect the coach to say something. If you aren’t going to say anything, they will start to think you don’t know what to do. It will make the insecure and lose confidence in a good result. This will be a big disadvantage.
I’ve seen a lot of coaches just before games. In my experience most of them are just as nervous or even more nervous than the players are. Because this nerves they want to say something, to get a better feeling. The feeling you did everything in your power, because you gave them some more advices, motivated them or whatever. Most coaches are talking because of them, not to help to players. I used to be one of those coaches and probably annoyed my players with my nervous talks. They never complained, but I’m sure it’s true. The coach I am today it not talking because I want to feel better. I’m talking to help my players.
Of course, every player is different. What works for just one player doesn’t have to work for an other player. With talks and speeches to a group of people, soccer players in this case, you will always effect some players more than others. That’s why I can’t tell you which method is working the best for me. It’s different for every team I coach. By telling you my experience I hope you’ll try different kind of talks just minutes before your game. See to which kind of information your team is responding best, and use that method to say something just before the game. I’d like to hear about what you are telling your players just before the game. Please comment this article and tell me about your experiences. If you tried different methods after this article I would love to know which one was working for you and your team!
