Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Lies, D*** Lies and Statistics
"Mark Twain popularized the saying in "Chapters from My Autobiography", published in the North American Review in 1906. "Figures often beguile me," he wrote, "particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: 'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.'""
What does a season record measure for a team? It is an accurate measurement of how a team does in the run of a season, it shows goals for and goals against, discipline infractions, and home and away records. But how do you use it? How do you interpret it? What good do they do?
As I wrote before I take notes and record many things in respect of whatever squad I am coaching in a given season. Effective drills, attendance, impact of weather, injuries, and..... number of shots taken by the squad each game. Why? It is an objective measure of performance that my players can easily understand.
But what is the statistic that we are most obsessed with? The season, the wins, losses and ties. In the Premiership that is all that we need concern ourselves with. Is Liverpool in the top four, is Everton struggling already, how many games has Chelsea gone without a Torres goal? But what about us small fry, what does the season mean to us? My opinion is a definitive "It depends".
I will write of my experiences over the last number of years, and in particular working with squads that had a tough season, and the following season.
I had a U12 squad one year that was woeful. It was in the top division, it had our Clubs top players at this age group, they had no history in this division. We were terrible. I say we because I was inexperienced, I was unfamiliar with the league and the players. The players themselves all had promise and athleticism, but were technically and tactically very weak because of a lack of training provided to them at the Club's mini divisions ( this happily has changed). According to my records we played 30 games, won 6, lost 20, drew 4. We had 45 goals for ( two of those wins accounted for 25 goals), and 75 goals against. we never won a game outside of the city, nor any games in the first two weeks of August, anywhere.
Over the winter training period, I concentrated on defence, technical skills, and tried to figure out our road issues and what happened in August. The latter two problems were caused by arriving late to the fields and no proper warmups and lack of players because of vacations. I corrected these by
implementing a minimum 45 minute pregame arrival time and by requesting vacation schedules before the start of the season to plan for absences.
The other items were reflected in that the next season we played a similar number of games, and reduced our goals against by half. We also scored a few more goals and went from last in the league of 10 to 4th.
We also won games on the road and in August. So measurable success? Yes. Why? Not just placement,but with a measurable improvement in three areas; defence, away record and the August results.
I could go on, but I won't. Use statistics wisely. Use them to determine areas of team and player weakness and then make those improvements. Is it defence, is it offence, is it fitness, look at the numbers, look at the results, look at your notes and see what they tell you and use them to improve your squad little by little, or maybe even in big jumps. But don't let them lie to you.
What does a season record measure for a team? It is an accurate measurement of how a team does in the run of a season, it shows goals for and goals against, discipline infractions, and home and away records. But how do you use it? How do you interpret it? What good do they do?
As I wrote before I take notes and record many things in respect of whatever squad I am coaching in a given season. Effective drills, attendance, impact of weather, injuries, and..... number of shots taken by the squad each game. Why? It is an objective measure of performance that my players can easily understand.
But what is the statistic that we are most obsessed with? The season, the wins, losses and ties. In the Premiership that is all that we need concern ourselves with. Is Liverpool in the top four, is Everton struggling already, how many games has Chelsea gone without a Torres goal? But what about us small fry, what does the season mean to us? My opinion is a definitive "It depends".
I will write of my experiences over the last number of years, and in particular working with squads that had a tough season, and the following season.
I had a U12 squad one year that was woeful. It was in the top division, it had our Clubs top players at this age group, they had no history in this division. We were terrible. I say we because I was inexperienced, I was unfamiliar with the league and the players. The players themselves all had promise and athleticism, but were technically and tactically very weak because of a lack of training provided to them at the Club's mini divisions ( this happily has changed). According to my records we played 30 games, won 6, lost 20, drew 4. We had 45 goals for ( two of those wins accounted for 25 goals), and 75 goals against. we never won a game outside of the city, nor any games in the first two weeks of August, anywhere.
Over the winter training period, I concentrated on defence, technical skills, and tried to figure out our road issues and what happened in August. The latter two problems were caused by arriving late to the fields and no proper warmups and lack of players because of vacations. I corrected these by
implementing a minimum 45 minute pregame arrival time and by requesting vacation schedules before the start of the season to plan for absences.
The other items were reflected in that the next season we played a similar number of games, and reduced our goals against by half. We also scored a few more goals and went from last in the league of 10 to 4th.
We also won games on the road and in August. So measurable success? Yes. Why? Not just placement,but with a measurable improvement in three areas; defence, away record and the August results.
I could go on, but I won't. Use statistics wisely. Use them to determine areas of team and player weakness and then make those improvements. Is it defence, is it offence, is it fitness, look at the numbers, look at the results, look at your notes and see what they tell you and use them to improve your squad little by little, or maybe even in big jumps. But don't let them lie to you.
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Practice makes perfect!
I hate these aphorisms, but this one is starting to get to me in a meaningful way. The best phrasing of this theory isn't as above, but "Perfect practice makes perfect". Why is this right and not the other? Because if your practices are crap, if the players aren't performing at their very best, if the coaches don't make demands of them to perform, then the product out of practice isn't perfect, and the results on the pitch are bad.
Now returning to my old friend and spirit guide Bill Shankly, and his coterie of advisors in the "Boot Room", their attention to training detail was immaculate. They noted the weather, they noted the participation of the players, they noted the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of all aspects of the training session, and areas that needed improvement. This was done to maintain the high level of training required at the Liverpool at the time (and hopefully now).it allowed them to determine which training elements brought out the best in the players, and by maintaining a record of how the players trained, they could objectively review with the players how their training and game readiness was proceeding.
Now I write this from a coaches perspective. As a long past it former player, I like to believe that I always brought my "A" game to training, was fully attentive, and gave it my all. Unfortunately I don't think this is accurate. Now, I can only speak to what I do, and that is how I prepare for practices for my squad, to get the most benefit out of the training sessions I have with them.
These are Hal Whites Rules ( suggestions for everyone else) that I am continually trying to improve.
Rule 1. Pre-season, tell the players what your overall objectives are, technical, tactical, results league standings, and what it will take to achieve these goals. Tell what your grainy schedule is and your attendance requirements. Also tell them what are your behavior standards. If you have youth players ensure that the parents are made aware of this as well. During the season, plan your weekly training to reinforce what is working, and secondly,to improve on issues that need to be addressed before the next game.
Rule 2. Prepare your pre-season training plan. Determine how many practices you will have before your first game and develop a training plan against that time line.
Rule 3. Always take the time to think about and plan your training session. Review online sources, books, videos, whatever you have available. Each session should only focus on one technical issue, with a related game/tactical component. For example wall pass drills could be followed by a game that only allows goals after a wall pass. This rule applies both pre- season and during the season. ***Attached below is a list of several sources I use***
Rule 4. Make notes about how the practice went and what factors may have affected it such as weather, temperature, mood of the players. Be critical about what drills went well, which ones failed and how to make it better in the future.
Rule 5. Keep things simple, but challenging. This requires coaching preparation. The drills must be age, skill and knowledge appropriate]te. If you cannot find a way to explain it to your twelve years olds or 20 year olds, dump it.
Rule 6. Repetition repetition repetition,and always at game pace. This will help reinforce the technique, and the high pace will ensure that it is repeaeted in the actual game
Rule 7. Be demanding. Tell your players what you expect every practice and demand it from them. Don't let them slack off. Have/use incentives for success, and so called "forfeits" for those who aren't performing their best. I have the least successful players remain behind to pack up the training gear at the conclusion of practice, while the others go home. It takes five minutes but they remember.
Rule 8. Be demanding of yourself. Show up dressed to train, Club kit if you have it, whistle if you need, cones, pinnies/bibs, cones, nets and balls. This always requires preparation, so prepare. One hint, when drafting your training plan, write down what equipment you need for each aspect of the training session.
Rule 9. Step in and correct the drill if things aren't going well, and motivate the players to excel.
Rule 10. HAVE FUN!! It is work, but keep it enjoyable.The players must, at the very least enjoy what they are doing a they won't work as hard if they find the training to be complete drudgery.
My current favourite resources are as follows:
1. UEFA training ground which has video of many training ground activities. Explore this one .
http://www.uefa.com/trainingground/index.html
2. Perfect Ball Control by Peter Schreiner, Great drills that lead to game type situations. Focusses on high reps, and basic techniques.
3. 64 Small Sided Games, This is an E-Book published by Green Star Media in England, and can found on-line.. Worth every penny and has a game that can help reinforce almost every training ground activity and technical skill,
Walk On
YNWA.
Hal White
Now returning to my old friend and spirit guide Bill Shankly, and his coterie of advisors in the "Boot Room", their attention to training detail was immaculate. They noted the weather, they noted the participation of the players, they noted the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of all aspects of the training session, and areas that needed improvement. This was done to maintain the high level of training required at the Liverpool at the time (and hopefully now).it allowed them to determine which training elements brought out the best in the players, and by maintaining a record of how the players trained, they could objectively review with the players how their training and game readiness was proceeding.
Now I write this from a coaches perspective. As a long past it former player, I like to believe that I always brought my "A" game to training, was fully attentive, and gave it my all. Unfortunately I don't think this is accurate. Now, I can only speak to what I do, and that is how I prepare for practices for my squad, to get the most benefit out of the training sessions I have with them.
These are Hal Whites Rules ( suggestions for everyone else) that I am continually trying to improve.
Rule 1. Pre-season, tell the players what your overall objectives are, technical, tactical, results league standings, and what it will take to achieve these goals. Tell what your grainy schedule is and your attendance requirements. Also tell them what are your behavior standards. If you have youth players ensure that the parents are made aware of this as well. During the season, plan your weekly training to reinforce what is working, and secondly,to improve on issues that need to be addressed before the next game.
Rule 2. Prepare your pre-season training plan. Determine how many practices you will have before your first game and develop a training plan against that time line.
Rule 3. Always take the time to think about and plan your training session. Review online sources, books, videos, whatever you have available. Each session should only focus on one technical issue, with a related game/tactical component. For example wall pass drills could be followed by a game that only allows goals after a wall pass. This rule applies both pre- season and during the season. ***Attached below is a list of several sources I use***
Rule 4. Make notes about how the practice went and what factors may have affected it such as weather, temperature, mood of the players. Be critical about what drills went well, which ones failed and how to make it better in the future.
Rule 5. Keep things simple, but challenging. This requires coaching preparation. The drills must be age, skill and knowledge appropriate]te. If you cannot find a way to explain it to your twelve years olds or 20 year olds, dump it.
Rule 6. Repetition repetition repetition,and always at game pace. This will help reinforce the technique, and the high pace will ensure that it is repeaeted in the actual game
Rule 7. Be demanding. Tell your players what you expect every practice and demand it from them. Don't let them slack off. Have/use incentives for success, and so called "forfeits" for those who aren't performing their best. I have the least successful players remain behind to pack up the training gear at the conclusion of practice, while the others go home. It takes five minutes but they remember.
Rule 8. Be demanding of yourself. Show up dressed to train, Club kit if you have it, whistle if you need, cones, pinnies/bibs, cones, nets and balls. This always requires preparation, so prepare. One hint, when drafting your training plan, write down what equipment you need for each aspect of the training session.
Rule 9. Step in and correct the drill if things aren't going well, and motivate the players to excel.
Rule 10. HAVE FUN!! It is work, but keep it enjoyable.The players must, at the very least enjoy what they are doing a they won't work as hard if they find the training to be complete drudgery.
My current favourite resources are as follows:
1. UEFA training ground which has video of many training ground activities. Explore this one .
http://www.uefa.com/trainingground/index.html
2. Perfect Ball Control by Peter Schreiner, Great drills that lead to game type situations. Focusses on high reps, and basic techniques.
3. 64 Small Sided Games, This is an E-Book published by Green Star Media in England, and can found on-line.. Worth every penny and has a game that can help reinforce almost every training ground activity and technical skill,
Walk On
YNWA.
Hal White
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