Make every coaching session personalised to every individual.
Sounds great doesn’t it?
It also sounds like pie in the sky; the kind of thing a coach says to look good but never quite happens. Reality gets in the way. Too many kids, not enough time. Despite this, I believe it’s not just possible, it’s necessary to personalise cricket training for everyone we coach.
Sport has never had to prove itself more to people. The amount of choice in life is bewildering for even the youngest. For anyone to play at all, they need to find personal meaning or they will find something else to do.
These days there is always something else to do.
This is even true at performance levels. An Under 16 rep team sees plenty of drop out through lack of motivation to play cricket anymore. It’s not just kids and recreational adults who are pulled away from the game.
As coaches we can’t assume that teaching techniques and playing the game will be enough to motivate players. We coach people before we coach cricket. If we ignore needs and wants, people are likely to move on.
I’ve talked about coaching to develop purpose here. Have a look if you want to find out more about why it needs to be at the centre of our coaching.
Personalising Cricket
We know it’s important to personalise. How do we do that?
The problems are many: large groups, short times to train, and the difficulty of understanding how players tick. Practical issues get in the way of good intentions.
Yet it can be done. If the intention is there.
It starts with agreeing what success looks like with the players.
Then you can start thinking about individuals and what things they are working on. Take a few notes. It doesn’t have to be perfect but ideally, have a “work on” for everyone.
For bonus points, you can also try and work out what motivates players individually too. We know generally players are motivated by improving their skills, having a good team spirit and having control of their own direction. Within this, individuals will be motivated in different ways. A few notes wouldn’t hurt here either.
With a broad idea of motivations, you can take the final step of designing sessions around the needs of the players.
Clearly in a group setting, especially a large group, you can’t know every need of every player personally. However, a well-designed session will be adaptable to the individual needs of the players through adjusting the level of challenge. It becomes self-regulating to a certain extent. Where it doesn’t, the coach can tailor the design a little better.
This is the coming together of skills for a coach so it’s not easy. I’m certainly far from perfect at it. It requires understanding motivations, being a ninja level session designer, adaptability in the moment and time to reflect.
I believe it’s worth the effort so you can honestly say you are personalising every session effectively.