Take a look at this great video from Stuart Armstrong about asking “what did you notice?” with players:
This is a powerful question and it works to gain insights. You should ask it if you coach cricket.
You’ll often be surprised by the answer.
In a school setting - where I mostly work - there are pitfalls with the question. Often, kids find the open ended nature a chance to vent about distractions. Here is how I deal with them.
“The teams are not fair”
Fairness is easily the most common thing that is noticed at all ages. It’s a distraction because the teams are not unfair. It’s being used as an excuse for losing usually because the opposition has the best player.
I deal with this in one of three ways,
Coach changes the teams. I rarely do this as no matter what you change, someone will complain. That said, sometimes we need a quick rebalance.
Players change the teams. I build team changes into the games we are playing in various gamification ways. For example, players can call a “pause” in play once per game and ask for a team change. Or players can trade game points for transfers. This is more tricky and takes longer as negotiations happen (often leading to arguments, so needs very careful management).
Change focus. The cause of the complaint comes from wanting to beat the opposition above all other aims (like, say, learning the skills of the game). So we change the focus. For example, in the V Game the mission is to lock all the fielders, something you can do regardless of team fairness. I find the “unfair” complaint vanishes once the focus is reset.
“That was good”
This is a vague reply that shows the mindset of the players. If they say “that was good” or “that was rubbish” they are broadly in a fixed mindset. But the question is designed to encourage a more growth mindset by focusing on what we need to do to improve.
If the answer is “we were amazing” or “I was terrible” I follow up by saying “what was good/terrible and why was it good/terrible?” Which usually elicits some thoughtful analysis.
I can then say “What do you need to do differently?” and whatever they answer, tell them to go and do it.
This works because any unfocused answers quickly fall down in the game.
I also encourage players come up with changes to the rules in the game to help them focus on the aspect they need to focus on. For example, if there are a lot of wides bowled, shorten the length of the pitch.
“They are cheating”
Blaming leads to instant defence. This then turns into an argument about who’s right. No one backs down and no solutions are sought so the row goes on. It’s destructive to a session.
For this reason, I nip any blaming or accusing in the bud quickly. It’s not helpful and wastes time. It’s one of the few times I will intervene almost instantly. If it’s a new group I take it as a learning moment and teach them how to give feedback helpfully.
Of course that’s rarely the end, especially with teenage boys who might have a long term feud. It takes a few goes before they are communicating better. In the meantime we head back to they question “what do we need to change?”
In this case I’ll give players time to think about it by breaking them into smaller groups and giving them some options: make a change to the rules, give one side an advantage or ask the coach for advice. I then get them to give their ideas to each other and pick an option they can all handle.
When it’s an argumentative atmosphere, it’s tough to manage. The situation often need direct intervention to get things moving. However, my aim is still to provide opportunities for the players to learn how to communicate effectively. I only lay down the law it if they are not making progress.
“That doesn’t make any sense”
The final difficult answer is actually a group of things: Kids who stay silent and never answer the question, kids who disengage and start talking to each other about something else, and kids who answer but with something silly.
If a group is dominated by a couple of chatty kids and some easily distracted ones, I get them together in smaller groups (maybe in their teams) and get them to talk about it themselves before delivering the answer to the other groups.
It works to get disengaged or confused kids to contribute more, but it also leads to more opportunities for one of the other answers above. Yet again it takes delicate management and patience that some will get it wrong for a few tries.
Perseverance is key as there are few instant upgrades.
Overall though, the question “what did you notice?” is superb and worth asking regularly. Just be ready to have to spend time helping players get used to answering it. It takes effort and patience.