500 Words a Week - Trust, Football and S&C
Some sports get a negative connotation with regards to their athlete’s willingness to partake in S&C. Those commenting on this are often people who have never worked or didn’t stay long in the sport. Before working in football, I was of this nature. However, the longer and more I work within football, I see this isn’t the case.
In my first role in football, I was an intern just out of university. I’d gained some experience working in other sports but never football. At the beginning I did find it challenging, and only after a few seasons within football have things started to clarify for me.
Trust is central to any successful programme, and is an underrated training tool that must be worked on. If the athlete you work with trusts you, they will get significant greater benefit from the exercises/ work you do with them.
Thinking back to my first year in football as an intern, the athletes were right to be skeptical. Would you hand over all your money to someone who had just graduated from a degree in finance with limited practical experience? The answer is a large no. So why would I expect players to hand over their body’s preparedness.
A large factor I think that’s also present within football, is that it’s a very lucrative game. Athletes have the chance to gain huge salaries, and positively or negatively viewed huge amounts of attention/ popularity. Therefore, it’s only natural for them to be skeptical when you begin asking them to do a multitude of exercises with little built up trust. They have to consistently be weary of people asking for things from them as there are so many people out there trying to capitalize on their situation.
Building trust in these relationships takes time, having this with some athletes may come significantly quicker than with others.
On top of trying to build more trust between coach and athlete, another thing I believe helps is trying to get your athletes as involved in the process as possible. Regularly ask how they are feeling, ask whether they feel modifications should be made to the session, ask if there are other areas they feel they need to improve on more. From these questions, modifications/ alterations must be made so that your athlete knows you are listening to them and value their opinion.
The next relates more to academy settings. Think back to when you were growing up, when you were a kid. Never once did you want to be treated like the age you were, you always wanted to be treated like someone of an older age. The same goes for those you work with in an academy setting. Give them responsibility early on. Teach them how they should act and work in certain environments, for the example the gym, and then let them get on with it.
