http://www.danabrahams.com/blog/2014/07/04/what-are-they-thinking/?utm_content=buffer869f3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Footballers can have a bad game for a number of
reasons – injury, tactical confusion…just an off day!
Bad games happen to everybody and the mental
side of football can be a primary reason as to why a
player can have a beast of a performance.
Distraction, over-emotion, a sudden loss of
confidence…I could go on! Stress tends to be a
major contributor to poor games…and it is a
mindset area that coaches need to be aware of.
This is a short guide to helping players deal with
the stress of competitive football.
Psychological research tells us this – whether a
player feels stressed about an upcoming game
depends on the interaction between:

1. The personal resources for coping a player has
(think ‘personality’)

2. The appraisal the player makes about the game
(“I can play well” to “I don’t think I’m going to play
well”)

3. The coping responses of the player (think ‘self-talk’ and ‘imagery’)

So that’s the research – but you don’t need to know
the long words and you don’t need to go rifling
through academic journals to understand this
process and to have a few ideas to help your
players.

Look at the above and take some time to think
about your players. Which ones do you think have
incredible natural ability to cope with the stressors
of big game? Which ones do you think need help?
Of the ones who need help, how do you think they
appraise the game? What do they say to
themselves? Can they learn from their team mates,
the ones who appraise the game in a helpful way?

Now don’t for one minute think that this doesn’t
affect every single one of your players. It does – big
time! Every player on your team, your squad, your
roster has a mental response to an upcoming
game. And their internal drives their external….how
they think going into a game influences how they
will subsequently perform.

You the 21st century coach need to be the absolute
nuts at helping players manage their responses (for
anyone outside of the UK ‘absolute nuts’ means ‘to
be very good at!’)

The exciting thing is that there are so many ways to
help players appraise the game in a helpful way. I
talk a lot about these in both of my books (Soccer
Tough and Soccer Brain). But here’s a few ideas:

Create a Script

I came up with the idea of a script about a decade
ago when working in non league soccer in England.
I asked players to focus exclusively on the things
they can control by getting them to pick 3 things
that they wanted to achieve during the game other
than getting a positive result. These things had to
be related to the responsibilities within their role.

Try this with your players – there’s loads more
detail about creating match scripts for your players
in Soccer Tough and Soccer Brain.

Basic Psych Skills

Taking a deep breath is a cliched remark to a
person who is feeling the heat – cliched because it
works! For players who are highly anxious going
into a game ask them to take some deep breaths.
Ask your players to attach some internal pictures to
the breaths…ask them what their best performance
looks like or ask them to think about their training
mentality (where they are more likely to play and
compete loose, free and confidently).

Basic psychological skills are, as the name
suggests, pretty basic. But they can be quite
powerful! And you can help players implement
these.

Self Talk

Self talk is another powerful psych skill that you
can use to help a player deal with an upcoming
game that makes them feel stressed.

“I’m not going to play well…the striker is so quick
and so strong” needs to be re-framed into an inner
dialogue that helps rather than hinders.

A crucial coaching technique in your toolbox
involves asking the kind of questions that help
player re-appraise.

“Ok, this striker is quick and strong – let’s accept
that but let’s look at some solutions. Imagine you
play an amazing game against this player – tell me
what this looks like? What will you be thinking and
doing?”

A question like this opens up a catalogue of inner
pictures that helps a player problem solve. As a
coach you need to listen in close – listen for the
clues that the player will give you.

“I’ll be constantly on my toes and tight to him at the
right times…I’ll be one step ahead at all times”

“On my toes” and “step ahead” might be clues here
– help the player talk to himself about staying on
his toes and playing head up. Help the player
envision himself do this and set his personal
objectives (his match script) revolving around
these outcomes.

The 21st century coach is a great football
psychologist. She’s a coach of mindset and has a
passion for sport psychology. She helps players
settle their nerves by helping them re-appraise the
stress they inevitably feel going into a big game.