Podcast: the coach as ‘learning designer’ with Professor Keith Davids and Borussia Monchengladbach coach Fabian Otte

Coach | Approach | Keith Davids and Fabian Otte | 05.08.2021

Professor Keith Davids (above right) and Fabian Otte (above left) discuss the role of the coach as ‘learning designer’ and explain how a similar approach can be adopted in both the grassroots and professional game

Learning:

• Reframing the role of the coach as a ‘learning designer’

• Using an ecological dynamics approach to coaching in both the grassroots and professional game

• How to create a ‘safe but uncertain’ practice environment

Included in the discussion:

0.11: How to coach a grassroots team effectively

1.42: The importance of observation skills and game-like activity

5.43: How coaches learn to coach by copying ‘models’

8.55: How to create a ‘safe but uncertain’ training environment

16.00: Why football is an ‘uncertain’ game and how practices should reflect this

16.44: Why coaches should use pitch markings, instead of more cones

19.15: Observation and meaningful interventions

23.46: How to intervene effectively without using verbal instruction

26.11: Designing game-realistic practice challenges

31.09: Why you shouldn’t look for a perfect ‘technical template’ in a practice session

31.38: Why coaches should focus on skill adaptation rather than skill acquisition

36.37: Ecological dynamics: how skill emerges from the interaction of ‘task, environment and individual’

42.00: Adolescence and understanding each child as an individual with their own needs

45.00: A constraints-based approach in the professional game

1.03: The benefits of adopting an ecological dynamics approach to coaching

1.04: Take home messages and additional resources