It appears a controversial statement at surface level, but it is one which all involved in Football must understand. Many coaches are mistaken in their view that it is possible to implant knowledge into their players which was not there originally. That is not how learning works.
Imagine someone blind who has never seen before. Simply describing what is there to be seen does not itself lead them to see. Furthermore, if the blind person has no interest in seeing, or does not believe what they are being told, they will remain in the same state.
When we teach a new concept to a player, we first must ensure they are engaged and actively attempting to create new connections through mind and body. For this, they must believe in what we do and have a clear idea of what we are working on together and why. In general, the development point is either a strength which can become more dominant, or a weakness to eliminate - linked back to performing at the level they play or intend to play in the future. Through the early stages, reinforcement comes in terms of punishing failure and rewarding success. This is simple when the coach has the necessary wisdom to adjust to the player and challenge them properly. Good decisions should lead to successful repetitions and bad ones failure. Note here that the player creates connections naturally when they are motivated to improve. It is not the instructions of the coach which lead to learning, but the inner recognition of what is working and what is not. Gaining knowledge through instruction helps to recognise the patterns, but this is not where the learning that directly improves performance derives from. No faster does a player of ours learn than when they are able to link the new ideas we speak of back to their own experiences in previous games or training sessions.
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