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Position Speci c Coaching

James Coutts
James Coutts is a Coaching Advisor at Player Development
Project. He is a former Southampton & AFC Bournemouth
youth... more ()

n-

In this article PDP Coaching

Advisor, James Coutts
discusses the value of ‘unit
coaching’ or ‘position specific
coaching’ and how you can
 incorporate this specific
 coaching model into your
(https://playerdevelopmentproject.com)

sessions.
(https://playerdevelopmentproject.com)
UPGRADE (/UPGRADE/)

What is unit training?

When discussing unit training we are considering a

unit that’s position specific within the team, for
example ‘defenders’ can be a unit, ‘wingers’ can be a
unit and so on. Depending on what shape you play
could have an impact, it could mean you’re working
with a ‘back 3’ as your unit work or ‘front 3’.

Unit coaching is looking at any specific group you’re

focusing on within the session. Chances are, you will
already be doing a lot of unit work within your
sessions however we’re going to look at whether you
n-
are consciously working on it and your level of
awareness.

What to remember when focusing on unit work.

Ensure that every player is excited and feels valued

irrespective of the session. If you’re focusing on
defenders for the session do all the players need to
know that? You may well be looking primarily at
defenders however make sure that you set challenges
for the other units or individuals within the session.

Tip: Put the players into bibs that represent their

positional groups before the session starts, this always
starts some chat between the players and straight away
you will get some competition between the units. This
 competition also promotes unity amongst the unit
which is one of the key outcomes when doing unit
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specific work.
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Are we coaching unit training enough?

Every coach is different and there is certainly no right

or wrong in terms of which of the below we focus on
more.

TEAM   >   UNIT   >   INDIVIDUAL

However, are we consciously aware of the areas we

coach more than others? Adding more unit coaching
within your sessions doesn’t need to change your
session design, it just requires more planning and
more ‘unit tasks’.

n-
Football is forever evolving, are you?

Working on position specific work or unit work isn’t

new, however it’s evident based on how many position
specific staff are being employed in modern football,
just how highly valued this work is.

Within other codes in particular a ‘specific coaching

model’ is widely used.

A great reference for this kind of position specific

work was outlined in our Masterclass Discussion with
FA Specialist Coach, Aaron Danks.
(https://playerdevelopmentproject.com/masterclass-
discussions/the-specialist-coach-a-conversation-with-
aaron-danks/) Aaron discusses the time he spent with
 the top NBA team, the Golden State Warriors in the
USA to learn how key position specific work is within
 (https://playerdevelopmentproject.com)
other codes. Head to 15:58 – 18:35 for a couple of great
examples from Aaron.
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Within modern football (especially at the performance

end of the game) you’ve not only got a lot of position
specific coaching, you now have a lot of ‘moment’
coaches: Throw in coaches, set-piece coaches, in
possession coaches, out of possession coaches.

Yes, professional clubs in both football and other

codes have big budgets and can afford more staff
however there are ways where we can incorporate
more unit work into our coaching, we just need to be
looking at ways to maximise our players learning
within our own environments.

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Benefits of unit work:

Creates unity amongst players playing in similar

positions or units.

Can help coaches focus on a specific group for the

session whilst knowing all players still have a
purpose.

Creates healthy competitiveness amongst players

when know up against different units.

Players become more aware of player’s roles within

their unit.
 Helps younger players with their game
 understanding and more unit decisions as they get
(https://playerdevelopmentproject.com)
older, for example: At a young age defenders are
(https://playerdevelopmentproject.com)
taught 1v1 & 2v2 defending however are they taught
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defensive positional shape within a back three or a

back four? Do we need to focus on areas such as
the unit stepping up to create a high line?

Encourages more communication amongst players

and specifically in their units.

Helps create variety with session planning and

design.

Pro-active communication

As mentioned above the key to ensuring all players are

n- engaged by the session is in the planning. This doesn’t
mean that you need to be doing pages of additional
session notes or completely change session design.

To give a practical example of this, if your main focus

for the evening is working on your defending players
and how collectively they’re in a structured line when
we don’t have the ball. This is a great opportunity to
pull the attackers before training and give them a unit
task for the night “Tonight guys we’re going to be
looking a lot at how we break down a compact
defence, every time you guys create an overload
especially out wide I want you to look to take
advantage of that as soon as possible”
 Just by having that quick chat with a small unit you
have given them some tasks for the session, it lets the
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players know their apart of the upcoming session and
that you’re looking at ways for them to impress. The
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session objective for you as a coach may be the
defensive unit however if you can get some positive
outcomes from the attacking group also then that’s a
win/win.

Being conscious of what area you’re working on will

only help when looking at all areas of your team.

Improve your individuals > Improves your units >

Improves your team

Below are some video session plans to assist with

position specific work:

n-
Live Session: 4 v 4 + 4
(https://playerdevelopmentproject.com/session-
plans/live-session-4v44/)

Finishing School
(https://playerdevelopmentproject.com/session-
plans/finishing-school/)

Defending with a High Line

(https://playerdevelopmentproject.com/session-
plans/defending-with-a-high-line/)

Breaking a Block Centrally

(https://playerdevelopmentproject.com/session-
plans/breaking-a-block-centrally/)
 Releasing & Finishing
 (https://playerdevelopmentproject.com/session-
(https://playerdevelopmentproject.com)
plans/releasing-finishing/)
(https://playerdevelopmentproject.com)
UPGRADE (/UPGRADE/)
3 v 3 Collective Defending
(https://playerdevelopmentproject.com/session-
plans/3-v-3-collective-defending/)

Image Credit: Deposit Photos

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James Coutts
 About the Author:
James Coutts is a Coaching Advisor at Player
 Development Project. He is a former Southampton
(https://playerdevelopmentproject.com)
& AFC Bournemouth youth player, has coached NPL
Football in Australia UPGRADE
and will(/UPGRADE/)
(https://playerdevelopmentproject.com) soon be completing his
AFC A-License through Football Federation Australia.

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