Are you "undoing" learning?

Are you ‘undoing’ learning?

A coach passionately discusses tactics with his players during a training session on the field.

Written by Ben Pinnington – Founder of co-coach.

21.1.2025

Scenario: It’s been a tough game for your U12 players who sometimes struggled physically with the pitch size and weather conditions and have recently transitioned to 11v11. Their opposition were league leaders winning the game 0-5 at your home venue. At the end of the game, you and two other coaches give the team feedback each taking turns to share points. The team stands in front of the coaches in a circle and the conversation lasts 16 minutes.

Activity: Before you read any more, write down your initial thoughts from the scenario above. How might the players be feeling? What could affect learning?

What is “undoing learning”?

I consider “undoing learning” to be where learning may or has happened and then is “undone” by an overload of information, over-lapping of information change in coach behaviour, or shifting the focus from the intended learning objectives. My typical example refers to the scenario above where coaches each share their views at half-time, post-training, or post-game often sharing a platitude of coaching points.

Activity: Reflect on a situation where you’ve experienced this. Recall and write down what was said, and who said it, and describe the players’ attention and behaviour towards the information.

How does “undoing learning” happen?

Let’s start by considering the context and environment. Football is a very stimulating and dynamic environment. Players need to and do absorb so much information making thousands of decisions all whilst under physical exertion. There are rules to follow, parents & coaches to listen to, plus managing their thoughts, feelings, and emotions – the list goes on!

The point is that the players are just not going to remember everything!

Too much information from coaches is overloading. A cup can only contain so much water – pour too much in and it’ll spill out onto the floor. This is similar to the way players learn. They need manageable quantities of information. Let’s expand on the situation above. There’s obviously going to be some areas of the team’s performance that needs enhancing. The coaches may be filled with emotion still and are keen to share their views. The first coach explains to the group that he feels they need to work on their pressing and uses a tactics board to show the group how pressing would look like. He then emphasises that the group need to remain compact and protect central areas to avoid having their lines broken so easily. He then finishes by saying he’d like them to work on their attitude to working hard. He then asks his assisting coach if he’d like to share anything. He does.

The assistant coach starts by telling the players how proud he was of them and to keep their chins up. He then explains in detail how they could have defended the opposition set pieces better but doesn’t use a tactics board. He then feels that the players need to get on the half-turn more in the middle to face the opposition’s goal and break lines, and to feed the ball into wide areas quicker to create crossing opportunities.

The third coach is the Goalkeeper coach, and she explains how the backline should communicate more with the Goalkeeper. She gives different examples of how they could communicate and then finishes by giving some individual detail to both Goalkeepers.

By the time the players had got back to the changing room, how much do you think the players remembered? Is this too much information?

The ‘undoing’ happens when the second coach steps in. The first coach has given 3 key points. Now the second coach is overriding the first coaches’ information. This is then repeated when the third coach provides her views.

Activity: Imagine your brain is a cup. Draw a cup. Inside it write down as many factors that may affect a player's learning. E.g. parental behaviour. Then for each example, write down a possible solution to avoid “undoing learning”.  

The wisdom of silence: A coach's greatest tool.

How can I avoid “undoing learning”?

Here are a few tips that can help you to build learning rather than undoing it:

1.       As coaches, agree on a maximum of 3 key objectives that you’re going to focus on before training & matches. This could be in-possession, out-of-possession, physical, psychological, or social objectives. If you’ve worked on a theme for the week, then set your objectives to align with the theme.

2.      Reflect on those 3 key points in your discussions – that’s it. Keeping the focus on these objectives increases the likelihood of player’s recalling, retrieving and retaining information.

3.     Ask for player feedback – involve them in deeper thinking skills by asking what went well, what didn’t go so well, and how they could improve next time. Ask them to give real-life examples to retrieve information.

4.     Decide and plan who is going to deliver feedback – is what you’re saying adding any value? Or is it “undoing” learning by overriding other information?

5.     Deliver your information with self-awareness. It’s OK to show emotion as it shows you care but be careful to control it.

6.     Plan your delivery – are you going to speak softly so players have to listen more intently? Are you going to use visual aides to help explain pictures? Are you going to be animated to increase engagement? Are you going to vary your pitch and tone of voice? Are you going to slow your speech and use pauses to emphasise?

Activity: Think about your next training session or game. Using the tips above, create a plan for how you’ll deliver your information. Consider the following: who is delivering it, when is it being delivered, how is it going to be delivered, where is delivery taking place, and ultimately why is it being delivered?

What’s the impact?

‘Undoing’ learning can have a profound impact on the ability to remember or learn information. It may hinder player’s ability to recall information, retrieve it, and remember information. When too many coaches add their points, it creates a cognitive overload – the brain simply cannot keep up! This could lead to:

·        Demotivation and reluctancy to listen

·        Irritation and frustration when having to listen for long periods of time,

·        poor engagement thus affecting behaviour,

·        a lack of clarity causing conflicting thoughts & feelings,

·        a resistance to feedback,  

·        Reduced trust in the coaches & coaching,

·        Increased pressure and stress levels,

How do build learning not ‘undo’ it?  

Building learning is a difficult skill and often requires a comprehensive understanding of how the brain works, neurology, memory, and much more!

Activity: To deepen your understanding of learning, research the keywords or phrases below making note of your findings:

«  Different learning styles

«  Cognitive Processing

«  Learning methods

«  Factors affecting learning

What strategies can I use to enhance learning?

In the teaching world, many different strategies can be deployed to facilitate learning. The 3Rs (Recall, retrieval, and retention) are stand-out methods.

     Recall: bringing previous learning into conscious awareness without assistance.

     Retrieval: accessing stored information from memory.

     Retention: maintaining knowledge and skills over time for future use.

The 3Rs offer a useful framework for learning and embedding it into your planning & delivery may help players to learn.

Within the coaching domain, I frequently see twos or threes of coaches standing together with players stood grouped in front of them. This is not an effective way of delivering information. A better approach would be to use the “horseshoe” approach outlined in the diagram below.

The 'horseshoe' communication arch.

This approach means that all the players must face the coaches increasing attention and engagement. They can all see and hear the coaches, and if the coach is using a tactics board, there is enough space for all to see it. Ensure that no players are behind or to the side of the coaches and are in front. This technique can be used for sitting or standing players and can even have a positive influence on behaviour.

When using this technique, be aware of what is behind you as coaches as players may fix their attention on things happening elsewhere!

What challenges can I expect to face?

When trying to avoid ‘undoing’ learning, you might find the following:

• It’s hard to agree on objectives as a coaching staff.

• The temptation to ‘chip in’ might be great at times, especially when emotionally charged.

• Recognising your player’s behaviour is a skill and may take time to develop.

• External factors such as the weather conditions, time constraints, facility logistics etc may influence your delivery.

• It’s hard to balance positive and constructive feedback.

Conclusion

To avoid overloading players with information or over-lapping information, plan with your coaches who is going to lead feedback or discussions. Stick to 3 key coaching points and use these as the key topic of discussion. Practice discipline and make note of any other observations you want to revisit. Great coaches know when not to speak! Decline opportunities if players don’t seem to be engaging.

Activity: Now it’s time to give the above a go! Let us know how you get on by dropping us a DM or email – we’d love to chat!

Good luck!

Ben Pinnington – Founder of co-coach

Email: co-coach@hotmail.com 

Instagram: @cocoachUK

X (formerly Twitter): @cocoachUK

LinkedIn: Ben Pinnington