Ways to create a competitive environment

Promote fun

Teaching and developing new techniques with beginners can be repetitive and dry. Players may become distracted, lose focus and not put maximum effort into the task. 

The use of scoring systems can help make technical-based sessions much more fun and enjoyable. Have your players compete against each other, themselves, or the clock to make activities more competitive and fun.

 

Self-assessment of progress

The way we use scoring when introducing a new technique may differ from the way we use it in more game-realistic scenarios.

Initially, I want players to focus on developing a technique at their own rate. At the start of each session, while the players are arriving, I like to give them the challenge of beating their juggling record from the previous session.

However, I never ask the players to shout their scores out as this can lead to players with lower scores feeling disheartened. The players are responsible for remembering their own score and trying to surpass it the following week.

 

The ’competitive cauldron’

I have recently engaged with UNC basketball coach Dean Smith’s ‘competitive cauldron’ concept, which allows you to objectively monitor players’ performance within sessions.

I only work with my players on a weekly basis; therefore, I cannot implement this concept in its full glory. I have used it to infuse intensity within small-sided games at the end of my sessions.

To do this, I have created a simple league table that includes win, lose and draw percentages for each player. I have found that monitoring these simple metrics has led to increases in work rate, competitiveness, and the desire to succeed.

 

"Scoring systems can help make technical-based sessions more fun and enjoyable..."

I have also noticed that this concept has encouraged less confident players to ‘have a go’, particularly at taking players on.

The competitive cauldron concept could be engineered to suit your playing principles and session topic. You could even include position-specific metrics, such as clean sheets, assists, overlaps, goals, blocks, and interceptions, to further develop game understanding.

However, it should be noted the greater time and resources you have, the more effectively you can use this approach. 

The concept is most effectively used alongside tactical guidance to prevent player greediness to move up the scoreboard. The tool should also be used in a light-hearted way, especially when working with younger and less experienced players.

 

Development of psychosocial competencies

As coaches, we want to create better players and better people. The use of scoring systems to create a competitive environment can help to do just that. 

Creating competition in sessions exposes players to how it feels to win and lose. For younger players, high-energy themed activities, such as ‘bank robbers’ or ‘treasure chest’, can generate this kind of environment.

Development of psychosocial competencies such as resilience and ability to cope with pressure can aid players at a performance level and in their everyday life.

The use of scoring systems is effective in increasing session intensity and challenging our players. However, it is important to facilitate such competition in a healthy manner, as intensity and competition overload can be detrimental to our players.

Getting to know your players and how they are motivated will help you determine how much competition to use. 

The bottom line is, we want to create a competitive environment, but we also want our sessions to be fun and enjoyable.