Sports coaches have never had greater access to information. Thousands of drills, session plans, podcasts, videos and coaching courses are available within seconds.
Yet access to more content does not guarantee better coaching.
Most coaches do not struggle because they cannot find another activity. The bigger challenge is turning what they already know into behaviours that improve the experience of their players.
Effective coach development should therefore do more than provide information. It should challenge coaches to experiment, notice, adapt and reflect within their own environment.
More knowledge does not always change behaviour
A coach can attend a workshop, take notes and leave feeling inspired. However, when they return to a busy session with limited space, changing numbers and players who respond differently from what they expected, familiar habits often return.
They may talk too much, provide the answers, repeatedly stop the activity or continue following a plan that no longer meets the needs of the group.
This does not mean the coach needs more content. They need opportunities to apply ideas, observe their effect and decide what to do next.
Understanding an idea and applying it under pressure are different skills.
Content creates awareness. Challenges create action
Telling a coach about player ownership may increase their understanding. Challenging them to let players design part of an activity allows them to experience it.
Sharing information about questioning can be useful. Challenging the coach to ask players for two possible solutions before offering their own changes what they do.
Explaining the importance of observation may sound valuable. Challenging a coach to watch a player they would normally overlook changes where they direct their attention.
A meaningful coaching challenge turns an abstract idea into an action that can be tested, discussed and improved.
Challenge should create curiosity
Challenging coaches does not mean catching them doing something wrong. The best challenges create curiosity and encourage coaches to explore a different approach.
A coach could be challenged to:
- Give players more choice within an activity.
- Explain less and allow players to begin sooner.
- Observe who is making most of the decisions.
- Involve a quieter player in the session review.
- Change a condition without stopping the game.
- Ask a question before providing feedback.
- Identify three players who need different support next time.
These challenges give the coach something specific to explore without suggesting there is only one correct answer.
Experienced coaches need to be challenged too
Experience can create expertise, but it can also create comfortable routines that are rarely questioned.
An experienced coach who leads every conversation might allow players to lead the review. A coach who offers immediate feedback might delay their intervention and observe what happens. A coach who plans every detail might invite players to shape one part of the session.
The purpose is not to prove that their usual approach is wrong. It is to expand the range of options they can recognise and use.
Great coaches are not defined by one style. They can understand the situation in front of them and select an approach that meets the needs of their players.
Reflection turns challenges into learning
Completing a challenge is only the beginning. The greatest value comes from helping the coach make sense of what happened.
Instead of asking, “How did it go?” try asking:
- What did you notice?
- How did the players respond?
- Who benefited most?
- Who needed something different?
- What surprised you?
- What will you repeat or change next time?
These questions encourage coaches to reflect on evidence rather than deciding whether the challenge was simply successful or unsuccessful.
That reflection can then influence the next decision they make.
Turn everyday coaching into development
The Coach Challenge MatchPlay Cards contain 70 practical coach development challenges across ENGAGE, CHANGE and REFLECT.
Designed for Head Coaches, Coach Developers, Heads of PE, Directors of Sport and Academy Leads, the cards help turn workshops, observations and mentoring conversations into meaningful action.
They are not another collection of drills. They are challenges designed to influence how coaches think, act and learn.
Your coaches probably do not need another folder of session plans. They need opportunities to test what they know, question familiar habits and discover what their players need.
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