The Most Underrated Coaching Skill Is Watching
I say it a lot: observe, watch, see what's going on. But I realized I'd never really broken down what that actually means. What exactly are you looking for? When are the key moments? That's what this one is about.
Let me walk you through the five things I'm looking at every time my players are on the field.
1. Is It Organized?
This sounds basic, but you'd be surprised. Players shooting the wrong way. Three different colors of bibs and nobody knows who's on which team. Not enough balls. Players in positions that don't match how you play on the weekend. You don't know any of this is happening unless you take a step back and actually look.
Organization first. Every time.
2. Are They Figuring It Out?
Once the setup is right, you let them play — and then you watch. When you're in a game-realistic environment, this is where it gets really interesting, because your players are not just trying to win. They're trying to do it the way you've asked them to.
Does your build-out look like your build-out? Are your center backs in the right positions? Is the six doing what the six should be doing? When you've worked through patterns ahead of time — on a tactical board, in a walk-through, whatever it looks like — now's the time to see if they've absorbed it.
And here's the key thing: you have to let them figure it out. Don't stop every 30 seconds to correct. Let it run. Watch. Are they getting it? If not, why not? Is the field too big? Too small? Did you ask for something they don't understand yet? You only know if you watch.
3. Are They Succeeding and Failing at the Right Rate?
For me, roughly 50/50 is the sweet spot. If your players are succeeding every single time, the activity is too easy. If they're failing constantly, it's too hard, or the setup doesn't match what you're asking for.
And here's where it gets more layered. When your build-out players are finding it too easy, you can pull the pressing team aside and give them specific instructions — press high, press to one side, mirror what your upcoming opponent is going to do. Now you've made it harder. Now you observe again. Can your forwards press the way you want them to? The whole cycle resets.
Adjust, observe, adjust, observe. That's the job.
4. The Nuances — Behaviors and Relationships
This is the stuff that's easy to miss if you're not paying close attention.
Is your striker being too greedy? At some point selfishness tips over into disrupting the whole training environment. Is there a player getting picked on when they make mistakes? Is the star player pulling focus away from everything else happening on the field? Is your ten ending up in your nine's space because they haven't figured out their lines yet?
You only notice these things if you're watching. And I can't tell you how many times a parent has flagged something to a coach — "have you noticed that Johnny's having a rough time with a player in the group?" — that the coach had completely missed, simply because they weren't observing.
The game is the teacher. But only if you're watching the lesson.
5. Reflect — On Paper, Not Just in Your Head
Carry a notepad. I know, it sounds old-fashioned. But having a pen and paper in your pocket during training changes your whole approach to observation. You write things down. You circle names. You put an asterisk next to a player who did something that caught your eye. You note when something didn't work the way you planned.
When you get back in the car after training, you've got an accurate record of what actually happened — not just what you remember. And memory is selective. We tend to remember the things that confirmed what we already believed. The notepad forces you to be objective.
On my A license, I prepared five scenarios I thought would come up in my training plan. Scenario two came up. The other four didn't. And then something else emerged entirely — an unintended consequence of an instruction I'd given one of my players that I hadn't anticipated. That's coaching. It always has consequences, planned and unplanned. The ones who grow are the ones who notice.
Get Out of Your Own Way
The last thing I'll say is this: when the game is running, stop talking. Step back. Don't drift over to chat with another coach. Don't check your phone. Don't get pulled into a conversation with a parent.
Give yourself time to watch. The session plan is set. The game is going. Now your job is to observe — so that when you do step in, what you say is actually connected to what's happening, not just to what you assumed would happen.
You can't coach what you haven't seen.
Listen to the full episode: Ep. 86 — When and How to Observe
@LeeDunneSoccer