Tag Archives: Mourinho

Floorball – Barcelona is the enemy outside the team?

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The team spirit within the team will most of the times increase when you have another team to compete against or a common “enemy” outside the team.
This is something Mourinho is using many times, creating enemies outside the team to make the team stronger inside. I think Mourinho has already couple of scenarios ready, Barcelona is the favorite to win the La Liga in everybody’s eyes and the referees will give advantage to Barcelona… (this was written before the season started) Try to Google some of those sentences and see if you get any hits.

“I knew this would happen long ago, but I do not care. I know because I know who controls the game, and if you look at their statements, then you understand why they have made this decision. I worry about playing on a Saturday night at 22:00 then on a Tuesday in the Champions League. Barcelona [does] not want to play on the Saturday because they play on the Wednesday before, and because of this we need to play on a Monday.”

Floorball 2 on 1 practices and drills

As a leader you need to take responsibility for the extreme we and them situations that might occur in sports. A common fight against an “enemy” outside the team will strengthen the team spirit, but might in the long run create an unhealthy hostility against other teams or groups and it should not be necessary to do this in youth teams. You should focus on the challenge or compete against the situation rather than an enemy outside the team.

Floorball – A winning role, You can do it! Yes we can!

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As I wrote earlier expectations create roles, I will give you the definition of a role once again.

A role within a team consists of four parts.
– Coaches and other trainers expectations on the player
– Other team member’s expectations on the player
– Other people’s expectations on the player
– The players own expectations, needs and resources

These four parts will form the players role, how the player have interpreted the expectations and what he/she thinks he must live up to, and accepts.

Could this be used in a creative positive way? Could it be used to create a winners’ role? So if one part forming the role is about expectations from coaches and trainers, your expectations, communication and feedback will be important to create that “winners role”.

Floorball practices and drills for youth players

In floorball practice, show that you belief in each individual, show them you belief they can be the best, that you belief they can do it… of course with synchronized video and audio.

This will be balancing between belief/positive expectations and pressure, and you don’t want to step over the line to the pressure side.

“- I think you can do it, but I appreciate you just as much if it does not go as we both believe.” The winners’ role I’m describing is not about winning games, it’s more about having to believe in the possibility of success. (You Can Do It).

Waterboy example of you can do it…

…and Barack Obama example of You can do it or Yes we can.

I’m not into politics, but Obamas short speach is quite impressing? Talk about creating postive expectations, you can do it!

Create a winning climate

You might have the capacity, talent and ability, but if there is a lack of belief, there will be lack of results. In this case the most valuable tool for you in your leadership is feedback. Make sure you create the pictures of success and belief in the heads of your players.

José Mourinho works on each player’s self-image, even if he might have many of the best football players in the world. They still need to be seen, feel the trust and belief from their coach. How you view them, is how they will view themselves.

Floorball practice and drills goal scoring

Here’s a practical practical tip how to create a winning climate and winnig roles within your team.
– Create a list of strengths for each floorball player in the team, and focus on talking about these with your players.
– Notice your own attitude towards the players, try to “zero it” and focus on the positive things.
– Talk about each players strengths, show them that you believe in them.
– Expect the best from each floorball player.
Players want to meet expectations, they want to be winners, you can do it!

“A loser gets bitter when he is behind, and unwise when he is in front”
“A winner keeps his faith and balance, regardless of his position”
“To be afraid of losing, removes the willingness to win” /Vanderlei Luxemburgo

Floorball is about 1 vs 1?

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In a floorball game you have 5 players against 5 players, but if you look closer, you can apply the rule from mathematics “Lowest common denominator”, in that case you will always have 1 on 1 situations on the floorball floor.
If you are able to fool one player or support one player better than the other team, you will have a 2 on 1 situation and therefore an advantage, so why try to complicate the floorball practices and drills with for example, more than 3 on 3?

Floorball 1 vs 1 practices and drills

“The way I use to develop an aerobic condition is three against three, man to man, in a square 20 metres by 20.” /José Mourinho

“Everything must be kept simple, do not complicate what is a simple business, a simple beautiful game” / Luiz Felipe Scolari

To challenge or to be challenged

Many times floorball coaches are talking about challenging another player or defensemen, but what does it mean? For me, to challenge, means a player with the ball needs to move towards a free space and get the defensive player to move there to take the challenge, if he/she doesn’t, you are past. If you go straight against the defensemen in his/her territory, you will get challenged, right?

Floorball scoring and shooting practice drills

Floorball – Repeat mode

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Repetition is a powerful teaching method and tool, remember the 10 000 hours of practice or the Pareto 20/80 rule (coming later). Through repetition, a new idea will be integrated as a normal thing, even if it from the beginning was innovative or new. The same goes for floorball practices and drills, repeat, repeat and your floorball players will integrate what you have been practicing on, to the game. We often need to be reminded, rather than instructed?

Floorball skill practice drills

Messi, Eto’o and Ronaldo feints

You can see those incredible feints done by Messi, Eto’o, Ronaldo and others, and we are amazed, how did he come up with that or how was he able to do that? The answer is simple, through repetition and hours of practice, to automatize the moves.

Social facilitation

An aspect to consider when you are introducing a new floorball skill drill, is theopposite of social loafing, social facilitation, it means that we will perform better when we have people around us watching, but there is a but, it’s only easier tasks or well-known activities that is will apply on. When you are learning or practicing a new floorball skill you don’t want a lot of people or team members watching you, it will only make you nervous, stressed and insecure.
So when you practice a new moment, you might split up your floorball team in small groups to lower the physical and psychological arousal level and therefore get a better learning environment. When your players are more familiar with the new floorball drill/technical moment you can start to do the practice in bigger groups in order to raise the arousal level to be more like a game situation.

Youth floorball practices and drills

David Beckham, free kicks

A young David Beckham was practicing free kick after free kick “alone” in the nearest park. Since he was alone, he could practice with a low arousal level, automize and learn the correct technique. If you add visualization to this practice you have a powerfull tool for the future.

He was lucky?

He was so lucky or their team had more luck than us. Have you heard these words? This at least something you might hear many times, when people are successful, but the people saying those words, don’t know what’s behind the luck, hard work and commitment, the more you practice “the luckier” you get.
Look at Mourinho is he lucky or is it luck? For me it’s quite obvious it’s thousands of hours of hard work, learning, studying and practice. Success doesn’t just happen because the stars line up in your team, it’s created. Look once again on the leadership model, can this be your formula for “luck”?

Floorball goal scoring and shooting practices

“Is it because we have been lucky? Of course not. It’s about anything else but lucky when you’re talking about my players. “  /José Mourinho

Floorball – Practicing is my secret

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10 000 Hours – 10 years

A number of studies have shown that it will take ten thousands of hours to become a master of what you are doing. This will apply for leadership, professional floorball players, football, work, hobbies etc. Each of us has the potential to master what we are doing, but it will require time, 10000 hours, or about ten years, you need to focus your energy, if you want to be the best in whatever you do. But too many of us don’t commit to the things we are doing well enough, but we still hope to be the best or recognized, sometimes we give up too early, wondering why we never become the best.  “I was a great talent, when I was young…” Ever heard that?

Floorball practice drill dribbling

Talent or a lot of practice?

Talent is a word we use to simplify the explanation of success and the difference between the best and the normal people or floorball players. We also assume that elite floorball, hockey or football is only for the people with right heritage and genes and unfortunately we were not one of those… that’s why we are leaders or waterboys ; )
What if it wasn’t like that, and it could be seen only as an opinion that hinders us from being the best? What if our success is only connected to the amount of hours we practice?

For example, many floorball and football coaches talk about that they are able to spot talents, is that true? Or are they good at spotting players that already have been practicing more than the others?

You can have gifted parents, but it’s probably more realistic that the parents have put more efforts already from the beginning in to the practicing?

Tiger Woods, a golf talent, or is it a result of practice?

Tiger Woods has been seen as the greatest talent in golf, ever. In that case you need to know that Tiger Woods got his first golf set before he was one years old. He had been through his first full golf round at the age of two years. When he was five he had already practiced more than an average golfer will practice during his or her whole “career”. The same goes for Messi, Beckham and the other football stars. David Beckham used to practice in a little park, and he practiced for hours and hours every day.

“With hard work everything is possible, everyone can dream, and what you dream of you can reach, if you are willing to work for it” /Lionel Messi

When José Mourinho arrived in Madrid he commented Christiano Ronaldo, “He works incredibly hard, it’s impressing to see a player of his caliber to practice harder than nobody else”

If you map the hours the star football players put on practicing, it would not be a surprise, why they are where they are.

“Practicing is my secret, I have always believed in, if you want to be successful you need to work for it, practice, practice and then practice more”. / David Beckham

I’m not sure how many hours of practice, I can give you by reading this blog, but at least some valuable time and leadership knowledge, I hope.