Top tips: reflection and feedback

Ashvir Johal, Leicester City academy coach, explains how he uses reflection and feedback to improve himself and his players.
Know your playersPlayers will reflect on their performances in different ways, so it’s important to know your players. Some players might prefer video as a means of feedback and reflection and some might prefer a one-to-one chat. There are lots of different ways the players might want to receive information and so understanding the players is really important.

Try technologyOne thing that I’ve tried to use this year is more video feedback so the players actually see the actions that they performed on the pitch. If feedback is only ever spoken, players might not be able to recollect what happened. I think video is a really powerful way to help players improve and reflect.

Use targetsIf the players have individual targets that they’re working towards then that’s a good reference point for feedback. If you’re a young player and you’ve got a coach telling you five different things every training session, you don’t know what to process and what to leave out. Having clear targets for young players is really important. Try to feedback on the targets rather than just giving generic feedback.

Reflect and learn I don’t think I’ve faced a challenge as a coach that I’ve not learnt from. It’s key that whatever experience you have whilst coaching that you reflect on it and take away the bits that you can improve on. Any experience that I’ve had where I felt that I’ve had a bad day or I could’ve done better, I have reflected on it. I continue to do that every single day.