Former Liverpool Head of Coach Development Martin Diggle: why the game is arguably the greatest practice of all
Practice | Games| Peter Glynn | 04.06.21
Training sessions are often prepared in great detail whereas games are given much less consideration, says Martin Diggle, former head of coach development at Liverpool academy.
Learning:
• The value of games in the player development process
• The benefits of providing a greater volume and variety of football
• How games can help players work on individual or team challenges
Detailed preparation of training sessions is commonplace amongst coaches. However, the same attention is not always given to the design of the games programme, says Martin Diggle, former head of coach development at Liverpool academy.
“I think you've got to be very careful when you work in professional youth development that you don't get lost in the detail and you don't get caught up in only thinking about the plethora of different practices that you can offer up, when arguably the greatest practice of all is the game,” says Diggle.
“Most of the greats of yesteryear grew up on a high game diet and a low training diet.
“The pendulum then swung from that extreme all the way to the other extreme, where it was a high training diet and potentially a low game diet.”
“Most of the greats of yesteryear grew up on a high game diet and a low training diet”
