The Coaches' Room
General•Adult•Confidence & Behaviour

How do you review your own game without analysing every single mistake?

Asked by ExtraTimeTea
3904 views 6 replies
I like thinking about football and I want to improve, but after matches I can spend two days replaying every bad decision. Even in a decent game I'll find six things I should have done differently. What's a useful way for a player to review a performance without turning it into a full investigation?

VERIFIED COACH RESPONSE

A useful review should narrow your focus, not give you a longer list of things to worry about. After the game, try three questions: what did I do well that I want to repeat, what one situation caused me the most difficulty, and what is one behaviour I can take into the next week? That is enough for most performances. Avoid reviewing every mistake as if each one needs a separate solution. Several errors may come from the same underlying issue, such as scanning late or becoming impatient. It can also help to wait until the emotion of the match has reduced before doing a deeper review. Your first impression immediately after playing is often harsher than the actual performance. If video is available, use it to test your memory rather than to search for faults. The goal of analysis is to make the next performance clearer. If it leaves you with twelve priorities, it is probably too much.

COMMUNITY DISCUSSION

Join the football discussion. 6 replies

M

matt_here

Player-Coach

I like reviewing situations rather than counting mistakes. If three bad moments all came from receiving square, that's one problem, not three separate failures.
D

DayOff

Assistant Coach

That's how I'd want a player to bring it to training too. 'I kept getting caught receiving square' gives you something to work on. A list of ten errors doesn't.
W

WhiteVan82

Player-Coach

I try not to review until the next morning. Straight after the game I'm either convinced I was brilliant or terrible, neither of which is especially accurate.
H

Hannah9

Player-Coach

Same. Video the next day has saved me from a lot of imaginary mistakes. Things that felt awful in the game sometimes weren't even bad decisions.
L

LC94

Parent who also coaches

Parent-coach here. We use 'keep, change, ignore'. One thing you keep doing, one thing you change next time, and all the random stuff that doesn't deserve another hour of thought goes in ignore.
D

Dave82

Parent

As a parent I'd say this applies outside football too: if your review ends with twelve things to fix, you haven't really prioritised anything. One useful point is probably enough.

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