Learning to coach the TikTok generation

That can also make me a bit scared – as an adult figure in their lives, am I equipped to support them in some of the challenges they’re facing that I never had to face?

Ultimately, working with young people means meeting them where they are at. So TikTok might not be my thing, but I’ve made an effort to learn a bit more about it, and think about how my players interact with it.

I’ve even gone so far as to bring it into some of my sessions, adapting the ‘TikTok routine’ idea to benefit us.

One thing my team has had a problem with is throw-ins. They struggle with a lack of movement, consistently giving the ball back to the other team and a lack of confidence to take hold of the situation.

We are not helped by the fact the five-a-side pitch has a cage around it, so unless we add cones around the edge - making the area significantly smaller - or say ’every time it touches the cage, the ball is out’, we don’t get much occasion for throw-ins.

It has always been my view that the more ball rolling time, the better. So more often than not, we have no ’offs’.

Everyone on the team knows how to take a throw-in and the basic principles around it, but considering everything else there is to learn about the game at their age, it has never been a priority for me to work on them in depth, especially in such limited time.

A couple of months ago, we threw in a random Saturday session on grass. We had the girls for two hours on a full-size pitch – an opportunity for them to train where they play. And an opportunity for me, I thought, to try something different - to try and connect with them through something they are into.

When you are used to training for an hour, training for two is a big jump. I was aware I had to pace the session – more breaks and a couple of slower activities to break things up. Cue my TikTok routine activity - and a chance for us to look at throw-ins.

"Think more about the way your players live their lives and meet them on that level..."

With 16 players, I split them into two groups and gave them each a side of the pitch.

Within the groups of eight, four were attackers and three were defenders, with one player to take a throw-in from level with the full back’s starting position. The remaining player had a whiteboard and pens.

The groups had six minutes each to come up with their throw-in routine – with the player with the whiteboard drawing it. They also had to come up with a name for the routine, and some words or gestures that supported it.

Once the time was up, each group presented the routine to the other, just like they would their favourite TikTok dances – telling us the name they had chosen, demonstrating the routine, and talking us through their thinking. The other group offered their thoughts, and I challenged them with a few questions.

I was really happy with how the exercise went. The players were engaged, the activity was in a framework they were comfortable with, and, ultimately, it ended up with them taking ownership of their learning.

I hadn’t had to tell them how to take a throw-in, or give them a specific pattern of play. They had come up with it all on their own.

I suppose my message is to figure out how you can think more about the way your players live their lives, and meet them on that level.

Don’t fear the way they do things, but embrace them. Not only will it give you fresh ideas, it’ll also give you more ways to connect with them, both as players and people.