The Coaching Performance Gap: Why Talented Coaches Get Average Results
- Evolution Soccer
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
Excellence in coaching doesn't come from accumulating drills or memorizing tactical systems. It comes from one deceptively simple practice that most coaches never develop:
The ability to see yourself coaching.
Your players feel every unconscious habit, every repeated phrase, every moment you coach on autopilot. Which means your development as a coach doesn't just affect you – it directly shapes every player you work with.
And while you can't control player talent, parent expectations, or club resources... you can control how deliberately you develop your coaching practice.
That's where reflective practice becomes your unfair advantage.
What is Reflective Practice in Coaching?
Reflective practice is the systematic process of examining your coaching behaviors, decisions, and impact – not just once a season, but session by session, moment by moment.
It's choosing development over routine.
Think of it like video analysis for players. You wouldn't let your striker go weeks without reviewing their movement patterns and expect improvement. Your coaching deserves the same scrutiny.
Donald Schön, the researcher who pioneered this concept, identified two critical types of reflection:
Reflection-ON-Action
Looking back after the session and analyzing what happened.
"Why did that drill fall flat? What did I say that confused them? When did engagement drop?"
Reflection-IN-Action
Noticing and adjusting while coaching is happening.
"They're not getting this. I need to change my explanation. That player's body language tells me something's wrong."
Elite coaches do both. Most coaches do neither.
The Four Stages of Coaching Competence
Every coach exists somewhere on this development pathway:
1. Unconscious Incompetence
"I don't know what I don't know."
You coach instinctively. You copy coaches you admired. You're unaware of your habits, biases, or blind spots. Most new coaches live here.
2. Conscious Incompetence
"I'm aware of my weaknesses."
You start noticing patterns. "I talk too much. I always default to the same drill. I avoid addressing that difficult player." Awareness is uncomfortable but essential.
3. Conscious Competence
"I'm deliberately applying new skills."
You're intentional about your coaching behaviors. You plan not just the session but how you'll deliver it. It requires concentration and effort. This is where growth accelerates.
4. Unconscious Competence
"Excellence has become automatic."
Elite coaches operate here. They read situations instantly. They adapt without thinking. But they didn't skip steps – they earned this through thousands of hours of conscious practice.
Most coaches get stuck between stages 1 and 2.
They gain awareness through experience but never systematically develop their practice. They plateau. Years pass. Their coaching doesn't evolve.
Reflective practice is the bridge.
Why Most Coaches Never Reflect Properly
The reasons are painfully common:
"I don't have time"
Yet you'll spend 90 minutes planning a session and 0 minutes reflecting on how you delivered the previous one. Reflection takes 5 minutes. Staying stuck takes years.
"I already know what went wrong"
Knowing and examining are different. Surface-level awareness ("that was a bad session") doesn't drive development. Deep analysis does.
"Reflection feels self-indulgent"
Actually, NOT reflecting is self-indulgent. It prioritizes your comfort over your players' development. Elite coaches are ruthlessly honest with themselves because they care more about impact than ego.
"I don't know how to reflect effectively"
This is the real barrier. Most coaches were never taught a reflection framework. So they either skip it entirely or do surface-level "that went well / that went badly" analysis that changes nothing.
The Gibbs Reflective Cycle for Coaches
Graham Gibbs created one of the most practical reflection frameworks. Here's how to apply it to your coaching:
1. Description
What happened? Just the facts.
"I planned a 4v4+2 possession game. Players struggled with the transition moment. I stopped the practice three times to re-explain."
2. Feelings
What were you thinking and feeling?
"I felt frustrated they weren't getting it. Anxious that I was wasting time. Worried I'd planned the wrong activity."
3. Evaluation
What was good and bad about the experience?
"Good: The drill concept was sound. Bad: My explanation was too long and tactical. Players switched off before we even started."
4. Analysis
What sense can you make of the situation?
"I over-complicated it with too much information. I didn't check understanding before starting. I assumed they knew what 'transition' meant."
5. Conclusion
What else could you have done?
"I could have demonstrated briefly. Asked them what they noticed. Let them discover the problem instead of explaining it."
6. Action Plan
What will you do differently next time?
"For complex practices: Demo → Ask 'What do you see?' → Let them play → Guide with questions, not instructions."
This cycle takes 5 minutes. And it transforms how you coach.
The Three Questions That Change Everything
If Gibbs' cycle feels too structured, start simpler. After every session, ask yourself:
1. What did I intend to happen?
Not just "run a passing drill" – what was your intended coaching behavior?
"I intended to ask more questions and give fewer instructions."
2. What actually happened?
Be specific. What did you do, say, where did you stand, how did you respond to mistakes?
"I asked two questions in 60 minutes. I stopped play 15+ times to correct. I stood in the same corner the entire session."
3. What does that tell me about my coaching?
Identify the pattern, not just the incident.
"I default to control when I'm anxious. I talk more when I should talk less. I'm not giving players space to think."
These questions build self-awareness. And self-awareness is the foundation of all coaching development.
From Awareness to Action: Building the Reflection Habit
Knowing you should reflect is worthless if you never do it. Here's how to make it automatic:
✅ Schedule it
Block 5 minutes in your calendar immediately after every session. Treat it like warm-up – non-negotiable.
✅ Write it down
Thinking about reflection isn't reflection. Writing forces clarity. Keep a coaching journal. Use voice notes. Whatever works – but externalize it.
✅ Focus on ONE thing
Don't try to analyze everything. Pick one behavior to examine deeply:
Your questioning technique
Your body language during mistakes
How you transitioned between activities
Which players you interacted with most/least
✅ Review patterns weekly
Daily reflection captures detail. Weekly review reveals patterns. Every Sunday, read your week's reflections and ask: "What theme emerges?"
✅ Share with a peer
Reflection becomes exponentially more powerful when another coach can challenge your thinking. Find a development partner who'll ask uncomfortable questions.
❌ DON'T judge yourself
Reflection isn't about beating yourself up. It's about getting better. Shame blocks learning. Curiosity enables it.
The Coaching Behaviors Worth Reflecting On
Not sure what to examine? Start with these high-impact areas:
Your Communication Patterns
Instruction-to-question ratio
Average length of your explanations
Tone during errors vs success
Clarity of language (did players understand you?)
Your Physical Presence
Where you positioned yourself
Your body language during player mistakes
Eye contact patterns (who did you look at most?)
Energy level throughout the session
Your Decision-Making
When you stopped play vs let it run
How you adapted (or didn't) when something wasn't working
What triggered your interventions
Your Relationships
Which players did you interact with most/least?
How did you respond to the challenging personality?
Did you build anyone up? Did you inadvertently tear anyone down?
Your Impact
What did players actually learn?
How engaged were they throughout?
What will they remember tomorrow?
The session plan tells you what you taught. Reflection tells you what they learned. Those are rarely the same thing.
Real Coach Example: From Unconscious to Conscious
The Problem: Mark, an FA Level 2 coach, felt like his U14 sessions lacked energy. Players seemed disengaged. He blamed motivation.
The Reflection: After two weeks of journaling, Mark noticed a pattern:
"I spend the first 10 minutes of every session explaining. Players stand still, listening. By the time we start, half of them have mentally checked out."
The Insight: His problem wasn't player motivation. It was his delivery. He was coaching how HE preferred to learn (listening, analyzing) not how THEY learned (doing, experiencing).
The Action: Mark flipped his approach:
Arrive with a single sentence explaining the session focus
Start the activity within 60 seconds
Coach through questions while they play
Use brief pauses to highlight key moments
The Result: Engagement transformed. Not because he planned better sessions. Because he delivered them better.
This is the power of reflective practice.
The Uncomfortable Truth
Most coaches spend their entire career delivering sessions at 60% of their potential.
Not because they lack knowledge. Not because they don't care.
Because they never developed the skill of examining their practice.
They coach the same way they did five years ago. Same habits. Same blind spots. Same limitations.
Meanwhile, the elite coaches – the ones who develop international players, win at the highest levels – obsess over their coaching process.
They watch video of themselves. They seek feedback. They experiment. They reflect.
They know that coaching mastery isn't a destination. It's a practice. And practice requires awareness.
Your Development Starts Today
The gap between your potential and your performance isn't ability.
It's awareness.
And awareness starts with three questions after your next session:
What did I intend to happen?
What actually happened?
What does that tell me about my coaching?
Write down your answers. Not mentally – physically write them.
That's it. That's the start.
Because you can't change what you can't see.
And once you start seeing clearly – your coaching will never be the same.
Reflection Questions for This Article
What's one coaching habit you've never questioned until now?
When was the last time you genuinely examined your coaching behavior, not just your session plan?
What would your players say about your coaching if you asked them?
What are you afraid you might discover if you reflected honestly?
What would change if you committed to 5 minutes of reflection after every session for the next month?