The Invisible Foundation for Footballers

Imagine you are going to build a house… where do you start?

What will be the most important element to your house? What will keep it standing strong when a storm comes? What will allow you to turn your house into a home?

A strong foundation.

And when the house is complete, you may not be able to see the foundations, but they are there holding everything together. The foundation becomes invisible. But you know it’s there.

If we applied that analogy to football, what would be the invisible foundation that allows a footballer to become the best version of themselves on and off the pitch?

Let’s start by looking at some of the main attributes I believe are needed to play at the highest level.

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The first is technique.

Passing, shooting, dribbling, heading, receiving skills and the like. A young footballer can move up the levels with their technique until they are completely comfortable being able to control and master the football.

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The second is tactical awareness.

The ability to read the game, adapt to different formations and understand where you should be depending on the position you’ve been asked to play, both in and out of possession. It’s spatial awareness, being able to “paint pictures” of what’s going on around you, and it is a skill that can be developed through purposeful practice.

By the way, I’m inclined to agree with the view taken in Matthew Syed’s well-known book Bounce: How Champions Are Made, which states that the major factor in the development of the technical and tactical skills I’ve just described is simply the number of hours of purposeful practice.

Over time and with repetition, a player may acquire skills that look effortless. They may even get misleadingly described as “naturally talented”. To me, that’s a myth. You don’t get born with it. There are no shortcuts. You have to put in the hours.

I’d add, though, that I don’t think purposeful practice has to be within a club, academy or centre of excellence, particularly in the formative years.

I think back to what I know of my childhood heroes, the likes of Paul Gascoigne and the Brazilian Juninho. When they were really young, they just played. In playgrounds, streets and parks. That’s all they ever did. A ball at their feet, having fun.

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The third attribute is physical.

including strength, speed, agility and fitness. There are some traits, such as height and, to some extent, speed, that are genetic, but most can be developed with a dedicated approach to gym work and training.

Doubtless those three attributes, technical, tactical and physical, are all essential. But what gets the best out of them and brings them to life is the fourth, final and most important attribute:

‍Mental performance.

In my opinion, your mindset (the way you choose to think) is the key that unlocks everything else. If a footballer is confident, resilient, has a positive attitude, possesses self-belief and leadership skills, and acts professionally, then they will operate from a foundation that supports the technical, tactical and physical skills and allows them to make the most of what they’ve got.

Just how important is mastering the mental game? Of course, it’s impossible to accurately assign a specific percentage, as each player approaches game preparation and performance in their own unique way. Yet most agree that a big part of football is mental, and when I ask people to give me a percentage, their answers are always over 50 per cent and sometimes as high as 90 per cent.

Certainly, I know that players who develop their mental performance dramatically increase their chances of success.

However, because this all occurs in the footballer’s mind, it’s often overlooked in coaching, right up to professional level.

Coaches can see a player control a ball or watch someone sweat in the gym and see how they become bigger or stronger, but they can’t see how a player is thinking.

Of course, there are usually some indications there if a coach looks hard enough, but it’s less obvious and many struggle with that.

Equally, if a player wants to improve their shooting or heading, they can go out and practise on the training pitch and, over time, the improvement is obvious. If they want to develop upper-body strength, they can go into the gym and lift heavier weights.

But how do you improve mental performance, and how do you measure it?

That’s why I feel coaches, players and parents don’t fully understand it and, often, don’t want to. It scares people because they can’t see it.

And even in the 21st century, there is still stigma within football around focusing on the mind. As a result, most people concentrate elsewhere.

At ProMindset Academy, our work centres on the invisible foundation, supporting footballers in developing their own professional mindset that everything else is built upon.

If you’re thinking about how to support your child’s invisible foundation and aren’t sure where to start, get in touch for a free chat and we’ll be happy to help.

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