ProactivE Methodology White Paper

To succeed, profound dedication is needed to your craft. There must be no dissent and an absolute commitment to your goals – you train as if you are in an actual game. 

In essence therefore it is a playful methodology. 

WHAT DOES PROACTIVE MEAN? 

Proactive Methodology is learning through emotion. By stimulating your emotional intelligence, you link personal development to the beautiful game itself.

WHY IS IT SO EFFECTIVE?

The methodology focuses specifically on the development of each individual player, rather than the team as a whole. 

Through the evolution of each individual, the team dynamic benefits exponentially also. 

With each component perfected, the ‘machine’ will always run faster and smoother. 

Some coaches dedicate themselves to training their whole team as one singular unit. That is fine, but they are missing a real opportunity. The team may indeed improve, but real progress will be limited. 

A team is made up of individual players – improve every player, and help them reach their true potential, and the results will be incomparable. 

Proactive Methodology therefore focuses on the singular unit - the individual player, and looks to maximize their development. If you individualize the elements of any puzzle, it is easier to solve the bigger problem.

The methodology also creates systematic structuralism. Focusing on every singular element, aids the development of the whole essence of each human being, bringing improvements to every dimension.

Training can then be purposively targeted at each of these identifiable dimensions. 

1. Coordinative (technical)

2. Conditional (physical preparation)

3. Cognitive (tactical)

4. Socio-effective (the ability to collaborate and cooperate within a team to achieve objectives)

5. Creative expressionism (which using traditional methods is more difficult to train because their individualism is sacrificed to benefit team goals – but why stifle creativity and skill? Instead, we should look to encourage it and harness it, which in turn benefits the team).

6. Emotive-volitional (strengthening will and the capacity to want to work hard and try and make a difference in the game).

Having taken each player, and created a bespoke methodology to maximize their progression using these six dimensions, we then train them in additional factors such as psychological and cognitive strength and resilience, which are also critical to success. 

Proactive methodology based on 3 fundamental pillars form the logic of the game:

STRUCTURAL

There are of course structural aspects to the game itself. These include the rules, which are applicable in all situations on the field of play, and must therefore be considered in training – the rules will not change between matches. 

Within this, there are the teams – your own and the opponents, and a direction of play. There is also only ever one ball.

Yet within this simple structure, there is a myriad of endless possibilities, and that is how training effectively, positively, and proactively can affect the game itself. 

OPERATIONAL

This second pillar is simple – football is a game. One team will win, another will lose, and their training will make the difference between the teams. 

It is a competition, you must want to win, and be prepared to work hard to ensure you give yourself the best chance of doing so. It is not matches in which games are decided, but in the preparation. Your objective is to beat your rival, and that is born on the training ground.

Training is a set of challenges, duels, competitions, and battles. Each player must look to win at every opportunity, or they will lose every time. Building an inherent level of competitiveness ensures that deficiencies are minimized. Look to win everything, from the coin toss to the tackle, from the sprint to the game itself. 

ORGANIZATIONAL

An orchestra without a conductor is nothing but chaotic. A team without organization is likewise.

Every game ebbs and flows like a river. Try and stop water, and it moves around your hand – so therefore the team needs this same dynamic fluidity, moving and changing according to the cycles within any game.

Organization need not mean rigidity. It needs to suit the style of play. Each player needs to respond to moments within a game depending on who has the ball, whether has it been lost or won, or whether the opposition has it. Each moment creates decisions that need to be naturally anticipated and executed – that is the essence of great training. There is no time to stop and think, only to react.

The style of play has to be PROACTIVE. 

If you wait, if you only ever react, you will always be last. Players need to be proactive, always taking the initiative, whether they have the ball or not. 

Taking the initiative puts you one step ahead of the opposition, especially if they are poorly coached and only react to what’s in front of them. By the time they have worked it out, they are too late – but that is their loss and an identifiable means of beating them.

Hence, we train children to be proactive, to take the initiative, and to be in control. If you can control a game, you are one step ahead and are therefore more likely to win. If you can conduct the orchestra, you’ll hear a real symphony of music.

Training teams solely as a team gives players a place to hide their weaknesses. Teaching them to be the best individual players that they can be takes them out of their comfort zones, but brings great improvement and development. It immediately identifies a player’s skillset and which areas need more attention and direction. Technical, tactical, and conditioning levels will improve for each player, and the team with benefit universally as a result.

Having identified weaknesses, players are trained and conditioned mentally and psychologically to overcome the problems through their hard work and dedication – they become more proactive as individuals as well as players, adopting and implementing the philosophy and methodology in all that they do. 

The Proactive Methodology is based on one “conscious” direction of training as set out in the book The Conscious Coach. 

The methodology was born from the incredible mind and passion of one person. Personal and professional experiences, both individual and collective, have shaped and honed it into what it is today – complete. 

By taking individuals, and challenging them, whilst nurturing their singular spirit and identity, you give confidence and a sense of belonging. When you combine each of these individual players into a team, they click, and they forge a sense of togetherness, whilst never losing their own identities. Each wants to do the best for themselves, but also for each other and the team. The competition that it creates is positive, rather than negative, thus building a collective strength. 

You do not simply look to improve the group as one unit, instead, you bring together players who each strive to achieve their full potential, and continually challenge themselves to do better. This in turn creates an unstoppable momentum and builds a real team. 

Only those who do not fear failure, will ever truly taste success, and that belief starts at the training ground. 

You must be kind, but demanding, generous yet assertive, and allow creativity and development to flourish. Never stifle an individual for the good of the team, but rather help and encourage that player to make the team better still.

Trust is key, and must be reciprocal. A loss of confidence is as dangerous as an injury. Grant autonomy of decision-making to each person, as it is they who will be deciding the game. Give them the freedom to play, but the passion, desire, and belief to win. Players must feel, and believe, that each decision is their own to make, and that they are playing with freedom, rather than with an instruction.

That is the task of a coach, and that is the true skill of The Conscious Coach.

    ~ Oscar Felipe