Can wearing no bibs increase player awareness?
GoPlay Sports caught up with FA coaching mentor David Webb to explore his theory surrounding a common component in every coaches kitbag - bibs.
David, who spent time in the US in the early stages of his coaching pathway, now works extensively with coaches in the England DNA Foundation Stage.
His role is to support coaches of all levels with the Football Association’s four-corner model philosophy, underpinning the values that are being pushed in the UK. David says he uses it to plan all of his sessions.
“It’s a guide to understanding what the learning points are and how they players learn,” says David, who is a huge advocate of the FA’s ethos.
“The England DNA foundation phase is focused on the in possession stuff. Staying on the ball and mastering the ball and then you can move on to working with players combining with team-mates.
“It’s about having as much ball-rolling time as possible within the session and is there opportunity for them to get on the ball as an individual.”
“A lot of parents may see players having a lot of the ball as ‘ball-hogging’ but as coaches we see it has the opportunity to make decisions.”
However, it was a specific tweet of David’s that caught our attention, when he posed the question: ‘Do we need bibs?’
Can wearing no bibs increase player awareness on and off the ball?
“What I’ve learnt coaching is that you have to do different things. I get bored doing the exact same thing and I know the players get bored too, “ said David.
“My thinking behind it was ‘can no bibs have overall benefits?’ Then breaking it down, ‘can it help improve player awareness?’
“If a player is looking up in a game and of course that is what we want, then usually they’re just looking up and glancing at a color of a shirt. What I am thinking is can they look up for that split second longer enough to get them to facially recognize someone?
“Also there is the communication aspect, if they are going to look up and find their team-mates without bibs can they communicate better? Maybe through better talking or even hand signals or body language.
“I don’t think that players do enough of that. A lot of time you try and see coaches replicate things from what they see in a game and this fits into that.
“Hand signals are traditionally used at corners, but not much any other time. If they were it gives people some extra thinking and decision making based on what the players around you are doing.
“Are players communicating with each other, putting their hands up, but are they marked by an opponent?
David explains that for the players and coaches to get the maximum out of carrying out such a session without bibs, then both must be aware of the object of the session.
“They will have to try and communicate in different ways and it can be implemented as a change, but also there has to be a reason why you are doing it. And that coach has to understand the reason why as well and make sure it is relevant for their players,” said David.
“We are conditioned to believe that bibs are necessary. Not many people have challenged it and that is all we’ve known. Bibs are part of what we perceive coaching to look like.
"I’ve broken it down into three target areas, and the first is that players are making sure they are keeping their heads up and spending a longer time scanning around them.
“Another is about potentially playing the ball forward into attacking areas or maybe playing the ball in from wide areas. It needs to be where you are distributing the ball into a crowded area. So the middle channels, midfield and attacking thirds - so it recreates a game situation when areas can become tight for space.
“And also for specific for age groups. The best is probably to aim it at around the older foundation phase and the early youth development phase (11, 12, 13). Just because at the older youth development phase you are getting closer to the real game so you don’t want to add in that confusion, unless the players understand why you are doing it.
“I wouldn’t introduce it in a lower foundation phase because all you want to promote there is to fall in love with the ball. Let them move with it and make decisions on the ball and not having bibs might well be a step too far.
“It comes down to the type of coach you are really. Some coaches have freedom and can do what they want, some are influenced by their clubs philosophies and may not get the opportunity to try things.
“It’s probably going to be beneficial for them to visit something like this on their football journey.”
In conclusion
David explains: “It’s not to say that bibs should not exist and to replace them. It’s more about switching things up and trying new things. The more consistent it is for players the more conditioned they can become.
“As soon as you try something different you get those players who want to problem solve: ‘We don’t recognize this, what do we do? How do we react to it?’
“How do players deal with being in a pressure situation? Well that is probably a pressure situation because it’s going to cause all sorts of panic when they look up and see a crowd of players.
“From a players point of view it is to challenge them and that is what coaches should be doing.”