Too many coaches still treat preseason as a fitness test:

More running.
More sessions.
More volume.
More fatigue.

Then injuries accumulate, the starting lineup constantly changes, and the team never develops the communication needed to perform under pressure.

Raymond Verheijen challenges coaches to rethink this approach.

In football, the order matters:

1. Communication
2. Decision-making
3. Execution
4. Football fitness

Fitness is important—but it should be developed through football, not separated from it.

A successful preseason should:

• Progressively prepare players for football actions
• Develop position-specific communication
• Improve decision-making within the team’s playing style
• Build fitness without accumulating unnecessary fatigue
• Keep the strongest players consistently training together
• Prepare the team for the entire season—not merely the opening match

Preseason is not about proving how much your players can tolerate.

It is about preparing your strongest team to still be available when the matches matter most.

If you arrive at the postseason without your best players, the problem may not have started in October or November.

It may have started with what you celebrated in preseason.

Listen to our conversation with Raymond Verheijen on the Just Kickin’ It Podcast.

#SoccerCoaching #FootballCoaching #Preseason #FootballFitness #InjuryPrevention #CoachDevelopment #SportsPerformance

In this episode of the Just Kickin’ It Podcast, Dr. Brian Shrum speaks with author and performance consultant James Smith, “The Thinker,” about stress immunity and our ability to direct our thinking under pressure.

James explains why genetics, environment, and past experiences may influence us without permanently determining how we think or behave. The conversation examines how strong emotions can interfere with memory, judgment, and decision-making—and why remaining calm allows athletes, coaches, and leaders to access the knowledge they already possess.

They also explore:

• Why predicting a negative outcome can create unnecessary stress
• The difference between emotional language and factual description
• Why anger may not improve athletic performance
• How repeated thought patterns reinforce themselves
• Why solution-oriented writing may be more productive than repeatedly documenting problems
• How coaches and parents can help young people develop clearer thinking

This episode challenges common beliefs about stress, emotion, and performance while offering a practical principle: direct your thinking toward the next useful solution.

Learn more and register for James Smith’s live Stress Immunity seminar series, beginning September 5th, at 11 am.

You can locate the details by clicking the link below.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stress-immunity-a-live-seminar-series-with-james-smith-tickets-1998112721939?aff=oddtdtcreator

In our latest episode of Just Kickin' It, Brian and Josh sit down with Dr. Kapil Gupta — advisor to professional athletes, CEOs, and performing artists — for one of the most thought-provoking conversations we've ever had.

Kapil doesn't prescribe. He doesn't hand out frameworks, four-step processes, or the three Cs. He does something far more uncomfortable: he tells the truth.

Some of what he shares will challenge everything you think you know about coaching, confidence, and performance:

→ Why thought is the enemy of elite performance — and what actually replaces it→ Why sports psychology's answer to "thinking problems" is... more thinking (and why that makes everything worse)→ Why prescriptions — even correct ones — destroy performance→ Why meditation as we know it is largely a social performance, not a path to transformation→ Why chasing results (the World Cup, the Super Bowl, the championship) will never fill the hole you're hoping it will

This isn't a comfortable listen. It's designed to make you stop, question, and look in the mirror.

As Kapil puts it: "Performance is not a goal. It is a side effect."

If you've ever had an athlete tell you they lack confidence, or watched every tool in your toolbox fail to move the needle — this episode is for you.

Just Kickin' It — built to push ideas forward.

Kapil explains why thought may actually interfere with elite performance, why prescriptions and “mental skills” often make athletes worse, and why greatness may come less from adding more techniques and more from removing the interference that blocks instinct, rhythm, and freedom.

The discussion dives into:

• Why overthinking destroys performance
• The illusion of confidence-building techniques
• Why athletes perform best in states of “no thought”
• The problem with prescriptions in coaching and psychology
• Meditation, mindfulness, and the pursuit of performance
• Why performance is a side effect — not the goal
• The difference between sincerity and self-improvement theater
• Freedom, identity, pressure, and the human being behind the athlete

This episode is not a tactical conversation about systems or drills. It is a deep exploration into the nature of performance itself and the truths many coaches never stop long enough to question.

Part 1 of a special 3-part series with Kapil Gupta.

https://www.kapilguptamd.com/

Verheijen explains that periodization is not a rigid master plan that controls a team. It is a tool for organizing training, practice games, and the weekly and monthly rhythm of work based on the characteristics of football and the functioning of the body. The model should help coaches avoid both overtraining and undertraining, but it must always remain subordinate to tactical goals and playing style.

A central theme of the episode is his criticism of the growing dependence on data-driven monitoring. He argues that the coach’s first responsibility is to develop the ability to observe players and communicate with them, rather than outsourcing judgment to questionnaires, GPS, or heart-rate systems. In his view, data may be used to confirm an observation, but never to replace the coach’s eye. He is particularly skeptical of GPS, calling attention to its measurement error and the false confidence it can create.

The discussion then moves into small-sided games. Verheijen argues that 4v4 or other reduced formats should not be random competitions where players simply run hard. Instead, these games should be a simplification of 11v11, preserving the team’s playing style, positional roles, and tactical responsibilities. If a coach structures small-sided games correctly, effort and accountability become obvious through football itself, without the need for artificial commands to “work harder.”

Another major point concerns rehabilitation and return to play. Verheijen rejects the traditional separation between rehab and football training, where injured players train in isolation and later jump back into the team environment. He argues instead for a football rehab periodization, where rehab is an individual simplification of the team’s football reference. This reduces the transition shock and lowers the risk of setbacks and reinjury.

He also criticizes the rise of generalized movement specialists who treat football like gymnastics by trying to impose ideal movement patterns. His counterargument is that football does not rely on one perfect technique or one ideal movement solution. Because every game situation is different, football requires functional variability in technique and movement. Players must be able to solve problems in many ways, not conform to one stereotyped model.

On strength training, Verheijen makes the point that the term itself is often used too loosely. Different coaches use the same word to describe very different methods. He argues that strength work in football should begin with an analysis of the actual demands of the sport. Since most explosive football actions occur after deceleration and change of direction, weight-room exercises should reflect that reality rather than rely on generic strength methods disconnected from football actions.

The conversation closes with discussion of the college soccer environment, which Verheijen sharply criticizes. He views the condensed preseason and congested Friday-Sunday competition model as fundamentally harmful to player welfare. His advice for coaches in that setting is to distinguish between fitness and freshness. Fitness is developed before the season; once the competitive schedule begins, the focus must shift to recovery and restoring freshness between matches rather than trying to continue conditioning players during the season.

Finally, he discusses injuries at elite clubs and argues that the head coach and training methods are the biggest drivers of injury rates. He references research suggesting that coaches tend to carry their injury profiles from club to club. His conclusion is simple: demanding training is not the issue by itself; poor balance between intensity, volume, fatigue, and recovery is.

In this episode, we sit down with Raymond Verheijen to break down one of the most misunderstood areas in coaching: fitness in football.

Rather than viewing fitness as running, conditioning, or physical output, Verheijen reframes it through the true demands of the game—communication, decision-making, and execution. These three elements combine to form what he defines as a football action, and real fitness is the ability to perform these actions repeatedly, at a high tempo, over the course of a match .

The conversation challenges traditional methods of isolated fitness training—such as sprinting drills and conditioning runs—arguing that they fail to develop the very qualities players need in the game. Instead, Verheijen outlines a football-specific approach built on:

• Improving the quality of actions (more explosive, more effective)
• Increasing the quantity of actions (more actions per minute)
• Maintaining both quality and quantity under fatigue

Through practical examples, including small-sided games, football sprints, and structured game scenarios, this episode provides a clear framework for designing training that directly transfers to performance.

A key takeaway is that many coaches who rely on isolated fitness are not solving a fitness problem—they are compensating for a lack of playing style and tactical clarity.

This episode sets the foundation for understanding football periodization and offers a powerful shift in how coaches should think about training, development, and performance.

This conversation goes far beyond surface-level “confidence” and mindset clichés. Dan introduces a clear, actionable mental framework built around attention, intensity, and intent—and explains why most athletes and coaches misunderstand what mental performance actually is.

We dive into:

• The difference between mental health, wellbeing, and performance psychology
• Why today’s athletes are experiencing more pressure—and how language is shaping it
• How coaches can identify what players are really dealing with
• The power of match scripts, game face, and controlling your response—not your thoughts

• Why high performance isn’t about feeling good… it’s about executing actions under pressure

If you’re a coach, athlete, or leader trying to build consistency in high-stakes moments, this episode will challenge how you think—and give you tools you can apply immediately.

This is more than mindset.
This is a system for competing when it matters most.

Questions or information on podcasts or other content reach out at: justkickinitmedia@gmail.com

In this conversation, Dave and Brian dig into why so many coaches — from grassroots to pro — are unknowingly creating a ceiling for their players. They explore why training in isolation doesn't transfer to the game, how emotion and cognitive load should shape your weekly plan, and what coaches in places like Portugal and Spain understand about intensity that most coaches in the US are still missing.

This isn't a lecture on methodology. It's a real conversation about what it means to develop players who can think, adapt, and solve problems on their own — and what gets in the way of that.

In this episode:

• Why your players' athleticism might be masking a problem-solving deficit
• How to plan a training week around emotional state, not just physical load
• The Usain Bolt principle — and what it reveals about game complexity
• Why empathy might be the most underrated coaching skill
• What a Portuguese coach taught his team without ever explaining why

If you coach players at any level and you want them to actually think the game — this one's for you.

Dan Abrahams is a leading sports psychologist who has worked with Premier League clubs including West Ham and Fulham, and has spent over 15 years embedded in the football world at every level. He's also the author of Soccer Tough, Soccer Tough 2, and Soccer Brain.

In this foundational episode, Dan breaks down what it really means to develop a mental game in soccer — from why he believes football is fundamentally a game of mindset, to practical tools coaches and players can use right now. We cover:

• The "Three M's" — Mood, Motivation, and Movement — and why managing them is non-negotiable
• What mental toughness actually means (hint: it's simpler than you think)
• The Match Script technique — giving players 1–3 controllable tasks to come back to under pressure
• Game Face — how to help players build an identity on the pitch using key words and model players
• Why coaches need to be tolerant on outcome and tough on process
• Body language as a performance weapon, not just an aesthetic

This episode sets the stage for the upcoming deep dive into Compete. If you haven't heard this one yet, now is the perfect time before the release of our new conversation later next week.

In this episode of Just Kickin’ It, we sit down with Chris Voss—former FBI hostage negotiator, CEO of The Black Swan Group, and author of Never Split the Difference—to explore how negotiation principles apply directly to coaching, recruiting, and player development.

This conversation challenges a fundamental idea: coaching isn’t just instruction—it’s negotiation. Every interaction with an athlete involves influence, communication, and understanding what’s happening inside their mind.

Chris breaks down practical tools coaches can immediately apply:

• How to uncover what athletes are really thinking
• Why “you’re right” is often a failure, not a win
• The power of labeling to unlock player thinking and improve decision-making
• How tone of voice impacts performance and attention in high-pressure moments
• Why “why” questions shut athletes down—and what to ask instead
• How to navigate recruiting conversations and identify bad fits early

You’ll also learn how these techniques help athletes move from thinking to performing—unlocking flow, improving communication, and ultimately elevating performance on the field.

This is more than a conversation about negotiation. It’s about becoming a more effective coach, communicator, and leader.

We dive deep into why isolating skills in practice can actually create bad habits, how perception-action coupling shapes real athletic development, and why so many talented athletes never reach their potential because of how they're trained.

Dr. Steve also shares the story behind his book Ecological Dynamics in Sport Coaching and why he wrote it to bridge the gap between research and the coaches on the ground who need it most.

Key topics we cover:

• Why "teaching" athletes may be the wrong approach entirely
• The scanning myth — what coaches get wrong about vision in sport
• Rondos, isolated drills, and the perception-action problem
• What great coaching actually looks like (hint: it's not about win/loss)
• Developing youth athletes without sacrificing exploration and enjoyment
• Neurodivergence and ecological dynamics — Dr. Steve's next research frontier

Whether you're a grassroots youth coach or working at the elite level, this conversation will challenge how you think about skill acquisition and athlete development.

🔗 Find Dr. Steve Smith on LinkedIn📖 Ecological Dynamics in Sport Coaching — available on Amazon and Routledge🌐 Emergent Performance Lab

In this episode, Brett Ledbetter challenges conventional thinking around coaching, leadership, and performance. Rather than focusing on instruction, control, or motivation, Brett explores how great coaches help athletes take ownership of their development by thinking for themselves.

Together, we discuss why questions often outlast answers, how trust is earned in the present moment, and why standards matter more than expectations. Brett shares insights on helping athletes develop an internal coach, navigate adversity, and perform without becoming trapped by external validation.

At its core, this conversation explores a powerful idea: the role of a coach may not be to add more, but to remove the distractions, fears, and limitations that prevent athletes from becoming who they are capable of becoming.

If you're a coach, leader, parent, or athlete seeking a deeper understanding of performance and human development, this episode will challenge the way you think about coaching itself.

#WhatDrivesWinning

In this conversation, I sit down with Dr. Kapil Gupta for a raw, unfiltered exploration of coaching, human potential, and the relentless pursuit of greatness. Dr. Gupta challenges nearly everything we take for granted about how athletes are developed — from the obsession with instruction and certifications to the illusion that more coaching equals more growth.

We dig into why true greatness is rare, why great teachers are even rarer, and why the most important question a coach can ask has nothing to do with technique. We also explore freedom from the mind, the interference of good and bad labels in sport, the role of suffering and seriousness in human achievement, and why life — not your coach — is your most unforgiving teacher.

If you've ever questioned whether more information is actually making athletes better, this episode will challenge you to think differently about what coaching really is — and what it should never be.