Can psychological training make footballers into better communicators? 

Roehampton United’s manage, Jonus Soapman, has brought in a new cognitive technique to motivate his players play more as a team. He has noticed that they often do not communicate off the field (like many people, they spend a lot of time staring at their phones) and that this lack of communication is being replicated on the pitch. In the past, when travelling to matches, players would chat or play cards together and now they all wear headphones and stare at their technology. Soapman says, “in my opinion, communication on the pitch is so important, even if it is just to help your team-mates by saying ‘time’ or ‘turn!’; for today’s young players it seems to be all about them as individuals and much less about communication with the squad”. Clare Worman, a sports psychologist has invented the “deling” technique. She says that this modern scientific technique is more than just forcing friendliness amongst players. The technique aims to make the brain sharper through exercises that test physical, cognitive and perceptual skills. In the UK, the technique is used by some Premiership football teams, and the national cricket and handball teams. Returning to football; will the “deling” produce communicative teams that win? Only time, and results, will tell.

Questions
 

Do the following statements agree with the information in the text?

TRUE – if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE - if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN - if there is no information on this
 

Can psychological training make footballers into better communicators?

Roehampton United’s manage, Jonus Soapman, has brought in a (1) new cognitive technique to motivate his players play more as a team. He has noticed that they often do not communicate off the field (like many people, they spend a lot of time staring at their phones) and that this (2) lack of communication is being replicated on the pitch. In the past, when travelling to matches, players would chat or play cards together and now (3) they all wear headphones and stare at their technology. Soapman says, “in my opinion, communication on the pitch is so important, even if it is just to help your team-mates by saying ‘time’ or ‘turn!’; for today’s young players it seems to be all about them as individuals and much less about communication with the squad”. (4) Clare Worman, a sports psychologist has invented the “deling” technique. She says that this modern scientific technique is more than just forcing friendliness amongst players. The technique aims to make the brain sharper through exercises that test physical, cognitive and perceptual skills. In the UK, (5) the technique is used by some Premiership football teams, and the national cricket and handball teams. Returning to football; will the “deling” produce communicative teams that win? (6) Only time, and results, will tell.

Questions

Do the following statements agree with the information in the text?

TRUE – if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE - if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN - if there is no information on this

The latest technique encourages players to play as a team. (TRUE)

The absence of communication is being duplicated on the football field. (TRUE)

Players own very costly headphones. (NG)

Clare Worman developed the ‘deling’ technique. (FALSE)

All Premiership teams use the ‘deling’ technique. (FALSE)

The deling technique will no longer be used if teams fail to win games. (NG)