How do you prepare players for situations they haven’t seen before?

No matter how detailed the session plan, how well‑organised the drills, or how clear the game model, coaches know one thing for certain: the game will never unfold exactly as planned.

Yet, much of coaching still leans heavily toward control — rehearsed drills, predictable patterns, and solutions pre‑determined by the coach. The challenge with this approach is not effort or intent, but transfer. When conditions change, players often struggle to adapt.

A useful way to think about this problem comes from an idea explored by coach and writer Samuel McKenzie, drawing on the concept of repentización — a term borrowed from music that refers to sight‑reading: responding intelligently to something unrehearsed.

McKenzie, S. (2026). Repentización. The Deep Dive Coaching.
👉 https://the-deep-dive-coaching.beehiiv.com/p/repentizacion

From Rehearsal to Adaptability

In musical terms, sight‑reading is the ability to perform a piece never seen before. In sport, the parallel is clear: players constantly face moments they haven’t practised exactly — unfamiliar space, pressure, teammates, opponents, time constraints.

The coaching challenge isn’t to prepare players for every possible scenario (because that’s impossible), but to help them build the capacity to adapt in real time.

This means shifting focus:

• From perfect repetition → flexible responses
• From “the right answer” → multiple viable options
• From coach‑led correction → player‑led problem solving

Great players don’t memorise solutions. They recognise situations.

What This Means for Session Design

Adaptability doesn’t require complicated activities or abandoning structure. It requires intentional variability.

Effective learning environments:

• Present players with problems rather than prescriptions
• Allow space for exploration, mistakes, and adjustment
• Retain key game information (pressure, space, perception, decision‑making)
• Encourage players to read and respond rather than wait for instruction

Small changes — to space, numbers, rules, or scoring — create new pictures for players to solve without needing a new activity.

How This Shows Up in CoachMate

This philosophy sits underneath the way CoachMate activities are designed.

Rather than isolated drills, CoachMate prioritises:

• Small‑sided, game‑informed activities
• Tasks that naturally create decision‑making
• Constraints that guide behaviour without prescribing solutions
• Simple adaptations that increase or reduce challenge

The aim isn’t randomness. It’s repeat exposure to different problems within a familiar structure, allowing players to build a deeper library of experiences they can draw upon under game pressure.

For coaches, this shifts the role:

• Design the environment
• Observe what the game reveals
• Adjust the challenge
• Resist the urge to over‑correct

Learning happens in the activity, not after it.

Why This Matters Across All Levels

Whether you’re coaching juniors, youth athletes, or senior teams, the game places the same demand on players: perceive, decide, act.

When we consistently provide environments that invite adaptation:

• Players become more confident decision‑makers
• Skill execution becomes more robust under pressure
• Transfer from training to competition improves

Structure still matters. Clarity still matters. But adaptability grows when players are trusted to engage with the game itself.

The Takeaway for Coaches

You can’t control the game — but you can prepare players for its uncertainty.

By designing sessions that expose players to varied, game‑like problems, you help them develop the capacity to respond, not just repeat. That’s the foundation of adaptable performance, and it’s a principle embedded throughout CoachMate’s activity design.

As coaches, our greatest impact often comes not from telling players what to do — but from creating environments where they learn how to think.