Brief
Stéphane Morin stresses the importance for a coach of clearly and precisely defining terms with his players to ensure accurate communication / Illustration photo Pexels

"Are you truly capable of clearly defining concepts like volume, intensity, fatigue, recovery, workload, technique, fitness, speed, duration, and time ?" Stéphane Morin, a data analyst for French clubs like Le Havre, Clermont Foot 63 and Stade Malherbe de Caen, emphasizes the importance of coaches clearly and precisely defining these terms with their players to ensure effective communication. "Words can be interpreted differently by athletes, coaches, and within the context of different sports. This often leads to biased understanding, poorly designed exercises, and unclear discussions, which are frequently seen as a sign of weak expertise. This, in turn, reduces players' trust in the coach," explains Morin. In sports training, precise language is essential to achieve set objectives. As a result, the specialist offers a simple but valuable piece of advice: "The next time you hear a vague statement or an ill-defined concept, make sure to ask the question: 'What exactly do you mean by that?'"