When you know that Pedro Henriques has been nominated for the best female futsal coach in the world for 2 years in a row, the words that come to mind are trophies and success.
But, those words didn’t come out of nowhere. Success doesn’t appear from thin air.
It comes from being passionate. It comes from being knowledgeable. It comes from dedication and openness of mind to new technologies and learning.
After more than 20 years of experience, Pedro is still eager to learn. This makes this serial winner, ex-Benfica coach, a great person to learn from.
Let’s see what he can tell us about his career, his approach, and the importance of video analysis in his latest successes.
Hey Pedro, please, introduce yourself, tell us a bit more about your career path so far.
My life has always been connected to sport. Although I played football for a few years, it was futsal that I really fell in love with.
I entered this fantastic sport through goalkeeper training, where I spent many years.
After that, I came to the conclusion that I wanted more, and I started to train district teams at various levels. I worked hard and had some success, and now I am at the position in my career in which I have achieved a lot, but I’m still eager to continue growing.
I have been a professional for 25 years, and all of those years were years of learning and individual growth. Of course, I have to highlight the last 2 seasons of me being the head coach of Benfica, which were really successful.
Also, I was one of the first to open futsal schools in Portugal, which I’m proud of, because the future of any sport depends on the next generation.
Describe the qualities you believe a successful coach must have.
In my opinion, for a coach to be successful, he or she must have, essentially, the following qualities: competence, leadership, communication, motivation, and passion for the sport.
To achieve something, you need to have the knowledge to do it, but also the “soft skills”, which allow you to transfer your ideas to the players. Of course, without the passion for your work, none of the other qualities I mentioned matter.
What do you believe is the greatest challenge most coaches are facing today, and what would be your advice to other coaches?
There are many pieces of the puzzle a good coach has to know how to solve and deal with. In my opinion, the main challenge is managing egos and expectations.
This is why coaches always need to follow their ideas and convictions.
Even if, in the beginning, things don’t seem to be working out, we have to give it time. We need to continue to trust in what we believe in. This is a part of your identity and you should never quit on yourself.
How much do you use video analysis?
Honestly, I’m spending more and more time on analysis and game preparation. With the solutions available to coaches today, for example, Once Video Analyser, you need to take advantage of them.
If you choose to stay in your comfort zone and stop learning new things and using new technologies, some other coaches will continue growing. Someone else will become more knowledgeable than you. In this day and age, these types of tools are super important. They play a massive role in the pursuit of success.
How does video analysis make your team better?
It helps the team grow. How? It makes better coaches and better athletes.
If you analyse, you gain a much better understanding of the game itself. You learn more about your strengths and weaknesses. You get to know the opponents better. All of this gives you a much better basis for decision-making.
Video analysis is a tool that can bring you closer to perfection, closer to victory. This speaks volumes about the importance of video analysis.
How do you use the information that you get from video analysis?
The great thing about video analysis is that it enables a coach to translate complicated ideas to his players in a simple way.
Analysing a match provides you with a lot of information, which you can use for the growth of your team.
Regarding the communication of the analysis to the team, it is different. It should make the player’s life easier, not harder. I always do a summary of the analysis to the players, but I limit it to a maximum of 6-7 minutes, with information about our game or the future opponent.
I try to show the essentials, in a very clear way, so the players understand what I want from them.
How do the players react to video analysis?
The more tools we give to the athletes, the better! Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should make their lives more complicated, but on the contrary, you want to make their lives easier.
Video analysis gives the players a better understanding of the coach’s ideas. You know the saying, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Players love to have a new perspective, provided by video analysis. They know that this helps their individual and collective growth. Consequently, they are closer to achieving good results, and every athlete loves the taste of victory.
What is the advantage of Once Video Analyser that made you choose it instead of some other program?
There are many, but essentially, I chose it because it is a very intuitive tool, making it easy to use. It is simple, but doesn’t compromise on the quality of the features. This makes Once Video Analyser a professional video analysis tool fit for my needs.
Also, I like that it is a multi-language program, so you can use it in your native language, and the support service is great.
If you had to describe Once in one word, which one would it be?
SPECTACULAR.
Once Video Analyser is spectacular, Pedro says. Well, thanks Pedro, your career is spectacular indeed, so this means a lot, coming from you.
Thank you for your time invested in this interview, filled with useful information and first-hand experience of a successful coach.
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Haven’t tried video analysis yet or you aren’t satisfied with your results? Visit www.once.de and download a free trial of Once Video Analyser PRO! Once is a simple-to-use tool for professional video analysis with TV-like graphics. You can get a video tutorial free of charge as well. Simply contact us at [email protected] to schedule a call so we can show you all of the program features and answer any questions you may have.
