Power Question #21: What's one decision you made that you liked?
A soccer game is hundreds of decisions stacked on top of each other. Most go unexamined. This question pulls one out and shines a light on it.
Why is this a power question?
Most post-game conversation focuses on outcomes — did the shot go in, did the pass connect. Outcomes are unreliable. They depend on lots of things outside your child's control.
Decisions are different. A decision was good or bad regardless of whether it worked. A brave forward pass that got intercepted was still a good decision. A safe back-pass that led to a goal was a different kind of decision — and worth examining too.
Asking your child to name a decision they liked trains them to evaluate themselves at the decision layer, not the outcome layer. That's how high-level coaches think. The earlier a player starts thinking that way, the faster they develop.
What to do if you are uncomfortable asking the question
The risk is that this lands as a quiz. "Name a decision you liked" sounds like a homework question.
Soften the language: "Was there a moment where you made a choice and you were happy with it?" Same intent, more natural.
If they say "I don't know," offer a soft prompt: "Even a small one — a pass you didn't normally make, a run you decided to make, a moment you decided to call for the ball." That gives them categories to scan against.
What you might learn
The answers are often more sophisticated than expected:
"I decided to switch the play even though my coach usually wants us to go down the line." "I held onto the ball one second longer than I usually do, and the pass opened up." "I decided not to chase that runner because I knew my fullback would."
What you're hearing is your child's tactical decision-making — usually invisible to anyone not inside their head. Once they start narrating it, they start improving it.
How you can probe for more if your player is interested
"What made you decide that?" — gets at their reasoning.
"Would you do it again?" — gets at whether they trust the call.
"Has anyone said anything about that kind of decision?" — opens the door to coach feedback and self-comparison.
A takeaway
Outcomes lie. Decisions tell the truth about how a player is thinking. "What's one decision you made that you liked?" trains the habit of self-evaluation at the right layer — the layer where actual development happens.
