It’s been quite a few weeks for Zach Abbott at Nottingham Forest, who bizarrely has Golf icon Tiger Woods to thank for helping him prepare for the FA Cup semi-final.
It was the story of the day when Abbott was announced in Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wembley lineup, and he certainly didn’t look out of place as the Forest fans praised Abbott’s display against Man City.
Espirito Santo also hailed Abbott for his showing in the 2-0 defeat, hinting at the bright future that the 18-year-old will have in the first team set-up.
Still involved in the youth teams, as well, Abbott scored the winning penalty as the Forest B Team won the Premier League International Cup. Sticking with the FA Cup, though, Abbott has revealed that golf legend Woods played a role in his last-minute preparations.
How Tiger Woods videos helped Zach Abbott at Wembley
In what was the biggest occasion of his young career, Abbott benefited from all the help he could get from more experienced members of the Forest squad, as well as those on the touchline.
Speaking to The Athletic about the game, the teenager discussed B Team coach Warren Joyce’s role in his preparation, which included using highlights of the high-pressure career of Woods.
Abbott said: “He [Joyce] told me to watch an interview featuring Tiger Woods’ caddie (Steve Williams). He talked about how he has dealt with all the big shots in his career, in play-offs or in major finals.
“He talked about how he thinks about every single moment that had gone before it and about how it had all been leading up to that moment — and how that was a reward for everything he had done to get to that point. It is about seeing things as an opportunity; an opportunity you have worked for.
“That was my mentality at Wembley. I was thinking about trying to enjoy it, but also about trying to do my job. We were disappointed not to get over the line. But it was a proud moment, and I will have learned a lot from it.
“Trust me, I have seen many, many videos because of him [Joyce], he just enjoys giving us little things to watch that might give us motivation or inspiration. He enjoys things that might instil the idea of what a model professional looks like.”
Joyce looks to be a brilliant mentor for the next generation of Nottingham Forest, and the former Manchester United youth coach has also been speaking to The Athletic about his role at the City Ground.
Warren Joyce on his motivational coaching methods at Forest
Joyce’s work on the training ground with the youth teams is crucial, making sure that they are ready on the pitch but also mentally, to ease the transition to working with the Forest coaching staff in the first team.
On this challenge, Joyce said: “The idea is to get into the first team eventually. So the more pressure situations we can put these players under, the better. We tell them that training for the first team is like preparing for the Olympic Games.
“You might train for four years ahead of it. You have one opportunity to shine. One final. The difference for these young players is that they do not know when their final is.
“Their final might be next week… it might be a few months away. All that matters is that they are ready. That is why we need to provoke and prod them, to make sure they are ready, in every way, for when their chance comes.”
The International Cup triumph on Wednesday night showed that the youngsters are well on track, with the help of Joyce’s multi-faceted developmental skills.
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