Wednesday, February 26, 2014

3 Most common mistakes first time soccer coaches make and how to avoid them

If you are new to world of soccer coaching and the challenge feels daunting then here’s some great advice on some of the most common mistakes and the steps required to avoid them.


1. Planning
Choose drills that are fun. All kids need to have fun otherwise you will loose their attention quickly. If you choose drills that are fun then the players will focus allowing you the coach to concentrate on teaching.  One of the greatest skills that a coach of young soccer players can develop is how to create fun, engaging activities that allow the players to learn and develop at the same time.

2. Over-coaching
Over-coaching means talking too much or in the wrong place. Trying to do too many drills or moving on too quickly. Don’t try to put too much into each session. You will often find that drills go on longer than intended. A good idea would be to have a buffer in place. For example an extension of a drill that can be skipped or included depending on whether or not the session is running to schedule.

One observation that I often see with coaches of very young players is that they talk too long.  Training sessions should be about the players playing and developing skills, not sitting in a circle on the ground with long conversations by the coach.  Additionally, spending only a few minutes speaking with the players before the game at at halftime and keep focus to 3 points.  Too much talking and addressing too many ideas can be overload to young players.  You will keep their focus and attention with brief, concise conversations better than long talks.

3. Focus
Finally focus. Remember that you are a development/youth level coach. It is therefore key that the players are developing each session. Even if the team isn't winning its important that the players can identify progress in their game and overall ability. Structure training sessions and the activities in each session to progress through a particular theme.  This keeps the players focus on one topic and allows you as the coach to focus on key coaching points over a 90 minute period of time.  

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Hello Coaches,

Here are some thoughts and ideas for a U7/8 training session with multiple activities that use the same training grid for the first part of the session.  I highly recommend that you allow the players the opportunity at every training session to just play (20+ minutes) with very little coaching.  Let them have fun and see if they can utilize some of the ideas and focus in the game phase that you work to teach them in the teaching phase of the session.


The first activity is essentially a square grid, either 10x10 or 15x15.  Use your best judgement on the size as you can always adjust it as you go along.  Have each player inside the grid with a ball with the coach on the perimeter driving the moments and activities.

  1. Start with players killing the ball (stopping with the sole of their foot) and then restarting their dribble.
  2. Next have the players "Kill the ball" and then move in the opposite direction.
  3. I use the explode command as well to get the players moving more actively.  When the coach calls explode, the players "Kill the ball" then must explode outside of the grid and then back to their ball.
  4. Finally, the coach can call "Switch" with the players killing the ball and then switching balls with a team mate.
There are countless different activities that you can have your players do in a similar setup.  Examples are you can have the players touch body parts to the ball, after killing the ball (butt, head, elbow).  Players can "kill the ball" then run a quick circle around the ball, players can "kill the ball" then hop over the ball.  You can incorporate specific turns, changes in direction, tag activities just to name a few.  Be creative and vary it up with your players over the course of the season.

This next activity can use the exact same grid you used in the first activity, but with the addition of many gate goals.  If you are able, ensure that you have 2 more gate goals than you have players.  If you want to make it more game-like for your players, divide the players into two teams before you begin.  

Start with having the players dribbling through as many gate goals in 30 seconds.  This gets the players acclimated to the space and activity before you give them additional constraints.  You can add up all of the gates that one team made it through compared to another.  Variations on dribbling through the gates are to have players dribble through a gate and make a circle around one of the cones.  or have a player dribble through a gate, then turn around and dribble through the same gate in the opposite direction.  You can also have the players dribble up to the gate, "kill the ball" (leaving the ball in front of the gate) the player must then run through the gate and then come back to collect his/her ball.  Again, there are many different variations that you can use and be creative for the players to remain engaged and active.

One last activity that you can use with the same space, before just allowing the players to play 4v4 is a 2v2 game.  Using the same grid, create 2 very wide gate goals on each side of the grid.  Divide the two teams of players as shown with the coach on one side with all of the balls.  The coach starts the activity by playing a ball to a pair of players.  The team then tries to dribble through either gate goal with possession of their dribble.  If the defending pair wins the ball, they can then dribble through the 2 gate goals on the opposite side for a goal.





Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Session - Technical Passing and Receiving

Hello Coaches,

Throughout the season, I will be updating this blog with information to serve as a resource for you as the season progresses.  With this week being the start of the season, I have added a complete session from Tracie Foels, one of my assistants, entitled Technical Passing and Receiving.  You can find this session on the left side of the blog in the "Complete Sessions" tab.  Please note, that this session was designed for 11v11 teams with up to 16 players, but please have a look and modify/adapt as necessary for your teams and age groups.  For example, if you have a roster of 12, use 4 lines on the outside of the grid (instead of 8) and then play 4v4 in the middle with 4 support players on the outside throughout the progressions.

Session-Technical Passing and Receiving