Being Efficient, Effective and having Fun at Practice

Practices need to go well for a team to do well, but lets be realistic the kids need to have fun and so does the coach because that is our pay. So plan ahead, use a 3×5 cards if you need be…try to avoid the clipboard or at teh least don’t carry it around. Little kids, big kids get bored easily so we want our practices to flow.

All Practices should use a Progressive Method: drill—>small sided game/pressure drill—->competitive scrimmage …..we really want the game to teach itself, coaches are manipulators to bring the skill to bear where we want them to learn. For example, early in the preseason I have emphasize technique..so my early drills will very basic on that technique such as the angle of attack and setup for a defender, water break (you want to push for conditioning, but do so cautiously….out here it is easy to get heat stroke), now in my age group I use gridwork a lot so that leads in to my next so I may use 2 Off players vs 1 defender in a 10 x 10 square then I may lead this into a 3 vs 2 in the next part, another water break, now I use a scrimmage and let them go play, observe, watch, occasionaly make corrections but mostly let them play and figure it out. You can stop the play to make a coaching point; be brief, say it/demonstrate it, then let it go. We generally want to avoid the 3 L’s (lines, laps, long lectures).

Early in the year, I push more Physical & Technique; as the preseason and season progesses, I work more the Tactical & Mental part.

I cannot say it enough……find things you like, find things they like

Another Misunderstood Call – Handball

A is really a handling of the ball, it is the 2nd most whined about call or lack of call. This is possibly the most subjective of calls a referee can make or not make. The law actually is called handling of the ball; a player usage of an arm to deliberately play the ball….this not the errant ball bounced off the ground and hit a player arm Many referees look for the play just after a touching to determine a player’s culpability, when in truth it is player intent followed by direct contact of the arm. Dang near every ref calls this differently, normally best you can hope for that is called the same way for both side.

The Most Misunderstood Call – Offsides

Easily of the most misunderstood calls; the offside foul. There are plenty of video and tapes describing offside; the essence is preventing an unfair advantage by camping one end of the field. Before arguing, make sure you know the difference of offside position and offside foul; the key you will look for is where are the players involved at the moment of the kick…understand it also takes a long time for a referee to get this skill down, it is not easy even for the AR watching for it, because you have to listen and see at the exact right moment…losing a breakaway is heartbreaking, but you best be advise not to have your forwards pressed hard on the back line of defenders.

Why are you yelling at the ref?

Every league from little kids to the Pros, has arguments and debates on referees..and this probably applies to just about all sports as well.

1) Arguing calls during a match = bad results, every single time. If you  waste your time arguing with the ref, your players will distracted and believe they are being short changed, with your players only having 90 minutes to score and prevent a score..distract them with your tirades, odds are you will lose because you distracted the team’s focus from the game and now onto the ref. Players playing at game speed only need to be off a little for game momentum to change. Referees never change their minds even if you were right and they know you  were right, it will upend the game. Also berating a referee never brings him to your view, odds are if you coach enough you will draw them again…. You can do a few things to be manipulative; I will direct a team captain to inform a referee at break to watch for a particular foul that is re-occurring or generally shout directions to my players which I know is in earshot of referee, e.g. ” keep your shoulder down, your opponent is tackling you to high and off the ball”, choose your words carefully..bottom line, you get what you get and you only have 90 minutes to win, don’t distract your players, I have never seen a match overturn because a call..it is all about keep your players focused and pray you are up 4-0 when you get those simply unforgivable calls occur.

2) The above does not mean you can never question a referee, before a game to get rules clear especially substitutions, after a game if you want an explanation. If a game is particularly bad; you can send a letter to referee administrator detailing a complaint, needs to be very specific (nice if a parent has video taped the game). This will not change your game, but the administrator may observe the referee in question over time then handle it if it a particular problem comes up; this allows the referee to improve as well.

3) Things that limit any argument that you can make; you don’t fully know the laws or how they apply in a situation that just occurred. Ref, take classes, read up, watch film, take into subjectiveness and perspective. Coaching is different than playing, ref point of view is far different, they are on the ball. Refs generally just want a fair played match played, but it won’t be called exactly perfect so don;t expect it to be; ideally you are looking for consistency

4) What calls should you be concerned about…in my book it is about the game changers; the penalty kick….my feelings are that I want that this call to be crystal clear for everyone if the ref is going to change the course of the match, if I do argue during a game it will be at this moment usually…the other calls involve the display of cards, yellow and red; the consequence of cards carry beyond the game nowadays, unfairly I might add. The cards were designed as tool strictly to control the temperament and unfair play during a match, as quoted by Ken Aston who invented the things, he taught 1 of my classes so I have clue here. Most leagues have moved to giving great weights to these things; I understand why because of the emphasis on fair play and good sportsmanship. You can sometimes have rescinded, rarely and if you make a compelling a argument and if you have not alienated said ref…very rarely…Even more rarely, some leagues will allow a DARB hearing over a red card, even more rarely is getting a red card overturned here as simply this point it has to be a clear misapplication of a law. There are very little you can do about penalty kick calls, but with cards it is a different story; 1 of the coaches primarily responsibilities is to manage players during a match; you should be monitoring the match up, the frustration level, the temperament of your players. During the week of practices; my players know my expectations about their behavior, players have 1 opportunity to play and their job is to score or defend not question refs…if they are worried about the referee, their opportunity to play is over and the can sit at the coaching bench..players play, coaches coach no in between here.

5) Lastly prepare yourself for poorly called matches; I coach between 30 to 100 matches a year…some will be called well, some decently enough, some not so good, and a few will just be bordering on criminal…your only defense is find a strategy that ends in success for you in the long term you have only 90 minutes to score and defend no reviews will ever give you the match back..I prefer to steel my players on the reality and focus on the game, I personally I pray I am up 4-0 on those badly called match.

General Points on Coaching

This original design to help coaches develop in AYSO 234; but it is open to anyone involved in coaching. The blog is designed only to bring useful information to one location. In the end all coach will have their own preferences and styles.

4 Elements of Coaching: Technique, Tactic, Physical, Psychological…

Practices will need to contain progression to your point: start simple, demonstrate, work on the technique….next step at practice, run your point in a creative drill, mimic a small game situation……end of practice, run your point in some of match related or pressure related, small sided scrimmage with restrictions e.g. let the Game be the teacher, soccer is about spontaneous decision making

All practices…..should avoid the 3 L’s = Lines, Laps, Long Lectures…..practices should be fun otherwise players will eventually quit playing for you

So where should we start with our season: well soccer is a fundamental sport, you can’t teach tactics till they master techniques

1) Your pre-season will focus on techniques first:

• Striking: the instep drive and the passing strike……players need to strike the ball in a variety situations
• Base 1v1 defense: chase, angle of attack, delay, direct, pressure….highly important for your players to gain this ability
• Dribbling: control and moving the ball by a single player
• Collecting & Receiving: dropping the ball of inside of leg, thigh, ankle, trapping the ball with their foot, collecting the ball with the chest
• Shielding: the ability to protect the ball
• Throw-Ins: basic restart every player needs to know

2) Now that your players have some skills, we can taught to teach tactics; one of the key elements to understand is how soccer differs from American football, the game is created by spontaneous decisions of the player, a coach can not ‘joystick’ the action…it is impossible for a coach to yell out an instruction and have a player react at game speed

Defense vs Offense debate: 2 reasons why defense wins, 1 easier to destroy than to create, 2 you stand a better chance of winning 1-1 games than if you are behind by 4 goals

Defense Individual skill:

• The chase, it applies upfield pressure and slows down the attacker. If your player stands still or gives too much room the defensive fight will be too close to your goal
• The angle of attack, too far upfield the attacker streaks pass, too flat attacker cuts inside and goes to goal, the proper angle force attacker to slow
• Delay: the absolute most difficult part to master, why becuase every parent and many coaches has yelled at their child to get the ball….this a fatal move, after giving chase the defender needs to slow upon arrival, it allows teammates to gain supporting positions….much of soccer circles around patience
• Direct the attacker to the outside palcing defender betwen attacker and goal, the defender can now squeeze the attacker to the sideline using it to cut down exposed space, another defender if you will
• Pressure and destroy the attacker once support is into place, more often than not the attacker will misplay the ball

Defensive Team tactics: after a player gained the immediate skill of defending, we need to add the rest to the mix……Principles of defense; delay, depth, balance, concentration, restraint

After defender 1 slows attacker, 2nd and 3rd defenders must come quickly and take up positions, a basic switch needs to be taught—> essentially defender 1 breaks down, 2nd defender takes his spot ,defender 1 now recovers and backs up his teammate, this cuts down any exposed space, now the rest team can balance itself and add numbers to the area with the ball in order to safely win possession. Impatience at any point form the single defender diving in for the ball to an over agressive sweeper while occasionally successful will generally give up a lead attack onto the keeper

Overall tactics: 3-4-3,  4-4-2, or 4-3-3 …….are various schemes, in the end choose the one suits your players, fit the players not your wants. I use 4-4-2 80%-90% of the time; why, because I prefer good defense and good transition…sometimes I use 4-3-3 if I want more offense, short field, 1 very good inside mid, why don’t I use  the 3-4-3..in part you better have 3 stud defenders to make it work, this is a lot of pressure on the back..it takes 3 defenders with speed, patience and skill to fight off breakaways and crosses. Give good attackers space to work is like giving Michelangelo paint and canvas or watch most any Brazil game.

Offense Skills Individually: Urban myth needs to dispelled here, you can have too much passing…players need to be mentally strong and fearless on offense, don’t second guess them, try to be constructive to get them to make better decisions, no such thing as a bad shot just one with a low percentage. Successful passes have ball go to  A to B as intended, but it may not be a good pass…..what..why..a good pass is defined as need, successful pass, exposure of space….an attacker passing the ball too early allows defenders to play back and keep shape, attackers need to penetrate (essentially dribble till they out of options, not uncommon for my sweepers to have 3 goals and 4 assist a season), make defenders move, now attacker out of room, a pass can be made to safety to keep possession or played to another attacker who has found space to play (cinda like hitting a triple here), a pass that has found an exposed space, space form which a attacker can be dangerous

Principles of Attack: Penetration, Width, Depth, Mobility/improvisation

• Penetration is generally accomplished by dribbling: makes defenders break shape
• Width creates decisions for defender and options for attacker
• Depth…more the better, Brazil is known for fancy footwork but look at teh attacking 3rd and you will see 6 people hustling and moving
• Mobility…teammates need to move off the ball looking for the position to help, tying to expose space, cover backdoor etc..

Some various points to work, encourage dribbling (we severely lack this in Amersican soccer), work shooting into your drills any way you can (let them score),

Shooting …teach them how to shoot low and across the goal, the perfect practice shot is about 45 degress out from the far post to wherever the player leg strength can hit, this a low line drive, why this angle…the keeper covers the shooters side leving keeper/post/out of play, shooting at far post leaves back of of net/post/teamates on cross, low becuase it keeps those 3 points plays down which won’t help us and low shots keeps the bal in play in a dangerous play

Crossing shots: absolute must…players must cover the backside, most goals are scored on rebounds and crosses