Coach Development

Coach Development

Each week our Coaching Co-ordinator, Jim Bakirtzidis, will include tips for coaches. Check back here weekly to see the latest tips.

Week 4/5 - 6/13 April

Soccer Defending - Concepts for Younger Players

When teaching defending to developing soccer players we should keep two things in mind. There is the “concept of defending” and the “skills of defending”. We will take a brief look at some of the concepts and thoughts.

While we don’t want to start teaching 9 year olds about the thirds of the field, it does help expose them to the theory that we act or behave differently in these areas. A simple explanation about the field being three parts is good enough for any age.

The defensive third has its own set of rules. We should follow the rules at all times.

Rule 1: We are not trying to win the ball; we are trying to protect the goal.

Defenders often get “beaten” because they STAB or reach in trying to win the ball from an attacker. Our goal should to be a nuisance that stays in the way of an attacker and never gives them a clear shot or passage to the goal. Keep space and leave room. This is known as jockeying. It is fine to be aggressive in their zone, but in ours we want to be safe.

Rule 2: Every pass we make is 100%.

We never make a pass that has ANY chance of being intercepted by the offense in the defensive third. Often you will see a defender pass back to a keeper. Most of the time this is due to the fact he does not have a 100% options. Our passes need to be firm and TOTALLY away from any other player on the team. If no safe pass is present, clear the ball out into the middle or attacking zone.

Rule 3: Don’t try and do it yourself. Have you ever seen a great defender chasing a ball near his sidelines and he simply kicks the ball out of play? There is a reason for this. If he is all alone and knows that pressure is coming from the other team, he has no other SAFE option but to kick the ball out, stop the play and give his teammates time to come down and help.

If he were to stop and turn the ball there is a good chance he will have a created a 1 v1 and a good chance he will lose. If you feel all alone, clear the ball or stop the play. Help will arrive shortly.

Rule 4: Who is pressure and who is cover?

When a player attacks in our zone and we have 2 or more defenders, one player is the pressure player. That player puts close on pressure and becomes the nuisance.

The other player(s) stay back and wait for the pressure man to be beaten or the attacker to pass. Too often both defenders become pressure, which is an easy way to get beaten and leaves a straight line to the goal.

Rule 5: The sidelines are your friends.

Pressure can come from anywhere on the field except for one place, off the field. Unless you have a parent that decides to “jump in and play” you have eliminated an avenue of pressure by using the sidelines. You can always shield the ball and work it up the field. Getting caught in the middle of the field, battling it out is not what we want our defenders to do.

These are five simple rules that if shown through visual setups on a small field, will often stick with younger players for the rest of their lives.

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Week 3 - 30 March 2009

How to Make "Fixed" Positions Work

The ideal format in which to teach fundamental principles of offensive/defensive support is 3v3 or 4v4 soccer, and to use the basic principles of offensive and defensive positioning to introduce players to the concept of "positions". However, many coaches will find that their new team is playing 7v7, 8v8 or 9v9 soccer - even though their players lack the fundamental background and skills to be able to handle the complex decisions presented by such a large group.

Furthermore, many coaches will discover that their opponents rely on 2-3 big/fast players to dominate the game; relegate 2-3 slow/small players to the job of guarding the goal; and tell everyone else to just feed the ball to Johnny or Timmy if it comes to them. And, worse yet, these teams win lots of games - so it is likely that some parents will mount a campaign to take this same approach (especially if they see their own child as a potential superstar)!

As a result, one of your first tasks as a coach may be to explain to your parents that such coaches are merely using these players to feed their own egos - and are not doing any favours to any of their players. Over time, most of the non-superstars will quit soccer because of lack of fun (and those who want to stay in soccer will not have developed the skills which they needed to be successful, since they only got to touch the ball maybe 3-4 times in the entire game). Even the superstars are likely to face problems in the long haul, both from an emotional standpoint (when they finally face real competition from other stars) and from a skills standpoint (since they usually do not know how to pass or defend, and only know how to dribble/shoot).

But, unless you have solid credentials as a coach, many parents and players may start questioning your abilities if your team starts losing its games by big margins. And, your job of player development may be complicated by the fact that your team is blessed with at least 1-2 players who have little athletic talent/interest, or who have physical/mental impairments which make learning more challenging (so it is unlikely that these kids will become soccer players even if you spent every waking hour on the task). Sometimes, the kids on the team may have lots of overall athletic talent, but may be smaller/younger than average and cannot expect to win footraces or pushing contests with kids who are one foot taller and 50 pounds heavier, so you may have to face the reality that short-term wins are very unlikely, no matter what you do.

When you are facing these types of predicaments, it may become necessary to use some initial positioning assignments just to buy the time needed to work on the basic skills of the core group of players (bearing in mind that it may take 2 or more seasons to accomplish this). Here are some suggestions.

For the first few games at least, consider putting your best players on defence. While you probably will not score, at least you will avoid getting quite as badly clobbered. As quickly as you can, try to develop a few promising players to work in as wing defenders (which will allow you to rotate your more seasoned players into the central midfield or even into a forward role). It is generally considered that the hardest job on the field is sweeper (or central defender, if no sweeper); the second hardest is centre midfield and central defender (with a sweeper behind him), followed by centre forward, left defender, left mid, right forward, right defender, left forward, and right midfielder. Typically, for weaker or less-talented players, it is conventional wisdom to put them in one of the easier positions and sandwich them between two solid players (so that there is good cover if they run into problems).

Having started out with assigning players to particular positions in a formation, it may be difficult to try to abandon the positional approach later. All is not lost, however.

Why? Because you will set positional rules which allow maximum flexibility to participate in the play. For example, those players who are assigned to act as wing defenders will be given positional "rules" to cover the opposing attackers - but they will not have their feet nailed to the midline. Instead, they will be permitted to follow the opposing attackers anywhere (so, if their mark drops back to his own PA to try to get the ball, your defender will be on his heels trying to steal it back and put it in the net). Similarly, the sweeper will act like a trailing Ball Eater (and play around 10-15 yards off of his wing Ds - so he also can become a goal-scorer). Your centre mid will be assigned to act as the fill-in for the sweeper, and assigned to drop back to cover if the sweeper goes to goal. Other players will also be given support duties for the players beside, in front of, and behind them.

Additionally, you will create a plan to train your players so that, over the course of 1-2 seasons, most will be able to play in any position on the field. Finally, you will spend considerable time teaching the fundamental principles of support and defence (as well as the skills at their foundation). As a result, as your players gain the knowledge and skill to apply these principles, their "positions" ultimately will serve more as guidelines for their major area of responsibility while they are in this particular relative space.

What initial formation should you choose? The basic decisions involved in choosing formations are covered in the Advanced section, along with a discussion of various common types of formations. However, regardless of the formation which is chosen, you must remember that your ultimate goal is to develop every player to the point where he can do any job on the field with reasonable competence and that, to reach this goal, each player MUST know the basic principles of offensive and defensive support.

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Week 2 - 23 March 2009

Youth Soccer Coaching - A One Page Guide

What are you trying to do?

It is comparatively easy to construct a team of young soccer players who can win matches. All you have to do is teach them the basics, ensure they obey your instructions to the letter and (most importantly) don't let them think for themselves.

However, it is better to:

a) encourage your players to recognize and solve the challenges of the game on their own and

b) be as concerned with developing their life skills as their footballing ability.

Following such a policy will, in the short term, mean that you will lose matches that you could have won. However, in the long term you will produce a set of clever, confident players who can go out and win a game without being told what to do.

And more importantly, they will enjoy their soccer regardless of the match result.

Do I need any special attributes to be a good youth soccer coach?

Of vital importance is the coaches personality and character. Working with children requires patience, kindness and respect.

How should I go about it?

The most fundamental skill in soccer is individual mastery of the football and the creativity that comes with it. This should be a priority in training and games, especially in the early years. As this skill is mastered, the rest of the game becomes easy - both to teach and to learn.

Practices should be built around facilitating the development of the skills necessary to move and control the ball well. As these individual skills and the creativity to make them come alive in the game are developed to a level of competence, the finer points, first of passing skill and later of team organisation can be taught. You need a plan.

Some tips:

1) Set up situations where the players can learn by playing the game. Avoid the three Ls - lines, laps and lectures - and remember that the game is the best teacher for young players.

2) Communication is key. Coaches can often be more helpful to a young player's development by organizing less, saying less and allowing the players to do more. Set up a game and let the kids play. Keep most of your comments for before and after practice and during breaks. Comments should be kept short and simple. Be comfortable organizing a session that looks like street soccer. Communicate your coaching philosophy and expectations to parents and players at an early stage.

3) Teaching and learning the game of soccer is a process: make your goals seasonal, as well as daily and weekly. Often, at the younger ages, the developmental efforts of one season are not noticeable in children until sometime in the next season.

4) Set age-appropriate goals i.e., know what the child is able to do at that age.

5) From a developmental standpoint, the young ages are the best ones for learning skills. Spend the time now encouraging this growth. By the age of 17 the capacity to pick up new motor skills begins to wane, while the ability to conceptualize team organization, tactics and strategy increases. As a coach, work with these strengths, not against them.

6) Do not expect games and practices to look like professional soccer. If you want to use high level soccer as a teaching tool, focus on the individual skill level of professional players, not their organization. Give your players opportunities to see what older, more skilled players, i.e. a high school, college player or an older brother or sister, can do with the ball. On occasion, invite some of these players to participate in your practice. Use them to model good soccer qualities. Let your players learn by experiencing the game alongside or against these better players. Older players can also be used as "neutral players." In this case, the neutral player helps whichever team has the ball i.e. he or she never defends. Maybe the neutral player has limited touches and/or can't score, but he or she gives the team with the ball a better chance of keeping the ball. By helping to maintain possession, the neutral player(s) helps the game maintain some rhythm, and gives the kids a clearer picture of the game's possibilities.

7) Recognize and understand how the skills learned at each age are connected to preparing the player to move into the next phase of his or her development. Know what the next level of play is, and the general tools that your players should carry with them as they move on. Help them to be prepared.

8) Allow your players to develop these requisite skills in an environment where the main goal is to have fun with the ball.

9) The value of matches is that they provide youngsters with an opportunity to showcase their newly acquired skill and creativity. It is always nice to win, however that should not be your focus at the younger age groups.

10) Have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish at practice. Create exercises/games that replicate and repeat the movements and situations that are found in soccer and that allow the player to grow comfortable and confident with the ball at his or her feet. Encourage players to move with the ball at his his or her feet and deal with boundaries, opponents, teammates and goals. Keep in mind that soccer is a pretty simple game. If you're involved in soccer long enough, you begin to realize that all the many little that work are really just variations on the same basic concepts. As long as the parameters that you have established in your exercises/small-sided games are true to soccer (goals for scoring and defending), creates the problems that you want the kids to solve (protecting the ball while dribbling, etc.), and allows your players to be challenged and find some success, you're on the right track.

11) Don't be afraid to experiment to find what works best.

12) Remember that the game is the best teacher for the players. Coaches and parents should think of themselves more as facilitators, monitors, guides or even participants, to provide a rich environment for the kids to learn from and enjoy. Your coaching style is important.

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Week 1 - 16 March 2009

Coaching the Swarm - A Guide to Teaching Formations and Positional "Sense"

Most teams (and new coaches) are thrown into games after just a few practices - well before the coach has had any real chance to teach the players anything. Thus, new coaches often feel intense pressure to "perform" and may take early losses personally. This is silly - and it is important to address this issue with the parents and players at the start of the season. The first few games simply show the skills (if any), which the kids had been taught by any prior coaches - and show their natural athletic talent (if any).

So, the last thing on the mind of a new coach should be concern about early wins. Instead, the focus properly should be on long-term skill development. When this happens, the wins have a way of coming to the most skilled team on the field. Aha, but how does a new coach who knows nothing about soccer get these kids trained and organized, so that they will be the most skilled? The first thing is to use the natural instincts of the players to your best advantage, while working on improving those instincts/skills.

If young children are put onto a field with a soccer ball, divided into teams, and just told to use their feet to kick the ball into the goal of the opponent, they will instinctively play "swarm ball" (or "magnet ball" or take the "beehive approach to soccer"). Why? Because they all like to be together and to stay where the action is.

Is the swarm a "bad" thing? Not really. The swarm actually tends to be very effective at shutting down attacks by an opponent - at least until the opponent has learned to spread out on its attacks and has developed the skill to accurately pass the ball to open players. Kids adjust automatically as the swarm becomes less effective, so the size of the swarm becomes smaller over time - even without coaching intervention. In the meantime, there is no harm whatsoever in swarming an opponent when it gets the ball, if the opponent does not have the skill/sense to use the available field space to move the ball around your players.

Thus, the trick is to get your players to learn to spread out on attacks, and to learn to make quick passes to get rid of the ball before they can be swarmed. Simple keepaway games are one of the best tools available to show players that it is easier to keep the ball away from the other team if you spread out. But, before players can be successful at keepaway, they will need to be introduced to basic passing and basic shielding/ball- control. Obviously, no player can hope to move the ball around successfully until he has basic ball control skills, including the ability to stop or slow down/redirect a ball sent to him, shield the ball with his body/feet to keep it from being stolen, get his head up long enough to find an open target, and then have the skill to pass it with reasonable accuracy. Thus, the very first job of the coach is to develop these essential building blocks - as players simply cannot hope to be successful without them. Check out the Practice Plans section for practices which will help develop these skills.

So, what are you going to do while you are developing these basic skills - especially when your first game is next weekend? The first thing which you probably will be tempted to do is to assign fixed positions on the field in order to increase your scoring chances and minimize the risks of counter-attacks (and then to prod/cajole/fuss until the players stay in those positions). You need to avoid this temptation - at least until you understand the risks inherent in fixed positioning. Before addressing how to handle this issue, it is critical that you know the risks involved.

Even though some very good coaches do use positions as a temporary tool to help players to make decisions until they learn fundamental offensive and defensive skills and learn the principles of defensive/offensive support, they are very careful in how they use these tools. As a result, they set positional "rules" to coincide/complement fundamental offensive/defensive support principles, and regularly rotate players through all parts of the field so that they gain experience in applying these principles. Why? Because soccer is a fluid game - and the ultimate goal of any good coach is to develop players with enough knowledge, skill and flexibility to play "positionless" soccer.

Of course, as the age and skill of players increases, it will become clear that some players are better ball-winners than others, while others are better scorers. As a result, by high school age, it is likely that a player will "specialize" in one or two particular areas of the field which best suit his talents. At this stage, coaches will pay greater attention to adopting a formation and style of play which capitalizes on the special skills/talents available, while masking any weaknesses. Even at this age, however, coaches must be mindful of their obligation to work on correcting those weaknesses, instead of merely trying to cover them up.

Tips courtesy of Footy4Kids UK

Last updated: 12 March 2010