On Saturday, March 15th, (Note, this was from 2013 or 2014, not entirely sure) I attended a coaching clinic sponsored by the Bavarian Soccer Club, where I coach.
Since all of the teams I work with are in somewhat of an in-between stage in our year-round season - transitioning from our winter Futsal season into our outdoor spring season - it was nice to spend the early part of the weekend learning from various coaches and interacting with my colleagues.
Our day of coaching education began with a session by our director of coaching, Bob Spielmann. His session was on "Preparing Your Players for Training". He ran his U13 boys team through various team building, technical activities, and small sided games.
He started with a Rock-Paper-Scissors warm up activity where some of the players asked coaches in attendance, including myself, to participate. In this activity, groups of two or three players played Rock-Paper-Scissors around a ball - the winner of which was required to flick the ball to hit the others below the knee. The focus of this activity was to get the players physically and mentally ready for training.
Note: Despite being new to this game, I managed to beat all of my partners soundly. And yes, they were thirteen year-olds!
After a "rondo" activity where the boys played a game of one-touch possession in a tight space, Spielmann took us through a "Brazilian triangle" partner technical activity involving various types of passing and a 2v2 heading activity. He ended his session with a 3v2+1 small sided numbers up game to encourage attacking play and transition.
Our next presenter was Marquette University Men's Soccer coach Louis Bennett, who worked with a U10 boys team. His session was on "Changing the Point of Attack for Various Age Groups", and focused on technical and small-sided tactical development of youth players.
He started with a passing and moving activity, which gradually progressed from simple passes to more complex combinations. He emphasized certain "cues" and communication in the game, such as eye contact, body language, and direction of play.
From here, he moved on to a game to targets, in which the internal players were required to play to the target through gates at the end of the field. Finally, he ended with a game to small goals. His coaching points remained the same throughout the session - focusing on teaching players to read the game and improving what he termed "Soccer IQ".
Perhaps the highlight of the event were two sessions by former USMNT and Kansas City Wizards coach, Bob Gansler.
Gansler began the day with a classroom session, where he talked about trends in soccer, based on his experience.
This post is unfinished, but is also interesting to me, so I will publish it.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Movement...and Counter Movement
Wow, has it really been two years since I last did this?
Last post was published April 13, 2014. During that time, I really wanted to have "guest" coaches on this blog to provide something different from what I was able to do so at the time. I still want this to happen, and hopefully I can find some willing colleagues in my new environment in Des Moines, Iowa.
In the last two years, much has happened. I feel that I have developed so much as a coach, but have also stagnated for periods during this time. I am very optimistic about the changes that have happened for my family (and thus my career) in the past four months or so, and I am excited to continue my development as a soccer coach in the right direction.
I've been thinking about this for some time and watched a video tonight that compelled me to write this. At the highest levels of the game, not only do we see movement of individual players, but also counter movement. Additionally, we see movement as a result of individual movement.
I realize that I am using the word "movement" excessively, but bear with me. There are many layers to work with here.
First, movement into space by an individual player is often to receive the ball or present a passing option. However, a direct movement from point A to point B is easily read and often results in the nearest defender following that player to eliminate him (or her) as a passing option.
It is here where we see a separation from average and good players. An average player will simply run in a straight line toward where he wishes to receive the ball next. However, a good player will often utilize a "counter-movement" (such as checking away and then coming back, or checking to and running into space behind) to lose the defender and create space, no matter how little, to receive the ball with time to turn or take an additional touch if needed.
On top of that, a great player will read his teammate's movement, and quickly provide an additional supporting option for where the ball will be once passed to the initial player, often with a counter-movement of his own.
As the late, great Johan Cruyff said, "What is speed? The sports press often confuses speed with insight. See, if I start running slightly earlier than someone else, I seem faster."
The trick is how to teach players how to read and understand the game at that speed.
Last post was published April 13, 2014. During that time, I really wanted to have "guest" coaches on this blog to provide something different from what I was able to do so at the time. I still want this to happen, and hopefully I can find some willing colleagues in my new environment in Des Moines, Iowa.
In the last two years, much has happened. I feel that I have developed so much as a coach, but have also stagnated for periods during this time. I am very optimistic about the changes that have happened for my family (and thus my career) in the past four months or so, and I am excited to continue my development as a soccer coach in the right direction.
I've been thinking about this for some time and watched a video tonight that compelled me to write this. At the highest levels of the game, not only do we see movement of individual players, but also counter movement. Additionally, we see movement as a result of individual movement.
I realize that I am using the word "movement" excessively, but bear with me. There are many layers to work with here.
First, movement into space by an individual player is often to receive the ball or present a passing option. However, a direct movement from point A to point B is easily read and often results in the nearest defender following that player to eliminate him (or her) as a passing option.
It is here where we see a separation from average and good players. An average player will simply run in a straight line toward where he wishes to receive the ball next. However, a good player will often utilize a "counter-movement" (such as checking away and then coming back, or checking to and running into space behind) to lose the defender and create space, no matter how little, to receive the ball with time to turn or take an additional touch if needed.
On top of that, a great player will read his teammate's movement, and quickly provide an additional supporting option for where the ball will be once passed to the initial player, often with a counter-movement of his own.
As the late, great Johan Cruyff said, "What is speed? The sports press often confuses speed with insight. See, if I start running slightly earlier than someone else, I seem faster."
The trick is how to teach players how to read and understand the game at that speed.
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