Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer News, Soccer Team Management | Tags: motivation, coach education, people coaching
As we develop as coaches we should be constantly aware of what is going on in our sport around the world. In some countries parents are now deciding which sport their children should participate in on the quality of the coaching they will get.
This is catching on in a lot of countries and you can expect it to happen in your neighbourhood soon. Not necessarily the sport they choose but the team they choose. If the coach isn’t up to leading the ‘people’ side of the sport then they will go somewhere else.
Bo Hanson is a four-time Olympian and a sports consultant for Athlete Assessments. He has just returned from a 2-month tour of the USA and Australia. According to him one recurring theme kept popping up…there is a growing war for talent across sports, vying for the best athletes, coaches and referees.
“Only those sports focused on attracting, engaging and retaining their talent grow and prosper. Sport is no longer just about technique and fitness. Progressive sports are those that can manage and lead the ‘people side’ effectively and that parents will choose for their children.” Hanson says.
Australian Football has over 720 000 participants and recruiting and retaining not only coaches, but also referees has become another major challenge. The demand for referee appointments is growing at 89% pa yet the number of actual referees is only increasing by 13% pa. Around one quarter of referees drop out each year due to abuse from players, coaches, parents and fans. Without referees and umpires, sport cannot be played and cannot grow.
Hanson says, “The AFL is promoting the fact that coaches are a key selection criteria for young athletes in choosing which sport to play.”
If a sport is to grow, a large part of that growth relies on the skills and characteristics of their coaches.
Here at Better Soccer Coaching we are educating our coaches in skills and techniques but we are also helping to improve their non-technical skills to enable them to be better leaders and people managers. In my own Soccer Coach Weekly publication I write two columns designed to help this – The Art of Coaching Children and Touchline Tales.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management | Tags: battyeford, losing 15-0, respect your opponents, winning 15-0
Guest Blog
By Mark Bickerdike, Battyeford under 11s
The Battyeford U11s squad
I’ve been reading Dave’s recent comments on respecting your opponents when you are winning by a big score.
Having recently been on the wrong end of a heavy defeat (albeit in an adult match) the worst feeling was when the other team changed their style to accommodate our ineptitude, it felt like they were just taking the mickey.
By telling them to pass and pass and pass before shooting or shooting with your wrong foot I feel it shows at best pity and at worst disrespect to the other team.
Our team recently got beaten 7-0 (and we were lucky to get nil) but the thing that I wanted out of my under 11’s was the ability to keep playing, not to let their heads go down, to keep their positional shape and above all realise that some teams are better than us, lose with grace, take the positives out of the game and move on, all of which they did.
The week after we drew one each with the team at the top of the table and the week after we won a game 15-0.
Now I know losing 15-0 hurts (I know because I’ve been there) but the last thing I wanted to do is to disrespect their team or coach by somehow telling my boys to ‘hold back’. I wanted them to do exactly what I told them to do when we were losing 7- 0 and that is to keep trying their best, keep their positional shape and to do all the things we worked on in practice, but above all not to get ‘cocky’, to win with grace and not to show disrespect, to enjoy the win but realise that not all games will be so one sided, take the positives out of the game and move on.
The fact of the matter is that winning or losing, whether by one goal or 15, is all part of football and all aspects need to be experienced in order to gain a full knowledge of what the game is about.
Nobody likes to lose and everybody likes to win, the trick is to learn from both experiences.
The next time we played the team who beat us 7-0, we started really well and went 1-0 up with only ten men against 11. We were completely bossing the game but were pegged back to 1-1 at half time. Second half whether through tiredness or a bad half-time team talk we completely capitulated and lost 10-1.
I’m sure we’ve all had games like that, but it did give me a chance to let the guys compare how they felt after winning well to losing badly. We’ve gone on to win all our league games since and are up to third in the league.
It’s also worth remembering that the boys and girls probably don’t beat themselves up over a defeat like the coaches do, many a time after a loss I’ll be walking miserably back to the car dissecting the game and wondering what we could have done differently and my son will look at me with a smile on his face and say “Can I have a chocolate bar?”, like nothing matters in the world.
It is, as they say, only a game.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: motivation, Manchester United, Leeds United, jermaine beckford, fa cup, michael jordan
By David Clarke
Motivation was in the forefront of my mind this month. Watching a player from a lower league who has attracted the attentions of a number of high profile Premier League clubs made me wonder what motivated him.
The English leagues have a transfer window during January. It just so happened that the club he plays for was drawn against one of the top Premier League teams and he was going to be in the shop window on TV. During that game the player excelled scoring the winning goal and pulling the Premier League defence all over the pitch.
The national press picked up on this and highlighted why this player would make it in the Premier League. They have never seen him play week in and week out when he doesn’t fancy the pitch or the team or there’s no one watching in the stands.
He is motivated by the challenge of playing at a higher level with a higher profile and a higher salary. When the transfer window closed again he played against a team from the Premier League but this time there was no winning goal in fact no goal at all, and hardly a shot.
One of the reasons he gets so many chances to score goals is that behind him supporting him he has a quartet of excellent players. One who can win the ball, hold it up, knock it down and take the defenders away from him. Then there is the clever winger who can beat players get into the penalty area and cross the ball. Finally there are two midfielders who can play long or short passes to put the attacker in space.
He gets the goals and the kudos that goes with it hence the motivation from a higher challenge. So how do you motivate the players that comprise the engine room of the team who create but don’t score the goals what kudos do they get?
Here are my tips for motivating all your players, you need to think about:
The way you communicate – with the right approach and by using positive language you’ll get enthusiasm and positive action – from yourself and those you coach.
Various coaching methods enhance the motivation levels within soccer training sessions and during matches, including goal setting, rewarding positive outcomes and involving players in the planning process.
Allowing and encouraging players to take responsibility for their own behaviour and performance outcomes has a significant impact.
Involving players in the design of soccer training sessions and programmes is a key step to increasing loyalty, commitment and ownership.
Remember it’s not just the goal scorer that wins the game.
Listen to this clip from Michael Jordan about winning and losing:
And watch Manchester United lose to a lower league team:
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training, Uncategorized | Tags: drills for both feet, left foot, right foot, two footed
Watching my left winger playing in the U9s at the weekend, he beat a player and moved into the penalty area, the ball was perfect for a right foot shot, but he tried to turn it back on to his left foot and all the hard work he had done to get in to the penalty area and set himself up was lost.
It’s a great thing at this age to have a left footed player because it means your forward line is very well-balanced and playing down both wings is made much easier without having to play a right footed player on the left wing like most teams have to do – so I’m not complaining!
You also have to remember he is only 8-years-old so there’s plenty of time for him to learn.
I find that easy drills with both feet are the best way to ease these young players in to using both feet and I found the one in the clip below to work well with my younger players:
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Training, Uncategorized | Tags: best striker, Chelsea, Drogba, striker drills, surrey, training ground
Chelsea’s amazing striker Didier Drogba has the ability to barge his way through any defence in the world, whether he is playing against a Premier League club or for Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations.
What you see in Drogba is power and determination to get to goal. There are some great strikers around the world but I don’t think I have ever witnessed a more powerful player than Drogba.
His ability to hold on to the ball under pressure and knock defenders away is second to none. Then he has a powerful shot at the end of it.
The work Drogba puts in on the training ground is the secret of his success. He uses exercises like the one above to fine tune his balance and power. If you are going to turn your young players in to potential Drogbas you have to do something similar with your players.
Try this:
Your player must dribble in and out of the coaching poles, go around either side of the cone, by selling a dummy or skill move and follow up with a shot on goal.
In diagram two the player must do the same movement but beat the goalkeeper at the end.
In diagram three the player must do the same movement but beat a real defender and then the goalkeeper.
He obviously has a lot of natural ability but he also puts in a good deal of hard work to give him his striking power. Watch these clips from Chelsea’s training ground you will see what he gets up to in order to make himself one of the world’s best strikers:
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Training | Tags: drills, exercise, movement, one touch, passing, touch, two touch
Getting players to repeat things is a good way to get them to sink in. But it’s important that there is a technique or tactic involved in what they are doing. In the exercise here players can use one touch or two touch, but both need not just good technique but clever movement off the ball.
Passing is the key to any match, if you can out pass your opponents the team has a headstart on winning the game.
Any exercise relies on the coach to guide his or her players in the exercise they are doing. So good touch and good movement to the ball is an essential part of any passing exercise
I use this constant passing game as a good starting point in developing passing and movement for individuals and teams:
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: Barcelona, corner, goal, skills, xavi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
How often do you get to grounds with wide pitches and your corner taker can’t reach the middle of the penalty area so you watch corner after corner go to waste?
Tactics go out of the window as your players try to kick the ball harder but just cannot reach their team mates.
I’ve coached my team to use a near post tactic which catches the defenders off guard and creates goal scoring opportunities in front of goal.
1. The corner taker plays a quick ball into the player on the near post along the ground.
2. The receiver moves towards the ball to get it.
3. He plays the ball back to the corner taker who has moved to the edge of the penalty area.
4. The ball is played to the edge of the D where one of your midfielders has moved into position.
Isolate the defender with quick movement
Diagram 2 shows a close up of the initial move. The corner taker and two receivers have moved quickly so the circled defender is isolated in no man’s land. Players are moving to the ball and must be quick to control and pass.
The other attackers pull defenders away
Diagram 3 shows how the defenders have moved to cover the attackers they expect the ball to be played to. The two circled attackers have not only pulled the defenders away opening up a route to goal from the penalty area, they are also in the perfect position to score from any rebounds.
Watch the highlights from Barcelona versus Sporting Gijon and see how often Barcelona attack the near post. Their first two goals come from corners played towards the near post or the front part of the penalty area. They don’t cross deep first time it usually goes short first.
The highlights also show some wonderful skills and it in HD so worth taking a look at:
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management | Tags: funny goal kicks, goal kicks, goalkeeper kicks, player on the line, stop scoring from goal kicks
By David Clarke
Writing for my Touchline Tales column in Soccer Coach Weekly I was reminded of an incident which happened to a fellow coach.
A coach I was corresponding with has asked for advice, his problem he says is that “sometimes it’s better when my team gives away a corner rather than a goal-kick because we give the ball away and end up letting soft goals in”.
In 7-a-side matches, junior teams find it hard to clear the ball at goal-kicks, often resulting in the ball going straight to the opposition, who shoot straight away and end up scoring with the goalkeeper stranded.
However, I like my goalkeepers to take goal-kicks, because it is part of the responsibility they have to take on. Sometimes it will be the only time they kick the ball.
During last season I went to watch one of the other teams who I had not seen during the season play. The coach of our team was looking glum. I asked him what was wrong and he told me that the team were 3-0 down after 15 minutes all resulting from the goalkeeper kicking the ball straight to the opposition and being returned into the empty net.
“I’d let someone else take it but he’s the best kicker,” he told me. I explained that I too had experienced this problem and our solution had been to put a defender on the line at goalkicks in case the ball went straight to the opposition attackers.
Not only did this give us a chance to stop the ball but it also gave our goalkeepers the confidence to kick, and they usually kicked much better with this added security of a player on the line.
What I have also found useful with this tactic is that when you go to 11-a-side the players who have been on the line become excellent line clearers at corners and free-kicks. Of course they can no longer stand on the line at goal-kicks but the art they have learnt can be put to use in other ways.
Back at the game the coach of the U9s decided he would try the tactic in the second half. I reminded him to impress upon the goal-line defender that he mustn’t use his hands or he will give away a penalty. I told him to tell the defender on the line to advance towards the attacker to cut down the angle and make it harder for him to hit the back of the net.
In the second half the team tried the tactic out and they did notice a huge difference. Now if the opposition striker got the ball straight from the goal-kick he couldn’t just kick it straight back into the net, he had to think about what he was going to do to beat the defender on the line. It also gave more time for the goalkeeper to get back to the goal and be ready for a shot.
The coach said he would be practising at training and definitely use it from now on in the matches he played.
Here’s how he can coach his players:
Practice in your training sessions
Players: Goalkeeper, two attackers and your goalline defender.
Where: Use the goalmouth on your pitch making it as realistic as possible.
Aims: Goalkeeper kicks out and the two attackers win it and advance on the goal. Your goalline defender must advance towards them at speed and so must your goalkeeper. You’ll be amazed at the number of times the attackers miss or shoot straight at your goalline defender.
Here’s a clip that may stir a few memories…
Even the professionals get it wrong…
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Team Management | Tags: inspirational speech, motivational speech, talking to players, the tale of the carpenter
Many junior teams are lucky enough to have more than one coach.
Sometimes parents will take a proactive semi assistant role. But there are inherent dangers – lots of well meaning comments can confuse the overall message.
Coming from different voices, most of whom have at least some implied authority, means a player can be under several influences and may even shut out the key messages.
Before each session, it is important to agree who is leading each section of the practice. Then decide who is going to talk, when and most vitally what is going to be said.
The “corporate” language of how a skill or strategy is to be performed must come as a constant – even if a coach does not agree with what the others are saying. As the session progresses, the lead coach can turn to other coaches for specific comments.
Otherwise, the other coaches purely encourage or reiterate. More difficult is the “one voice, one message” with sideline parents.
It is a brave coach who faces the parents over the corporate view, especially when a particular parent is perhaps telling their sibling to perform differently. The Soccer Coach Weekly strategy is to take the practice as far away from the parents as possible!
I like this speech which explains what a young player has to put in to get what they want from the sport. It uses the tale of the carpenter to illustrate the point – it’s a nice tale so sit back and listen and learn:
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer News, Soccer Skills, Soccer Training, Uncategorized | Tags: bar football, coaching, skills, snow
With all the snow around and very, very short training sessions – short passing exercises on flattened snow! – I’ve been brushing up my bar football skills so I’m not losing every time to my eldest son.
I came across this technique in the clip below. Bet none of you can do it!
