Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: attack, challenges, coaching, communication, defend, development
How do you get and keep your players’ attention in training? One way to ensure this is to ask questions of your players to check they are listening. And rather than just do this through verbal means, why not create challenges? Not only does this reveal to you how well certain elements have been understood, but practical play is a great way of cementing ideas in the minds of the players too.
Why challenge?
1. The answer needs some thought from the respondent, allowing the questioner to effectively gauge their level of understanding
2. Asking a player ‘an open question’ helps to reinforce learning, and the learning of the other players around him. A ‘yes/no’ question requires virtually no effort from a player. He’ll brush it off and you’ll be left with nowhere to go!
3. And answers to open questions give you immediate feedback on the player’s understanding of a technique, skill or situation
Before you head to training, think about some of the situations that will crop up. By anticipating what may happen during the session it will help you plan in advance the challenges you want to set and the sort of questions you might ask.
Examples of challenges
- In a counter-attack session, develop a scoring chance within three passes of gaining possession.
- When running with the ball or dribbling, challenge a player to attack and shoot without using his team mates.
- In team sessions, instruct that the player who starts the attack must pass the ball on and receive it back before a goal can be scored
Examples of questions to follow
- What did you do as an individual (or group) to successfully penetrate the defence with three passes?
- What did you do as an individual to keep the ball and get past your opponents? What did you do if you lost the ball?
- In the team session, what factors influence your choice of action? How can you make sure you are successful?
The answers your players give you will provide you with opportunities to further explore their understanding. You can do this by asking supplementary questions.
And when listening to answers, replicate and use their words as a focus for different questions.
And of course, if a player comes up with a ‘wrong answer’, try saying, “I like your thinking. Can you think of an alternative?”
Great communication can make such a difference to how players take on board information. Why not try it for yourself?
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: coaching, coaching sessions, decisions, develop, drills, exercises, how to coach, style
Some of my fellow coaches have been labelling me as a stuck record, of late. But if you’ll indulge me in the same way that I ask them to, I’ll explain why I’m so passionate about allowing kids to play the game without them being told what to do – to make their own decisions.
The truth is you should only be coaching your players when you are running sessions, or when they are playing a game in training. Basically, it’s only at a time when you can stop the game and make observations and suggestions. During a match – whether it is a friendly or league game – you should only be reminding players of their responsibilities, because the most important thing in this situation is for players to try out what you have been coaching; it’s the best environment for them in which to make mistakes… and learn from them. That way the experience gets logged in their brains through experience.
This week I observed a coach who constantly told his players what to do. A ball in the air, and he shouted “head it, head it”… a ball coming towards a player, “kick it hard”… a player running with the ball “pass it, PASS IT”. You get the picture. When I asked the coach if he thought this was the best approach, he responded: “I never tell them what to do – I’m just shouting to get them thinking.”
But they don’t need to think because they’re being instructed by the coach at every turn.
Interestingly, when the coach turned his back for a few seconds his players were looking around for him, shrugging their shoulders unsure what to do. He smiled at me and said, “See, if I don’t tell them what they should be doing they’re stuck.”
He’d missed the point completely.
I have told you this little tale because even the best coaches dictate things to their players when they should really just be letting them get on with it – I’m guilty of it myself.
At the end of the day, players who make decisions for themselves are developing every time they have to do it – even when they choose the wrong option. If we continue to instruct our players at every turn they’ll never develop the instinctive elements of play that all good sportsmen have.
Try to hold back this coming weekend and see if your players surprise you – I bet they do.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: coaching, Courses, how to be a coach, practice, sessions, training
Coaching isn’t just a matter of turning up and running a session – anyone can do that. You need to think about how you are going to deliver the session so the learning experience is heightened for your players.
These four questions will help you decide how you coach your sessions:
- Know your players – which ones need what, and when do they need your help?
- Talk to/listen to your players – are they enjoying the sessions?
- Do they understand what they are doing?
- Ask yourself… did my intervention have a positive impact on their learning?
Here are my seven tips on how to get the most out of coaching your sessions:
1. What is the problem?
Picture in your mind what it is that your team is doing wrong. Think about the type of session you need to help the team.
2. What is available to me? What resources do you have that relate to the problem? Soccer Coach Weekly issues are a great place to start.
3. Have I used a session in the past to cover the topic?
Think about what you have done before when you have come across this problem. Did you solve it? Can you use it again?
4. How will individuals react to the session?
Some of your players will respond negatively to certain sessions you run. If you know your players well you should be able to spot problems before they arise.
5. Is it simple or complex?
How much guidance do you need to give your players? Sometimes simple is best. If it is complex make sure you explain it carefully before the players have to go and do it.
6. Are you reviewing work already covered?
If you are revisiting work, you need to quickly get the session going and work your players at the level you worked at when you last ran the session – they know the topic so the understanding should already be there.
7. During the session does it feel right?
Your gut feeling is often a good indicator as to whether or not the session is working. If it is, great, make a note of what went right. If not, don’t despair. Write down what went wrong and change it next time.
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Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: coaching, linesman, offside, referee, roles, teams, youth
It’s rarely regarded as the most popular of gifts when you have to hand the linesman’s flag to one of the parents of your team.
You might, like me, have also found it strange how mobile phones start apparently ringing, pulled muscles come into the conversation and urgent dog walking needs to be taken care of… any excuse so as not to have to run the line!
As coach of the team, I haven’t had to run the line for a couple of years… that was, until this week, when I’d gone to watch one of my boys play. Over came the coach, and before I knew it, I was the one preparing to stand up to the shouting and ridicule!
So off I went tripping over the siblings sat too close to the pitch whilst trying to avoid the potholed parts of the touchline.
The referee was chairman of the club and pretty well qualified, with 15 years’ experience as the man in black. But twice in the first 10 minutes I raised the flag and wasn’t spotted. On the third occasion, I stood waving away trying to get the attention of the referee to a chorus of “you must be joking!” from opposition players and parents alike.
“Does he know you’re there?” quipped one of comedians. Up my arm went again as the opposition started another attack. “NEVER!” shouted their manager who was standing half way down the pitch obviously in a better position than myself. I wondered why I was bothering!
During an attack in the second half the ball was put in the net by a boy clearly standing in an offside position. “I’ve given it,” shouted the referee to much cheering from the opposition players and parents.
I asked him if he’d again failed to spot my flag waving. “Look,” he said, “I’ve given it; you were too slow.”
“Too slow?! I am not a professional linesman,” I was about to say – but the moment was gone and I still had a job to do… not that I was enjoying it much!Needless to say I was glad when the final whistle blew and I could give the flag back to the referee.
“Thanks”, he said, with a smile.
In fact that was the only thing that prevented this from being a completely thankless task.
The point of all this – youth soccer coaching may come with many pitfalls and frustrations, but the rewards are plentiful, and real, and when you do things correctly, it really does get noticed.
There are many worse roles in soccer – running the line being one of them!
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Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: coaching, coaching style, communication, exercises, physical, player centric, players, verbal, visual
You can be as clever as you like with tactical planning and technical instructions, but players must be able to understand what you want them to do.
I went to a demonstration this week by a couple of highly respected youth coaches to see examples of the different ways you can coach young players. There were some really good coaching and session ideas that I was privileged to take away from the get together.
However, one thing that was clear to me was that the players were having a hard time understanding exactly what was expected of them.
Both sessions were player- and activity-centric – but, because this was a meet-up designed for coaching knowledge, the players at times were clearly unsure of what they were doing and what was expected of them. In that respect, the experiment failed on all levels, bar one – namely in reminding me that one of the most important things you must do with players is ensure they are ‘with you’ at every step along the path of learning. It’s the whole purpose of what we do, after all.
If you notice that players are not doing what they are supposed to or are looking around to see how others perform the task, either they were not listening or you failed to get instructions across well enough.
Remember, players understand things in three different ways:
- Visually
- Verbally
- Physically
It is important that for each demonstration a coach must:
- Perform and show the technique that is being learnt, or recreate the scenario for tactical feedback (the visual part).
- Use explanations and key coaching points through the stages of the demonstration (the verbal part).
- Let the players perform the technique or replay the situation (the physical part).
This way, you can be sure your players know what they are doing. And it will ensure you make the most of every session you take.
Filed under: Dave Clarke | Tags: christmas, coaching, exercises, jose mourinho, presents, soccer gifts
SOCCER COACH WEEKLY £47 This is the best subscription product on the market for grass roots coaches anywhere in the world – I know the experience and effort that goes into bringing the most up to date coaching advice it is possible to get.
COERVER COACHING – MAKE YOUR MOVE £55.99 This series features skills for players to practise step-by-step on their own, as well as drills and games for coaches and teachers to use in their practice sessions. Learn the skills and how to coach them – such as the reverse drag push, scissors step over and fake inside cut.
A must for any aspiring player or coach to watch and learn from.
ELITE SOCCER – JOSE MOURINHO SESSION £27
The session focuses on defensive organization and there is no coach in the world who is more meticulous in setting up his side properly than José.
Take this chance to coach like José and for your players to train like Real Madrid.
RED CARD ROY – ROY MCDONOUGH £8.95 The jaw-dropping story of terrace cult hero Roy McDonough. Featuring a who’s who cast from football in the 70s, 80s and 90s – from his unlikely friendship with the late, great Bobby Moore to his run-ins with current Premier League managers David Moyes, Martin O’Neill and Tony Pulis (who he kung-fu kicked to the floor after five minutes of an FA Cup tie).
Read my review here
PLAY LIKE BARCELONA IN 9 SESSIONS £7
This is my favourite manual of this year… and it works if you use the sessions and allow your players to get into the spirit of the Barcelona way.
It gives your players the ability to grasp that match winning opportunity. Have they got the skill and confidence to make the right play when it matters most?
The manual will help your team develop the technical ability to manoeuvre opponents out of position and create more goalscoring chances.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: coaching, girls, goalkeepers, sessions
Guest blog:
Erik Halvorson
USSF D Cert Youth Coach
I currently coach at the U10 level for a girls club team. I have had most of this group for five seasons now. Up to this age, I have found it extremely difficult to effectively incorporate keeper training into my regular training sessions.
So this year I decided to stop trying to fold it into regular field type trainings. There will be a few exceptions where the keeper position can train during a field session effectively, depending on the lesson plan but most of the time they are doing a lot of standing and that isn’t good. Instead, I hold an additional training session each week for keepers. I do invite all of the players to attend. If they want to play keeper in a game, they have to attend a keeper training that week and participate as a keeper.
Me with my team. My keepers are: the girl in the front row with the red long sleeves and the two girls on the RH side of the back row
The non-keeper players that want to participate in the training session can and I have some fun drills for those non-keeper attendees. I use the non-keeper players to help play the attacking player, the servers, etc., so that I can spend more time helping the keeper work on technique, instead of acting as the server myself. The plus is that they are size and skill comparable to what the keeper will see in a game. I also use the non-keeper player to be the ball retriever during keeper throw, punt and kick drills.
When retrieving balls we use it to help the non-keeper player to work on their power and accuracy of their driven kicks by giving them a target to drive the ball into, which is near our supply of balls. It has worked very well so far.
I used this method last spring with a U18 Girls club team that I coached at the USSF select level. The success I saw there is what made me try it with the younger team too. I did find that I could incorporate keeper training into the older group’s sessions easier but I think it was due to having a very capable assistant that could take charge of the field player coaching points while I concentrated on the keepers, during the same combined drills.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: coach educator, coaching, drills, exercises, one hour, session content, session planning
By David Clarke
I am always being told by coaches they don’t have enough time to get things done because they only have one hour coaching a week. It’s tough for them and I genuinely sympathise. I know myself how hard it is to get enough time with my players.
I’ve had to pull out of coaching tomorrow night because there’s a great coach education session at the Premier League Academy I go to – you can’t fit everything in but what you do fit in should always be relevant.
I was taking the rubbish bins out last weekend at home when one of the coaches who works at our club pulled up in his car. ‘What are you doing on Tuesday afternoon?” he asked.
“I’ll have to check – what do you have in mind?”
“My team needs some coaching; we’re all over the place at the moment.”
I know his team because I’ve coached them at various stages in their development, and given the players they have on board, I was a bit surprised that he felt they needed help. So getting to the bottom of the issues he was having was undoubtedly the best starting point.
I found that he was getting the team together for two one-hour sessions a week – he led each session while another coach helped out. His players were getting a good quantity of coaching – two hours a week for training is good; about double the average – but was the quality there?
He told me that his focus had been weakened by work commitments, and that much of those two hours was spent on general play and fitness – players running around and a number of small-sided games. He hadn’t been coaching passages of play, for instance, because time hadn’t allowed him to get started on specific ideas.
This was resulting in players who used the width of the pitch well but took the wrong options when in key attacking situations.
“It just seems to fizzle out,” he said.
So I took one of his sessions with the aim of focusing the players on things they weren’t doing so well. After all, the season is still only halfway through and his team could still turn this into a memorable year. We worked on giving his players options and letting them see the different ways to solve problems. I then offered him additional sessions to build on coaching points – none of them requiring him to come home early from work!
And as for the second training session? “Scrap it”, I said. “Halve the time you’re with them but make the session driven and relevant for the entire 60 minutes.”
And using resources such as Soccer Coach Weekly really does help.
Surely it’s better to introduce an all-encompassing session rather than use a number of loose ideas that might take two hours to combine together? An hour a week is enough if you focus your sessions and squeeze every ounce out of whatever coaching point is being introduced… and there should always be one.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: anxiety, coaching, confidence, fear, help, mistakes, performance errors, support
I have coached players who make recurring errors during matches but can perform the skill perfectly well in training. They need my support and help. I always start by trying to find the cause of the problem.
Why do performance errors occur?
Anxiety
All players experience anxiety before performing. For many, this enhances their performance by increasing the production of adrenalin. However, in some individuals, it causes them to tense up and has a negative effect.
Players might experience increased anxiety during matches when coaches and parents shout too many negative comments from the touch line.
Tactical naivety
A player might have all the skills, but consistently makes poor decisions when under pressure on the pitch.
Tiredness
This is common in players who are dehydrated or haven’t eaten or slept properly before matches. Tiredness affects the decision making processes and also the body’s physical ability.
Four steps for dealing with performance errors
Speak to the player and use the following four-point process to help them understand and overcome their performance errors.
1. Acknowledge the error
The player needs to realise they are making errors during matches that, given their skill level, should be avoidable. Discuss how they can perform the skills well and how you both need to find out what is causing the match day errors.
2. Review the errors
Work with them to determine how and why the errors occur. Do they get nervous before matches? Are they eating and drinking properly during the build up to matches?
3. Make a plan
Based on their responses, you can put together a plan with the player to make the necessary corrections for the future.
4. Execute the plan
Provide the player with support to execute their personal action plan before the next match. Ensure the player is realistic and doesn’t expect the errors to disappear instantly. They need to understand it is a long-term process and might take many weeks.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Fitness, Soccer News, Soccer Refereeing, Soccer Skills, Soccer Team Management, Soccer Training | Tags: Better football coaching, coach education, coaching, coerver, Courses, youth module
By David Clarke
What is fantastic about watching and listening to Alf Galustian about youth coaching is that it all makes perfect sense.
- Speed + technique + skill = player excellence
- Safety + competition + fun = coach excellence
For a coach working with youth players the sums add up. It’s all about touch, control, confidence, 1v1s, 2v1s, 4v4s, 1 goal, 2 goals, 6 goals, feinting, beating your partner, keeping the ball, winning the ball back – using the coaching environment to get the best out of your players in a safe, fun atmosphere.
I was watching Alf on his Coerver Coaching Youth Diploma which is aimed at coaches at all levels of the game – professional academy coach, grassroots coach, teacher or parent. It gives coaches a greater understanding of how to plan and execute more effective coaching sessions.
I’m on the course to learn and it doesn’t take long before I’m drawing diagrams and writing down the scenes that unfold before me on the Fulham Academy astro pitch, something which I can pass on to my readers of Soccer Coach Weekly.
Alf is a co-founder of Coerver Coaching and the list of top clubs he has worked with around the world is as long as your arm. The course was held at Premier League team Fulham’s superb academy training ground and you really feel you are in a pure coaching environment.
The Coerver Coaching concept concentrates on attacking, fast-flowing football and this style has been demonstrated during the past few years by teams such as Barcelona, Spain and those from South America.
In Alf’s own words: “The knowledge you gain on our diploma will help you to plan and deliver effective sessions that are challenging and fun for the young players that you work with and will hopefully provide the pathway to the devlopment of game effective, technical excellence which we are all striving towards.”
The final session of the day is about how to build and deliver a session. It was run by Coerver’s excellent coaching director Scott Wright who coached Fulham U12s for the session. Scott said: “Hopefully this session has helped or changed your outlook on how you will plan & deliver sessions.”
A great session to watch it gives loads of hints and tips about coaching groups of children and helping develop their playing ability.
There is no doubt that this course will make you a better coach so make a mental note to get yourself on the next one, Alf runs them up and down the country.
But if you can’t go on the course then why not invest in the Coerver CD set, there’s lots of material on how to help you plan your sessions.
To order the CD in Europe: Click Here
To order the CD in the USA: Click Here
There will be two further Diplomas in the summer, one at Manchester City on the 2nd and 3rd June & the second in Birmingham 9th and 10th June. For more information click here
