Went through the second practice last night with my U-10 boys’ teams. We’ve changed the way we run practice, so instead of having the ‘A’ and ‘B’ team mixed together, we’re now having them come in at different times. The half hour overlap is a bit troublesome, but not too bad. It was hard last night as all of the other coaches (there’s four others that either coach or assist with these teams) all had work, vacation, or other commitments so I had the teams by myself. I was able to observe a top coach from our area work on Monday night with the U-13 girls I’ll start coaching soon and decided to adapt some of his session into my own focusing on 1v1 attacking. While I know that players this age need work primarily on their technical skills, I was inspired after reading about PSV’s philosophy that the U-10s must learn to “dominate the 1v1.” So with that in mind, here’s my session on 1v1 attacking:

Warmup
All players with a ball in pretty large space, focusing on proper dribbling technique for close control.
After some work alternating feet to work on the weak foot, I brought the boys in and demonstrated a 1v1 move (ex. stepover, Cruijff, etc.) to beat an opponent.
Then had the boys dribble around and practice the move. Would repeat the cycle for a new move. Of course I was giving individual feedback and suggestions and would talk to the group each time I stopped for issues multiple players were encountering. Also stressed keeping the head up to see where they were dribbling. We did this for about 20-30 minutes (mostly because players were coming ten minutes late and the ‘A’ team only had six players total anyway) before giving the boys a water break and moving on to a 1v1 ladder competition.

Plus: Boys were warming up, moving around getting lots of touches on the ball and working both feet. Working on basic 1v1 moves and getting feedback to improve technique.

Minus: Players got bored of the activity and were eager for something different.

Improvement: I had tried to leave an unstructured space so they would have enough room to do the moves. In retrospect I would probably just make a large space so they would still have each other as traffic to avoid while giving space for them to find to perform the moves. I thought they got bored kind of quickly because they’ve seen these moves before, but they don’t execute them very well on the whole. This is a problem I’ve encountered with all ages, from U-10 boys and girls up to college players. How do you convince or show players that they need to work on the fundamentals that they think they’ve mastered (when they clearly haven’t)? Sure the players think they’re not challenged enough, but they aren’t performing the skills at an adequate level and seriously need to improve to be among the best at their respective age. This is a problem I need to solve to become a better coach. I would think putting them in an environment where they can perform the skill under pressure and are unsuccessful would provide the opportunity for them to realize they can improve. Maybe I need to set that up and do more of the coaching at a later stage in the practice where they come to the realization themselves?

1v1 Ladder Competition
Now that I had shown them some moves, I wanted them to go 1v1 against each other for game like practice. The introduction of the ladder realizes a competitive element that should make the boys strive to move up to the top. They still enjoy it either way, but it’s more fun if you’re successful. And if you see yourself constantly losing, then maybe you realize it’s an area you can stand to improve upon. Saw some good things with regards to attacking 1v1 and some players shielding the ball well.

Plus: Players willing and eager to go 1v1. Seemed to be having fun. I was able to stop and give some instruction with regards to keep the ball safe while dribbling past an opponent but otherwise didn’t give too much coach intervention. Some players shield the ball well and others would have scored more goals (stopping the ball on the line) if they were able to shield the ball a little better.

Minus: Maybe not enough use of moves. Players prefer to use change of pace to beat an opponent, which is fine, but one dimensional. 1v1 defending was not very good.

Improvement: I think this went pretty well. I have a tendency to over-coach because I see so much that I can positively influence in all of the players. But I stepped back and let them play more, which is what they need. They’re improving by doing the activity, which is the ideal scenario. I did well to adjust the field size based upon the success/failure players were encountering. Also made use of player input when coaching (ex. asked them when dribbling past an opponent, which foot should the ball be on? And then helped them work through why it should be on the foot farthest away from the defender) Maybe I would call all of the players together at the end to see a final 1v1 between the top two players. This would add more importance to being the best and would maybe stimulate the competitive spirit of the others so that they will be the best next time. Then again this might not work as well due to their age.

With the ‘B’ team I used a 1v1 activity I found in a book I recently purchased. It ended up being a bit too confusing for the players as they have a teammate who basically does nothing half of the time. I’m not a fan of how that works, maybe I would do something more along the lines of having a continuous 1v1 with three goals (like this activity used) where the players switched after each goal and let the scored-upon team start by dribbling the ball in from the endline. So even though the same two players would be going against each other, they would alternate turns to start attacking and defending. After a period of time it would make sense to change teams around in some fashion (when using two fields you could just switch the pinny teams from the two fields). Unfortunately due to the fact that I was the only coach around and the ‘A’ team was arriving and needed to warmup, I didn’t get to spend as much time with this group as I would have liked. I let them finish with ten minutes of 3v3, although I would’ve liked for this time to be longer. I realize that it takes longer to get through each activity and still get what I want than I originally plan. I probably should run the practices a little tighter with regards to time spent per activity and move on to something different after the set time while still being cognizant of how they are progressing with the skill being focused on.

With the ‘A’ team I let them finish with a half hour of 3v3. They had cooperated well and they get the most joy out of scrimmaging. Plus I didn’t like how the one activity had gone with the ‘B’ team, so I scrapped it. I tried to give some instruction to the group while they were playing (’coaching in the flow’ in USSF parlance), but mostly in terms of asking them to think of how they could create more space for themselves or get open for a teammate to make an easy pass. I stopped it once when one player was trying to play a kick-in and his two teammates were hiding behind defenders and went about it by asking the passer if he could easily get the ball to his teammates and where he’d like them to move. I thought this was a good way of letting the players find the answer without telling them. Maybe (although their limited attention span makes this somewhat difficult) I would have the teammates switch spots with the passer to see what he sees and realize how they were in poor positions (stole this idea from Laureano Ruiz’s Spanish Soccer Coaching Bible). I was pleased that I was able to use more guiding technique this practice instead of always telling players the answer. It will hopefully make them better players and problem solvers in the future.

I still need to find more activities that stimulate them and that they enjoy playing. When I ask them for feedback they tell me they like scrimmaging the best. I’ll have to try more small-sided games and see how they like those. I still need more work as a coach and to do a better job with these guys. The age specific characteristics are harder to handle than I originally imagined. It’s all good experience for me and will make me better in the long run. I find that reviewing each practice like I am on this blog and thinking through things that go well and things that need work is really helping me to eliminate repeat mistakes. I recommend all coaches do so if they don’t already.

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I ran my first practice for a while tonight. While I am an assistant college soccer coach, I don’t plan and run those practices. I don’t own those practices the way I do when coaching a team of my own. Even when I did a training session recently for a U-10 girls’ team, it was somewhat awkward as in the back of my mind I was thinking ‘this isn’t my team, I wonder how they’re comparing me to their coach, how much should I push them when I’m not getting the results I want, etc.’ on top of the normal concerns like ‘is this space big enough, is the game offering too little resistance for the best players, etc.’ So needless to say I prefer being the head coach in charge as opposed to an assistant or a trainer (running practices for a team where you’re not the usual head coach). Both being an assistant or trainer have their merits, but I prefer being able to plan everything out to the nth degree whenever possible.

Ignoring the training session I ran for the girls’ team several weeks back, I hadn’t really planned and run a training session since last spring when I was coaching high school JV girls. Even then I was really more of a trainer since I didn’t go to all practices or games, so going further back to fall of ‘06 was the last time I had control of the whole process from start to finish. There’s definitely a different pressure I put on myself to make sure everything goes off without a hitch. With the college team I know what to expect and have a good idea of how I can contribute at each practice (although i’m learning more and improving in this regard all the time). To top it off, I haven’t worked with this age group before (U-10 boys). So I was a bit unsure what to expect.

Everything turned out pretty well. It was definitely hectic controlling the whole group of eighteen players, which was further compounded by the fact that half of them were the ‘B’ team of this age group (I’m the head coach for the ‘A’ team and the trainer for the ‘B’). I felt fairly unprepared for this group a couple of weeks ago so I bought a book called Coaching Under 10s which is written by a guy involved with the KNVB, the Dutch equivalent of the USSF. The book proposes a ‘circuit model’ which basically entails setting up two activities to run simultaneously and then having the players rotate after twenty minutes. In this way it’s easier to set up and explain everything to the group and gets everyone on task much faster. The only clean up involved is removing some cones and you already have a field assembled for the next activity. I’ve already been doing the last part on my own, but it’s good advice. The downside is that the coach and players are generally more familiar with a system where the coach runs a single activity for the whole group and has a bit more control over making coaching points. I think the circuit model is supposed to aid in players learning from each other and playing with somewhat less structure/involvement from the coach so as not to suppress their natural curiosity/instincts.

I have to admit that I liked the circuit model after using it tonight. While I still had to go around and re-explain rules of each game (which this model is supposed to eliminate), the players were able to get on with it by themselves pretty well. The guys assisting me really helped out and everyone seemed to get into the flow pretty naturally. I definitely liked having things set up and planned out as too much time off task is really bad for this age. It was really easy to step in and out of the small groups (each activity consisted of no more than eight players) and provide instruction without really interrupting anything too much, which can be difficult with the more traditional method of coaching. That being said, I think this would work almost exclusively for individually focused skill and tactic work. For team or even group tactics, I’d like to be more involved and see everything as the coach instead of seeing bits and pieces from each group. I also found that the players didn’t seem to like the one activity which provided little opportunity for rest (mental or physical). But they loved the one where they were basically in line (although getting a high number of repetitions as the line was only about four players deep) and got the chance to execute a skill, receive feedback and go at it again thirty seconds later. The other activity ended up with players stopping or going half speed maybe because they couldn’t focus for that long. I’ll have to keep that in mind for next time. I plan on using this style of coaching again, but will gradually use different exercises and probably do some practices where the whole group stays together so I can have some more control over them. Maybe I’ll only do that rarely if I think I’m getting good results. And if you’re lucky to have multiple assistants (I have two who are knowledgeable, quite good for U10s), it’s the best way to utilize their talents as well. They don’t feel awkward stopping the activity or a player and giving feedback, which can feel strange when one person is running the whole show.

The DVD portion of the book is decent, basically provides video of Dutch players doing the activities and being coached by Erwin Koeman. They seem really under control and focused for him! I guess I just need to become a professional coach…or let the players know that if they don’t work hard everyday then they’re gone at the end of the year, haha. On an unrelated note I just bought two other books, Zone Play by Angelo Pereni and Michele Di Cesare and Developing Game Intelligence by Horst Wein. The first book looks like an extremely thorough discussion of modern tactics and how zonal play throughout the whole field dominates those tactics. It’s written in 1998, so it might be a bit outdated, but I imagine 90% of the principles are applicable. The modern game has really only increased in speed somewhat and degree of defensive mindedness in those years I believe. Already learned some things about defending, I think it’s a book that will take a while to digest but will offer a ton of info. Wein’s book is supposed to be pretty awesome, judging from what I’ve read about it (which is limited). All about activities and coaching to help players understand the game. Maybe through reading it I can have a small part in ensuring that the next generation of American players aren’t ‘tactically naive’ compared to their Euro or South American counterparts. Hopefully I’ll be able to read them and provide reviews in the not too distant future.

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How much thought do you give to breaking your players into teams during practice? Do you always play starting offense versus starting defense? Try to make even teams by mixing the stronger players with the weaker players? Do you plan out the teams in advance based upon what you want to accomplish that practice?

Personally, I typically aim for the latter option. I know many coaches who have the ability to plan out practice a few minutes before it starts, if not as the players are arriving. They seem to me to have a huge database of activities and sessions in their head that they whip out at the drop of a dime to run a pretty decent practice. For myself, though, I try to plan everything out to the last detail. Call me Mourinho if you want (and I’d be quite flattered as well), but I find things run smoothest when I know exactly how the practice is going to unfold. And planning out the way I’m going to break up the teams is no different.

If this is the last training session before I game, I’ll look to give the starting players the most challenge possible and this usually results in playing the starting midfield and strikers against the starting back line. I usually play the starting goalkeeper with the starting back line because even if I think the second team will have success against the starting team’s weaker back line (resulting in more goal scoring chances), it never really materializes. Thus all I’ve done is bored the starting goalkeeper and wasted his practice time. By working with the starting back line, the goalkeeper also gets to work on communication and distribution with those players, creating a more cohesive unit. Hopefully the starting attackers will get enough challenge by trying to break down the starting back line that everyone will get enough work. The less drop off in playing ability from top to bottom, the easier it is to ensure that this is the case.

I don’t always elect to break the teams up in this manner though. Occasionally I’ll try to focus the team on maintaining possession or looking for specific opportunities that, due to the experience level of the team, do not materialize immediately. In these instances, I’ll maybe try the starting midfield with a weaker attack or defense, depending on exactly what I want to emphasize. It also depends on the quality of the players as I mentioned previously. One team I coached had a pretty wide gap between the top half and bottom half of the players. It was a constant challenge to figure out how to break up the teams to get what I wanted out of them. If one of the role players was having a bad day, I’d just have to juggle players around until I got suitable matchups.

Just like a lot of things related to soccer, it comes down to the individual players and their qualities. The higher the level you’re coaching, the more you can make specific requests of the players. At the lower levels, you might not be able to see a whole lot of difference no matter who you put on the field. I hope this article gives you pause for a moment to think about whether you’re making the most of your scrimmage time by the way in which you break up teams. Remember that before the age of fourteen or so, it’s entirely about player development, so keep that in mind when you’re telling the players which pinnie to put on.

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Do you give your players regular soccer homework to perform outside of practice? If you answered ‘yes’ to this question, clap yourself on the back. As a player, I was never really given much in the way of soccer homework. Especially not at the younger ages. I had a Guatemalan coach when I was fourteen who constantly stressed that I needed to add more feints and footwork into my game. Prior to his suggestions I relied almost exclusively on speed. I could beat players easily with a limited number of touches, but no coach before this one had looked into my future to see me struggling to cope with similarly speedy defenders. He encouraged me to both do Tae-Bo (rhythmic cardio boxing for the uninitiated) to improve my agility and attend a Coerver camp to improve my comfort with the ball (for those who don’t know, The Coerver Method is a Dutch system aimed at developing players’ ability with the ball). He would relate stories of growing up in Guatemala where, when he wasn’t playing soccer with kids in the neighborhood, he would imagine everything around him as an opposing defender. When he ran to his friends’ houses he would stop in front of trees and bushes, juking left and right, as he used his imagination to sharpen his soccer skills away from the field. I’m not sure if he played professionally (I imagine he probably played at a fairly high level; maybe not top level professional, but at least the equivalent of AAA baseball or something similar), but he tried out for Guatemala’s Olympic soccer team and I believe was assigned to the reserve team. Not a bad accomplishment by any means. While playing for this coach I experienced a rapid growth in my technical abilities. His South American flavored practices were very different to what I had previously been exposed. I only played on his team for one season, before moving on to a more competitive ‘premier’ team, but sometimes I wonder how I would have turned out as a player if I had continued to play for him (although that’s an entirely different topic altogether). But my main reason for relating this anecdote is: providing your soccer players with soccer homework and stimulating their imagination is maybe one of the most important things you can as their coach.

I’ve already told you about the methods this coach assigned me to improve my rhythm, but the other side of that coin is that he would frequently teach me a technique at the end of practice, explain in what game situations it was useful and why, and would then tell me to go practice it all the time at home. This is how I first learned how to run with the ball properly. Before that, I would simply hit the ball forward with the inside of my foot and catch up with it. As I progressed he taught me additional techniques that I was to practice at home. When I was sixteen I played for another coach who decided that my touch and comfort with the ball wasn’t up to snuff. He told me his own story of going into the park in Philly and banging the ball against the wall while listening to his tape player. He apparently went to a Division I school in Philly before suffering a career ending ankle injury. So, going into my senior year of high school I would go to a wall near my house and practice receiving the ball from all different speeds and angles, in my barefeet (helps speed up the learning process by allowing a better touch on the ball, some, including myself, believe). My touch was the best it ever was and I had my best season as well.

Imagination is another aspect of play that, when used appropriately can really produce some magic on the field. I remember stumbling upon Nike’s soccer website which used to have a section where anyone could submit video of themselves performing freestyle tricks. I had always juggled, but only used the conventional surfaces. I had never tried to perform some of the tricks I saw on these videos. Inspired, I would go outside and practice, trying to nail down tricks I had watched on the videos. I would slow down the video to see each move piece by piece. Then when I was outside, I would imagine that I was in a game. Using my imagination, I would dream of pulling off cool tricks and flicks to get around defenders. So when I was juggling, I would flick it up in the air over a fictional defender then cut it back to my other foot to evade another oncoming defender and continue to string movements together until I decided to do something else. This translated on the field as the type of creative play I became known for. It opened my mind to see that I really could use any means necessary to get the ball from point A to point B. While always trying to be team efficient, I wouldn’t shy away from popping it over a defender’s head if I surmised that be the best method of beating that player. It really helped me to establish what I consider to be my ’style’ as a player.

So I think one of the greatest gifts you can give your players is homework. The more you can individualize it the better, but at least select a technique and an activity through which they can practice said technique and tell the team to go practice it for a week. You can’t force them to do it, but the players who listen will improve much quicker than the rest and social pressure should help take care of the rest. While I always practiced on my own ever since I started playing at U-11, receiving specific feedback from these two coaches significantly guided my efforts. Try to stimulate their imagination as well. Encourage them to play with the ball when they’re at home, trying difficult tricks they’ve either seen or heard about. Certainly perform some if you can. Let them know that they can find great videos on the internet of freestyle soccer players and professional players like Ronaldinho who consistently exhibit a supreme level of technical skill. Hopefully you’ve read my last article Why Winning Isn’t Important and realize that stimulating this creativity will allow you and more importantly, your players, to reap the benefits in the long term. Good luck!

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Now that I have your attention, let me explain further. I think too much emphasis is placed on winning games at young ages as opposed to focusing on developing all of the players to reach their maximum potential. When the emphasis is on development, the players are allowed to develop their skills and make mistakes, which helps lead to confident, intelligent players. Even in leagues and teams where the thought exists that winning should take a back seat to player development though, I still observe behaviors that reinforce our society’s obsession with victory. One such scenario: In a U-10 boys recreation league game, a team that has been in relative ‘control’ of the game gives up a late goal. Near the end of the game the coach of this team calls the players together (the league was using quarters due to heat) and tells them that he can do one of two things. Continue to sub the players at regular intervals (which provides equal opportunity for all players to play the game and develop) or play the ‘best’ players for the last quarter so the team has a chance at winning. Asking this in front of the entire team, it’s pretty obvious that the ‘best’ players are going to clamor loudest for option B. They did and the coach made few or no subs for the last quarter of the game. And these are ten year olds in a recreation league!

My main complaint with the status quo is that below the competitive U-14 level, it doesn’t really accomplish anything to win at the sake of player development, besides providing the coach and players with a falsely inflated sense of self worth. That’s not to say that I think teams below U-14 should aim to lose all of their games by any means necessary. On the contrary, I’m happy for teams to be successful, if their goal is player development and victories come as a result of this focus. But what do I mean exactly when I talk about ‘player development?’

What I mean is that the point of every practice and every game should be to help all of the team’s players become individually better. If the focus isn’t on improving the players, then it’s on making the ‘team’ better so the ‘team’ wins more games, or, possibly worse, there’s no focus at all. When practices are geared towards player development, correct activities are chosen that emphasize improving the players’ basic skills first and applying them in game like situations second. When this philosophy is applied in game situations, the players are given the freedom to make their own decisions and express themselves. The coach may give some directions, but he isn’t constantly spouting information from the sideline. The players are allowed to make mistakes, even ones that may result in conceding goals or ‘losing the game.’ The mistakes are recognized as golden learning opportunities by the coach, who then uses them as tools to help the players improve their insight (knowledge of the game). Allowing the players to express themselves may result in attempts to dribble out of pressure in front of the defending goal, but may also result in a brilliant run to score or create a goal scoring chance. Most importantly, the players will develop the confidence to attempt a unique solution to a soccer problem. While the players WILL make mistakes that result in conceding goals and losing games, proper coaching and continued adherence to a player development philosophy will yield major benefits around the age of fourteen, when winning rightfully becomes more important. At this point, the players all should have highly developed basic skills and should have some idea of basic team tactics; a very solid soccer platform to build upon. The players will then be suitably equipped to test themselves against high level regional or national competition. The very best will then be able to decide for themselves how far they want to go in the game, rather than already having this decision partly made for them by win obsessed coaches.

Win-centric coaches and teams hurt the players in the end because they don’t allow the players to properly develop. Often times these teams place a strong emphasis on positioning and counter attacking. Typically the players stay rooted in ‘their position’ (by which I mean defenders will stay back and simply look to defend, rather than helping to attack when appropriate) and generally look to attack through one or two players who have physical advantages over most other teams (usually speed). These players don’t learn the principles of the game or their position, but learn to play very conservatively so as not to make mistakes that lead to goals and learn to rely on one teammate to carry the team. They don’t learn how to be good teammates who work hard making runs to support the player in possession. They don’t develop a good soccer knowledge base because they only know how to play one position. While these teams may be successful at the young age groups, by the time the players hit maturity, they get absolutely blown away. I’ve seen it happen. The players can’t compete with those who are the product of player development focused models and usually drop out of the game by the time they’re in their mid teens. While they may love the game, they’ll find something else that they can be moderately successful at. They may have even had a lot of potential, but believe they ‘just weren’t ever going to be good enough’ because of the poor coaching they received when they were young. While it can be disheartening to lose some games at a young age, the future pay off of developing players capable of going as far as they want in the game is well worth the wait. Would you rather have coached a couple of successful high school players or several college players? Would you prefer a U-10 local league trophy or a national championship with your U-18 team? The choice is yours.

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I’ve been working with recreation level soccer coaches recently as volunteer work and have noticed a couple of common mistakes we all made when we first embarked on our soccer coaching careers. I thought I’d point out these mistakes along with quick and easy ways to fix them.

5. Expectations That Are Too High. While everyone knows that little Johnny or Jenny isn’t going to be dribbling like Pele after a week of practice, we still hold out hope that if we keep drilling at them on all the little mistakes they’re making that they’ll “just get it” at some point and immediately start playing flawless soccer. Sorry folks, but there’s no shortcut on this one; the players simply need time to mature and improve their basic abilities. It’s great to correct mistakes that frequently occur (pull the player aside if it’s only one that’s having this trouble repeatedly, but make a point to the whole group if several players are suffering from the same problem), but a relaxed environment with helpful comments sprinkled judiciously will go a lot farther than anything else.

4. Confusing Terminology. A lot of recreation soccer coaches are volunteers who lack a long history with the game. Thus they have an idea of what should be occurring, but don’t always have the knowledge to tell the players what exactly that something entails. So while they might know that dribbling with the instep (toe pointed down, foot angled slightly in towards the body) is the best method for running with the ball, they might confusedly tell the player to dribble using the outside of the foot. The coach then tells the player to dribble with the outside of the foot (envisioning the player running with the ball), but the player interprets this as turning the foot completely sideways while trying to run and control the ball, all at the same time. The player is unsuccessful, the coach is frustrated, and the problem is unresolved as the coach is aware of the problem, but unaware of what needs to be changed. The solution is to make sure you understand the basic techniques involved with soccer and the proper terminology associated with them. Always make sure you are congruent with what you are saying to the players and what you expect of them. Quickly specify to the player what you intend if you notice these ‘lost in translation’ problems.

3. Lines. Too often I see the whole team divided into two groups lined up directly across from the goal, everyone getting a chance to shoot every two minutes and spending the rest of the time waiting in line. This is unfortunately not the best use of practice time. Sure, everyone gets a chance to practice their technique under the coach’s eye, but it’s more enjoyable for the players (and better for their development) if they’re involved in a soccer related activity where everyone is passing the ball with greater frequency. Even a simple activity where players are numbered and passing in pairs in a small area while shooting every time the coach calls their number is preferred to the gym-class teaching method that makes use of lines.

2. Lecturing. There’s only a very limited amount of practice time we have available to work with our players. I’m sure everyone reading this would agree that their goal is to help their soccer players to improve as quickly as possible, so we logically believe if we dump our brain’s worth of information out to them at the start of practice, they’ll perfectly understand what we want from them. What the players really want and need is to play soccer related games. A better way to provide verbal information without wasting time is to pull the team together at the start of practice, mention the practice topic (such as passing), and then get the players playing the first activity. This will keep the enthusiasm high and from that point you can step in and make corrections and comments when necessary.

1. Incorrect Technique. Unfortunately this is a real problem. Many volunteer soccer coaches haven’t played enough soccer to really have rock solid technique that will be a good model for the young players. When demonstrating a technique, particularly to the youngest, most impressionable ages, it’s vitally important to provide an example as correct as possible. This will be the ‘picture’ or ‘video’ the player sees everytime she practices a technique. Set them on the right course early and they are well on their way to achieving their potential. If you’re unsure as to the exact way to perform a technique ask an experienced player or coach to stop by your practice session and perform some demonstrations for the players. The experienced player will be more than happy to help out and show off while your players will benefit from a great model. In the end, you’re the smart coach for recognizing your own weakness and addressing a great way to solve it!

I know I said I was going to offer five mistakes and a way to correct them, but I’m actually going to provide a bonus sixth one as well:

Spacing. This is an issue that is really more advanced, but can be understood and manipulated by the inexperienced coach as well. Almost all of the time when I see recreation level practices, I see activities where the spaces are either too large (most common) or too small. Before you start an activity, think about what the goal of the activity is. If the point is to work on the players’ close control dribbling, it’s less efficient to have a large space where each player can easily avoid one another. In this case, it’s better to set up a small space so the players have to really pay attention to their touch and their vision as they avoid the other players and stay within the confined space. If the activity focuses on passing the ball over long distance (maybe simulating a ball played in the air from the defenders to the strikers), it makes sense for the players to have a lot of space to operate. Regardless, if you find the players are either having too much difficulty or aren’t challenged enough, it’s quite ok to adjust the space to better suit your and your players’ needs in the middle of the activity. A few minutes extra preparation before practice is probably the best solution to this problem.

Well I hope this article proved helpful for the beginning or volunteer soccer coach. Even working as a college assistant soccer coach, I’m constantly keeping these basic principles in the back of my head and am always working to cope with them more effectively.

I’m also excited to mention that The Upper Ninety’s free Beginning Soccer Coaching Primer will be available for download shortly! This primer will cover everything from practice planning to demonstrating key techniques. Your team will definitely be more successful, but most importantly they’ll be well on their way to becoming great soccer players. Becoming a master youth coach has never been so easy!

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