Soccer Drills & Coaching Advice

Fast Break Soccer - Competitive Pro

Soccer Defending and Warm-Up

2010-09-05T09:27:00.001-07:00

We will start sharing some results of our continuous research with you.

An excellent video on defending technique can be found here:

Defending Technique

A good dynamic warm-up program can be found here:

FIFA Warm-Up

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Fast Break Soccer - Competitive Pro

Coerver Coaching

2010-07-10T16:24:00.000-07:00

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Soccer World Cup 2010 - Tactical Observations

2010-06-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

Now that the world cup is 2/3 through the first round, some observations on tactics can be made.

Defense

Not much has changed here. Most teams operate with a flat back four zonal defense. At most one team appears to be playing with three defenders, that being Chile. Definitely no more sweepers. Central defenders by and large maintain their position, with the exception of Lucio from Brasil who does venture forward occasionally. The outside defenders do move wide, mostly for the purpose of building the attack from the back making themselves available for an outlet pass. Surprisingly, there aren't as many overlapping runs by outside defenders because...

Midfield

Most teams play with two central, largely defensive (or holding) midfielders. Their job is to win the ball in the middle of the field and quarterback the attack. Usually one is more defensively oriented while the other is more adventurous in moving forward. A good example of flexibility in this position is Germany. With Ballack out, Schweinsteiger and Khedira take turns with penetrating runs through the middle while the other then stays back.

There are two predominat styles using the two central midfielders. One is within the classic 4-4-2 offering two wide midfielders. The other, seemingly more popular, is playing with three attacking midfielders in front of a single striker. Two of the three usually play wide while one supports the striker more centrally. The key observation is that in the better teams these three midfielders interchange position thus making covering them more difficult. Another benefit are quick runs through the zonal defense thus avoiding off-side and getting into scoring positions or crossing positions from within the penalty box.

A few teams play a 4-3-3 on paper, although when looking how it functions it looks more like a 4-5-1, the notable exception was Paraguay against Slovakia, playing with the three true forwards - reminiscent of days long gone by.

Attack

As mentionned above, usually one or two strikers. It would seem that the lone striker system is only effective when one of the central midfielders supports them. Which then raises the question: Why not play with two strikers in the first place? It also seems that teams that play this 4-2-3-1 revert to a 4-4-2 when they need to score.

Transition

We are seeing about an equal amount of slow , possession style build-ups from the back and fast break transitions. It seems to depend on the amount of defense facing the team with the ball. Spain in their first half against Switzerland played the slow build up almost (if not totally) to a fault. When they needed to score in the second half, they played a much faster and more effective game. No coincidence that this was helped by a second all out striker. Surprisingly, Brasil is playing the ball out of the back much faster than they used to. Germany is playing a mix of possession with sudden penetrating runs/passes through the gaps in the defense, and fast break attack when the opponent isn't regrouped defensively.

Opinion

I can see why lower ranked or underdog teams play a 4-2-3-1 - it gives them the best chance of not getting scored on - witness New Zealand against Italy. Skilled and better teams have no reason to play a slow possession game and act with one striker. Every time they do, they slow themselves down. When they need to attack, they quickly switch to two or even three strikers and dominate the opposition. Why not start out that way and set the tone from the beginning. I believe a lot of scores are close because the better teams are actually too afraid of the underdogs, too worried about being embarrassed.

Enjoy the rest of the tournament

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Fast Break Soccer - Competitive Pro

Soccer Player Evaluation - Performance Index

2010-02-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

One issue a soccer coach is often confronted with is how to select players for their team (making cuts) or how to award positions in the starting line-up. We have previously written about player evaluations. We now have developed a very simple measurement system to RANK players.

THE SYSTEM

Rate your players on a scale from 0-10 for their soccer performance. Performance should include technical skills, tactical ability, physical fitness, and mental fitness. You can use our player evaluation tool or develop your own way of coming up with a rating.

Then rate your players on practice attendance on a scale from 0-10. The rating is simply the practice attendance percentage. A practice attendance of 60% for eaxample gets a rating of 6.

Multiply the soccer performance rating by the practice attendance rating to come up with the PERFORMANCE INDEX.

For example, a soccer performance rating of 8 and a practice attendance rating of 8 equals a performance index of 64.

Now set a target for where you would ideally like all players to be, say a performance index above 80. Also set a cut off target below which you would not keep players or below which they should not be in the starting line up, say a performance index of at least 64.

Rank your players and see where the cut-offs are.

THE APPLICATION & MEANING

We suggest that you might want to start with an ideal performance index of 80, which means a soccer rating of 10 with a minumum attendance of 8, or a minimum soccer rating of 8 with attendance of 10 would be your ideal player.

You may want to set the cut-off at 64 based on a rating of 8 and attendance of 8. This also means a player with a rating of 10 and attendance of 6.5 would make the cut, or a player with attendance of 10 and soccer performance of 6.5. Not unreasonable we think.

You can use the results to have a discussion with your team to explain that you value both soccer performance and practice commitment. You can have individual meetings to share the index with each player and thereby point out which areas they need to improve.

If you are coaching a team where performance OR attendance don't matter, then this index wouldn't work for you.

Give it some thought, play around with it, and see if this may be useful for your situation.

Coach Tom

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Soccer Drills & Practice Plans - World Cup 2010 Editions

2010-01-04T13:54:00.000-08:00

soccerpracticebooks.com has just released all new editions of their soccer drills and practice plans. The new editions feature added coaching points, drill progressions & variations and tips for each drill as well as updated graphics. Check out an example right here:

Youth Sample Drill

Coach Tom

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Fast Break Soccer in FIFA World Cup 2010

2009-12-09T20:12:00.001-08:00

In 2008 we told you about our new book:

FAST BREAK SOCCER

Getting ready for FIFA World Cup 2010, major soccer nations and experts validate our approach. To quote a recent article by CBC:

"A counter-attacking World Cup?
Fast-break soccer could be all the rage in South Africa....What will it be next year in South Africa? If current trends are any indication, the 2010 World Cup could be all about the counter-attack, and soccer played at a breakneck pace. "

To read the full article, click:

Fast Break Soccer at World Cup 2010

We predicted it and now you can train your team the way the pros will at FIFA World Cup 2010. Check out this great resource by clicking on the book or the text link below:

Fast Break Soccer

Coaching Soccer - Strategic Planning

2009-07-31T12:03:00.000-07:00

In this article, I would like to deal with a slightly different aspect of coaching.

When discussing the coaching of soccer players and teams, we often focus on the technical areas such as individiual skill improvement, team tactics, fitness, or mental preparation. Depending on your coaching situation, you may need to consider the business side of raising funds, team budgets, team support staff selection and management, or even facility management. Typically, the emphasis is on the upcoming season and issues are dealt with and decisions are made on an "as needed" basis.

Working in the business world, I have applied many of the soccer coaching principles, especially around team building, team development and individual people management. There is an aspect of business management that I don't see too often in the soccer coaching environment, yet I have found it extremenly helpfull. That is STRATEGIC PLANNING.

I would like to briefly review the strategic planning elements and give a few pointers as to how they may apply to operating a soccer team, or a soccer club for that matter. The intention is not to deliver a comprehensive review of the strategic planning process, but rather to introduce the basic concepts.

I would also like to point out that the strategic planning process in its entirety is best suited for situations in which the coach is involved with a team for more than a single season. Certain elements can be used in single season environments.

The first step in the strategic planning process is to define the VISION and VALUES. This is followed by stating the team's MISSION.

The second step is to develop broad GOAL areas.

Third is to define specific and measurable OBJEJCTIVES for each goal area.

Fourth is the development of detailed STRATEGIES stating how to meet the objectives.

Fifth (and somewhat optional) is to develop specific TASKS or ACTIONS for each strategy.

Finally, in very complex environments, it may be of value to sequence all the tasks and strategies into an implementation plan.

VISION

My favourite way to develop a vision statement is to think of it as a future newspaper article describing the accomplishments of my team. For example, it may start like this:

HOMETOWN KICKERS WIN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP !

We are happy to congratulate our very own Hometown Kickers on their first ever national soccer championship. After winning their division going undefeated,.....
When asked about the reason for their success, Coach Tom credited a process that began some five years ago .......

The vision is best developed by the coaching staff with the support of the athletes and their parents if coaching a youth team.

VALUES

It is important to define three or four key values that will not be compromised under any circumstance. A way I was taught to think about values is to imagine a time capsule that is being developed and sent into space. What are the three or four key statements I would want the team to be known or remembered for.

Create a long list and then narrow it down through a collaborative filtering process until there is consensus on the final list.

Some common values are fairness, integrity, sportsmanship, excellence, teamwork, family orientation, responsible, etc.

MISSION

The vision and value sets are typically somewhat intangible, in a sense a bit of dream oriented. The mission statement supports the vision and values in a very tangible and concrete way. Here is how to very quickly develop one. Good mission statements follow this template:

We are .... who do ... for ...leading to.....

Example:

We are a passionate group of soccer players and coaches who excel in the game for the benefit of our club leading to national championships.

When you are in agreement on the statement, run a "sufficiency" check by asking this question:

If we accomplish the mission, will we reach our vision and maintain our values. If the answer is yes, you've got it right.

GOALS

You now need to establish general goal areas to accomplish the mission. We recommend that you use 4-7 goal areas. We also recommend that the following four are used for any team. They are:

Technical Skill Development
Tactical Development
Physical Fitness
Mental Fitness

This leaves you up to three specific goal areas for your team. Examples might be Finances, Community Improvement, Health Improvement, etc.

Again, when you have defined the goal areas, ask yourself if by achieving these goals you will fulfill your mission.

OBJECTIVES

For each goal area, develop a maximum of seven specific and measurable objectives. Lets use the Technical Skill Development goal area to illustrate this and future points. A specific and measurable objective may be:

Complete 90% of passes longer than 20 yards.

Again, after the development of all objectives for a specific goal area, ask the sufficiency question.

Depending on the number of people you have helping you coach or manage the team, you can assign a specific person to be responsible for each objective.

STRATEGIES

Strategies are the "how to's" for meeting the objectives. In the case of technical, tactical and physical fitness objectives, I would suggest that the strategies are in fact your practice plans and drills.

Once again, ask the sufficiency questions and assign individuals to each strategy.

TASKS

You may go beyond your strategies and develop task lists. You can pick and choose where necessary. If you do define tasks, then list all the tasks for a given strategy, check for sufficiency and assign people.

IMPLEMENTATION

So far you have created a list of acticities, strategies, objectives, and goals. In most cases you can't start everything at once, nor should you. Some things must be completed before others can start, some have different priorities. So it is good practice to sequence all the tasks/strategies including dependencies. For example, you may need to decide on a tournament you wish to enter before you can establish a budget, which then allows you to set fundraising targets and to develop fundraising activities.

This implementation plan will result at the very least in your season plan and at the very most in a long term strategic plan.

How far out you want to go in time depends on the initial parameter you set wen developing your vision - is it for one season, three years, five years, or??

If it is for more than one year, you will actually be developing successive season plans and you will want to update the following season with new information before it starts. In other words, a long term strategic plan must remain dynamic.

Coach Tom

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The Role Of The Soccer Coach

2009-04-12T07:51:00.001-07:00

As we get ready for new seasons in parts of the world, we thought it would be good to give some reminder perspective on what it takes to coach.

Soccer coaching is more than running a practice, pick the line up for the enxt game and call in substitutions. Depending on the level of competition, it can be a lot more complex.

Coaching little kids at entry level requires you to have the ability to communicate the purpose of the game, the practice exercise to a bunch of little kids who may have no idea why they are there. They just want to have fun and be entertained. So it is important that you plan your practices and incorporate a lot of fun, even non-soccer drills. Be patient and let them go at it, this is not the time to stop them, instruct them and insist on proper soccer behaviour. You are more of a social facilitatot than a coach. Parents at this level are also engaged with their kids, they want to enjoy the occasion and see their kids have fun. It could be useful to involve them in some of the activities. Make sure there are water breaks and little rewards for the children, just for coming out each time.

As you coach youth players (8-12), you can expect the kids to be there because they like soccer. Regardless of whether you are coaching in recreational or competitive leagues, the idea of winning exists and it becomes more and more important. So does the individual performance of the kids, to themselves and their parents. It is now appropriate to move away from strictly socializing and fun activities during practice to teaching skills and introduce tactics. Flexibility, fitness concepts can be introduced and trained. Attentional control may be a challenge. This is also when playing time may become an issue with parents, i.e. why is my Johnny only playing 30 minutes when some kids are out there the whole game? So managing parents becomes important. This can best be handled through expectation setting meetings before the season starts. Practice drills must be releveant and practices must be planned properly, allowing for breaks and some unstructured fun time. Social events such as pizza or pool parties are appropriate.

Coaching adolescents represents a new challenge. With kids going through puberty all sorts of interesting situations and sudden behaviour changes can occur. This is where you need to develop your highest degree of patience. While caring about individuals, objectivity must be maintained. This is also where a split between recreational and competitive soccer occurs. Children are in one of these streams because they like the sport, but some are more skilled and competitive than others.

The recreational program very much carries on in the same way as with younger kids. Results should not be a focal point, everyone wants to win anyways. Playing time should be equal and basic skill, tactics and fitness must be trained. Coaching demands are still fairly relaxed in terms of time, psychological and emotional investment.

Competitive youth coaching steps it up a big notch for coaches. Players and parents expect the coach to be very knowledgable about the game, have the ability to teach players new skills, bring them up to high fitness levels, prepare the team mentally and WIN GAMES. WE recommend that you take coaching classes and become certified to coach competitive youth. Often extensive travel is involved and expenses run high. Sponsors are needed, special team uniforms and equipment as well as training tools are essential. This is like running a business. Typically this involves a team to run the team, such as Head coach, assistant coach(es), team trainer and manager. As coach you are responsible to design the season program, both on and off the field. But your role during practices and during the year changes. Your assistants should run drills and you should observe, evaluate and corrct. You need to think about team development as well as individual development.

You are now managing (for performance, for satisfaction, for enjoyment and for success) several diverse groups: Your players, your coaching staff, your parents, your club administration, your sponsors, your club administration and your game officials.

You need to evaluate all aspects of soccer specific fitness and design programs to improve or maintain the correct level. You need to know about motivation, constructive criticism, reading people, communicating, conflict resolution and problem solving.

You need to know how to evaluate skills of already highly skilled players and how to design programs to improve them.

You need to know tactics and gane strategies and be able to advance your team, get it to be flexible and adaptable to opponents and game situations. You need to mold individualists into a cohesive unit on the field.

You need to be a public person with PR skills and programs. You need to be a fundraiser, organizer and travel agent - tasks can be delegated, the decisions and design of programs are yours.

As you coach adult competitive teams all the way to the pro level, everything we said about coaching competitive youth teams just gets bigger. Budgets, staff, programs, hours spent, complexities, pressure - everything gets agnified. You need to ensure that your skills and abilities grow with the requirements, ideally, stay ahead of them.

This is why knowing and having played the game isn't enough anymore. You need to know how to manage groups of people, know about physical fitness training and evaluation, mental training and sports psychology, communication, managing money and season schedules, know how to elevate the performance of team and individuals.

This is not meant to be an all inclusive coaching profile discussion. We hope it gives you a good idea of what is involved at various levels. We hope that if you feel lacking in certain aspects, that this article encourages you to seek out the appropriate coaching development program for you.

Winning Soccer Games - Mental Training

2008-12-31T13:17:00.000-08:00

The mental aspects of soccer are the third corner stone of winning soccer games. Previous articles dealt with technical and tactical skills, the fourth and last article will deal with physical fitness.

Mental preparation is more than a pep talk before the game. It is a strategic and comprehensive program to get individual players and the team to perform at its best. We will outline all of the elements a coach needs to consider in developing the appropriate mental strategies. Examples will be provided to enhance certain points and concepts.

The People Involved

The following individuals or groups need to be considered:

Individual Players

Each player has their own ideal performance state (IPS), the mental state that allows them to perform best. As coach, you need to identify what that state is. The level to which you need explore this depends on player age, competitive environment and team goals, factors which will be reviewed further down. Suffice it to say that the IPS of a 5 year old in a fun league might just be to feel happy with his friends while that of a college athlete prior to a championship game might be an intense state provoked by visualizing his most aggressive play in the last game.

The Team

Although players have their own IPS, they need to function together as a team. Team dynamics play a key role. How do you get a group of individuals to work together and help each other as a team? As coach, you need to sense the "team spirit" at any one time and you must decide what you want it to be like. For example, if your women's regional team performs best after a 10 minute "social time" prior to warm up, then build that into the schedule. If your team responds to loud and vocal pep talks, deliver them appropriately at the right time.

You - The Coach

How you act and project yourself means more than the words you say. If you want the team to approach a game in a relaxed fashion, you must project a relaxed state of mind. Do not be tight, stern, clenching, rather usem open body language, smile and speak calmly. If you build your team on respecting each other and others, don't be the one yelling and screaming at the referee.

Game Officials

This one is easy. Game officials hardly ever change a call and never respond well to an irate coach. So regardless of how you feel about the official's performance, remain calm. Your best opportunity to take positive influence is to approach the official calmly and factually at half time. If the official doesn't want to talk to you, suck it up and move on.

Parents

If you are coaching non-adults, you likely will deal with the parents of your players. The key to remember is that most parents look out for the interest of their kids. That is natural, they don't have your insight into each player, the team dynamics, etc. Be prepared to prepare the parents. Have a pre-season meeting laying out expectations and accept their input. Lay some ground rules (such as "I will not let the line-up be determined by parents") and set boundaries (appropriate behaviour by parents during games is required). As the season goes on, take time to communicate with parents as a group, as individuals - in writing and in person. Always take time to listen to a patrent's concern.

Media

At high levels of competition, you may deal with media after games, during games or even before games. Develop a strategy of how you want to deal with media - short and factual, humurously, sternly, not at all. Be sure that your media message is consistent with the rest of your messages.

You may ask what all these external people have to do with the mental preparation of your players and team. The connector is the consistency of your message and your behaviour. Your players will observe you and will get feedback from what you say to others and how you behave. If you want your team to play a confident and composed game, then you better portray a confident and composed image at all times.

Player Age

Mental training for different age groups needs to be different. We break these into four groups:

kids (4-8)
youth (9-12)
teens (13-18)
adults (19+)

There some general mental training concepts for each age group:

Kids (4-8)

Kids just want to have fun. Your job is to motivate them to come to practices and games, and to come back next year. Ignite a passion for the sport in them. Engage kids in fun games that at the same time teach the required skills. Do not run drill that have them standing idle a lot. Let them play different position in games - do not shoe-horn them into certain roles. Add lots of social time around the required practice and game events. If it's hot, have a water gun fight duriong or after or in the middle of a practice. Bring snacks for games. Have a pool party. They need to feel good about the whole soccer experience. be mindful of the fragile egos of the little ones. Don't ever make fun of the chubby boy or treat the shy girl by putting her in the lime light.

Youth (9-12)

Here you can be a little more structured in your approach. You will likely have a mix of those who have played for some years and those who are new to the game (in a recreational environment). You may also have a team of U12 in a competitive league. At this age, the concept of winning and success is taking shape in addition to having fun. The seeds of the idea that winning is a big part of fun are sown. You still ned to be sensitive about the emotional state of individuals and how you deal with them. You can start to talk to these youn athletes about the goals they have. You can observe how they respond to individual input and feedback from you. You can engage the team in short conversations about setting some goals for the season. They will start to understand your review of the last game and how you see them do better or as good the next time. They will develop an interest of how peractices relate to games. Team harmony is still developed through social interactions outside a game or practice event.

Teens (13-18)

Arguably the most difficult group of athletes to deal with. Why? You are dealing with all the joys and challenges of puberty in addition to trying to advance their soccer skills. Hormones are running interference, rebellions are common. Expect to be challenged by individuals or little groups that may form within a team. You need to be very aware of your individuals and what goes on intheir lives and you need to decide how you will deal with them. If you're too tough, they may rebel and quit on you (mentally). If you're too lenient, they may take advantage of you and goof around. Your sensors and diplomatic skills are most taxed with this group. A middle of the road approach often works. Show you team respect. Lay out the ground rules and get their buy-in. Be firm when you need to be and relax when you can afford it. Explain a lot about what you are doing and why so that they will respect you. They will look at your competence and respond to you based on their conclusion.

Adults (19+)

Most likely you will be coaching adults in a competitive setting. Even more so than with teens, your skills and competence will be scrutinized. Engage your team in your thinking, your approach, your strategies for the team. Set goals together and treat them as contracts. The focus here can and should be on individual and team performance, how to optimize each. They understand intuitively that winning is fun and losing is not. Develop communication strategies with your team dealing with losses, winning streaks. The IPS should be explored in depth and each player should have a plan to get into the best mental state before each game. Address the team before a practice, after a practice, before and after games and review objectives going in and results obtained. Be professional with your players and tam and do not over coach them. They don't need endless demonstrations of a drill, they should have the capacity to understand and respond to a quick correction. If you are close to the age of your athletes, avoid the trap of wanting to become a "friend" of every player. Maintain a close and cordial distance. Have rules about behaviour, public conduct and be clear what the consequences of breaking the rules are. Encourage direct communication between individuals, the entire team and you. Choose mature captains and use them to buffer the team from you so that you don't have to deal with all issues all the time.

Competitive Level

We touched on it earlier in some of the examples. Competitive level of your team sets the tone for expectations and mental training. If you coach teens in a recreational league that does not practice or rarely practices, don't treat the team as if they were playing for the world cup. The less competitive the league, the more the elements of fun and social interaction take precedence. If you are a coach who is driven to win, dp not coach recreational soccer. On the other hand, if you are not driven to win, do not coach teams that compete at regional or national levels. This seems obvious but failure to recognize the competitive environment has led to many frustrating and unsuccessful situations.

Gender

Coaching male and female athletes is different. Books have been written on this topic and we couldn't do it justice here. At the risk of offending someone, we will state some observations:

Females need social time with each other, Team bonding and harmony are important. Developing relationships throughout the season is a definite goal of most. Public criticism of females is an absolute no-no. When the team is in harmony, individuals perform best, so spend time on creating that harmony and positive environment with females. Females also tend to respect the coach more and are easier to instruct. They appear to try harder to imlement instructions and are less likely to improvise. Tactically they are easy to coach because they seem to have a built-in capacity to support each other on the field.

Males also need social time, but that social time is closely related to the game of soccer, alot of it occurs after the game. Males work more as individuals and can be more concerned with individual performance than team play. You need to be astute in providing lots of opportunity for individual improvement. Take more time practicing tactics and team play. Males generally can handle direct and to the point feedback, positive or negative. they are motivated by opportunities for improvement. They will require more discipline, particularly in the teen age group.

Situation

Have a strategy for preparing your team for practice, for a game, for a road trip. Different situations require different game plans in terms of mental preparation. Discuss with your team on how to deal with media. Prepare for half time speeches during a great and an awful game. How do you get the most out in what is left in a game and the next game. Consider short and long term. Be prepared for dealing with unfriendly opposition (players, coaches and fans).

Strategy

How do you pull all of it together to have the best mental training for your team? Develop a strategy !!!

Consider all of the factors discussed earlier and then:

understand the vision of the organization (club, league) in which you are coaching and be consistent with that vision.
develop a specific mission for your team, with the input of all critical stakeholders (players, parents, club officials)
Set specific short term and long term goals for your team. Here, engage mostly the players because they need to make it happen.
Develop strategies for yourself, each player, the team on how to best deliver the goals. Follow through on implementing the strategies.

Above all, be consistent, fair, respectful and professional - and communicate at the right frequency delivering the appropriate messages at the right time.

Our Practice Books And Resources

Winning Soccer Games - Fast Break Soccer

2008-11-08T21:13:00.000-08:00

We are pleased to introduce you to a revolutionary new soccer training system:

FAST BREAK SOCCER

The practices, drills, coaching points and game applications are designed for your team to score more goals and win more games. Check out this great resource by clicking on the book or the text link below:

Fast Break Soccer

Winning Soccer Games - Tactical Ability

2008-10-10T08:10:00.000-07:00

The last article dealt with technical skills of individuals. Today we will look at tactical factors that will contribute to your team's success. All of this information and more is dealt with extensively in our book:

Formations

Every team needs a basic formation or system of play. These are referred to by numbering, such as 4-4-2, 3-5-2, 4-2-3-1, etc. In a three number description, the first number specifies the number of defenders, the second specifies the number of midfielders and the third the number of forwards. In a four number system the second and third numbers specify defensive and offensive midfielders respectively.

Picking the right formation for your team is critical. There are two main philosophies on how to pick a formation. The first is based on the coach's preference and expertise. the coach picks a formation and then recruits or trains players to play it. The second is based on the abilities of the players available and the likely competition. Here the coach looks at skills and tactical understanding and the relative strengths of the team and then picks a formation. Players still need to be trained to play it well.

The first method works well in situation where coaches have time and ability to recruit players who know the coach's system of preference. The second method works well in situations where a coach has a limited numbers of players to choose from, a short pre-season for training and limited recruiting options.

The book mentionned above goes into more detail as to the type of players needed for each system, coaching requirements, strengths and weaknesses.

Individual Tactical Understanding

Individuals need to understand their role on the field and the roles of their team mates. Let's look at some key elements with examples:

A central defender needs to know when to mark, when to join the attack, when to hold the ball, when to clear it, when to pass it. They need to recognize the spaces available for the opponent and how to close them down. they need to recognize spaces for themselves when they have the ball and passing options. They need to know when to cover for an overlapping outside defender, when to go up for a set play (corner) and when to stay back. they need to recognize the opponent's system of play and strengths and weaknesses and adjust their own play and that of other players if necessary. They need to communicate frequently, clearly and directly (note - tie in to mental fitness).

Outside defenders require similar understanding.

Midfielders are the engine of your team. They need to be available to receive balls from defenders and they need to supply the strikers with quality scoring opportunities. They need to recognize space and time for their own opportunities to go in for a shot. When transitioning to defending, they need to hustle back and challenge the other team (i.e. shut off their engine) and close spaces. they are two way players and transition from offense to defense and vice versa more than anyone else. They need to have the ability to perceive plays, players and space aroud them, to anticipate opportunities and runs and to deliver the ball accordingly. They need to make decisions quickly (do I hold, do I pass quickly, do I have space to run with the ball). Central and outside midfielders have different responsibilities and roles.

Strikers need to be keenly aware of their position relative to defenders to take advantage of space and to avoid off-sides. Their main tactical ability relates to timing of runs and direction of runs. they need to have extremely quick decision making ability and anticipate play. The main focus is to get into good scoring positions. Also, they need to be able to defend by pressuring opposing defenders in possession. The key is to decide when to challenge hard and when to drop back and wait for the opponent to play. They need to recognize opportunities to hold the ball and lay it off to an overlapping midfielder or defender. When they receive the ball they must be aware of available space and decide if they have room to turn and then take a defender on 1v1 or pass. If they are marked tight, then turning into the defender likely results in loss of possession. Strikers also need to know when to retreat, i'e. hold the ball and dribble toward own goal to look for support or create space to turn.

Goalkeepers are in the best position to see the play in front of them. They can vocally help everyone on their team with positional play. In terms of goalie specific tactics, distribution of the ball is the most often used tactic. Do I punt the ball deep, straight or to the side. Do I throw it quickly and long, wide or central? Do I roll it out to a defender to build an attack. Do I ask for the ball back on my feet. If I receive it back, do I kick it out or pass it out? How much time and pressure is there? Same is for goal kicks. On set plays, goalies need to position their defenders, walls and organize marking.

Individuals Combining As Units

We define units as the group of defenders, midfielders and strikers. In essence, each team is made up of these three units. Coaches and players need to know how individuals within the units interact with each other. We alluded to some of these interactions above. Just a few more examples:

If an outside defenders needs to step up and challenge an opposing overlapping midfielder, the central defender needs to pick up whoever the outside defender was marking. the other defenders need to recognize that movement and shift positions to provide cover. Playing with the off-side trap is probably the area of soccer requiring the highest level of synchronization. One of the outside defenders needs to take charge because they can have a view across the defensive line and communicate to all others to move up and get "in line". Central defenders would have to look to both sides constantly to organize the line - not possible.

Midfielders need to know when to cover for each other when one or more are joining the attack. They need to be aware of where the gaps are when transitioning to defense. For example, if a central midfielder went deep for a shot and the opposing team transitions fast through the middle, then an outside midfielder may need to shift to the middle to cover.

Strikers need to know when to make diagonal and crossover runs with each other to lose defenders. they need to know if they should flick a ball on to a sprinting team mate, or if they should play a diagonal ball wide for their partner making a diagonal run.

Units Combining As a Team

The final step of integration is to get the three units combining with each other. For example, outside defenders can make runs all the way to the opposing end and cross the ball, acting as wingers. When that happens, a midfielder needs to be prepared to cover if the opponent breaks out quickly. Strikers may have to follow an aggressive opposing defender all the way into their own defending third in a situation when the other team is pressing hard. that may mean that on your team's next transition forward a midfielder takes that striker's role so that your whole team doesn't have to wait for the striker to move back up.

There are endless examples and we only present a few to illustrate the concepts.

Game Tactics

Bringing it all together in a game is what makes the difference. Players and coaches need tio work together in developing a game plan based on your team's abilities and the anticipated play of the opponent. Teams must be flexible and adaptable. If the original game plan doesn't work, the coaches and the players need to communicate "on the fly" to make adjustments. In really great teams, the players will do it on their own if the coach isn't seeing what they see. They need to change formations within a game, they need to change positions within their units and between units.

Coaches and players need to be on the same page regarding the objectives. Do we need to score a goal or defend the current score?

Teams that are better prepared tactically will win more games.

Winning Soccer Games - Technical Skills

2008-08-24T17:54:00.001-07:00

Today we will start breaking down one of the four soccer building blocks identified in our last article - technical skills. Our focus is on out players at this time. Goalkeepers will be mentionned in a generic sense, although they deserve the same treatment in all four building blocks. We will deal with goalkeepers in detail in the future.
The key technical soccer skills are:

ball receiving (ball control)
passing
dribbling (running with ball)
1v1 moves
shooting
heading
tackling
jockeying
goalkeeping (generic comment)

Breaking these skills down further:

Ball Receiving:

approach to ball (attacking ball, waiting for ball, running into space for ball, jumping for header)
first touch (stopping ball, directing ball for second touch to dribble, shoot or pass)
decision making (prior to receiving, decide what to do - this is a tie in to the mental fitness building block)
body position
part of body to be used

Passing

weight of pass (i.e. strength) appropriate to distance of target
direction
on ground/off ground
straight or bent
cross
to target or into space

Dribbling

keeping ball close to foot or pushing it ahead
speed
head up
parts of the foot (instep, outside, laces)

1v1 Moves

body fakes
direction
speed
deceleration going into move, acceleration coming out
change of direction or straight
type of move (stepover, scissors, cut back, Cruyff, etc., etc.) - each player should develop a couple

Shooting

picking target (look up before shot)
approach to ball (angle, backswing, hip rotation, striking ball, follow-through)
power (hard shot or more placed shot)
part of foot
low or high shot
straight shot or bending ball
dead ball or moving ball
left or right foot

Heading

approach to ball (jump, stand, dive, momentum generating arch-back)
part of head (forehead straight for power, side of forehead for direction)
target - high, low, straight, side

Tackling

angle of approach
standing tackle or slide tackle
eye on ball
timing of tackle

Jockeying

distance from player
angle
speed of movement
eye on ball

Goalkeeping

agility
flexibility
leg strength
vertical leap
reaction speed
reflex
diving position
ready position
communication
catching
foot saves
ball control

How do all these tie in to winning games?

First, you need establish a benchmark for your team relative to age group and level of competition.

Each age group has a certain level of skill that players should be able to perform. For example, 6 year olds don't need to be able to do diving headers, 16 year olds do. Establish the level of skill expectation for your age group. How do you do this? Typically coaching certification programs will lay this out for you. Alternatively, research books and the internet. You can look at our coaching books and web site and the drills give you the expectation for each age group. Finally, you can travel in your area and observe games and practices to see what players are actually capable of.

You may want to make a chart for your team. List all skill areas of interest down the left hand column. The next two columns are labeled basic and advanced. The next columns have the names of your players. You now have a grid. Under the basic and advanced columns write in the level of performance for each skill. For example:

Short Pass (5-15 m)

Basic: within 30 cm of target, moderate difficulty for receiver to control.

Advanced: right on target, easy to control.

Then rate each player on a scale from 0 (cannot perform basic skill) to 10 (can perform at an advanced level consistently).

Then look at your results and see in which skill area your team is weak in total.

Now observe your competition and rate them.

You now know which skills your team needs to improve gainst the "absolute" benchmark and against the competition. They may not be the same. You now need to decide which gaps to fill first based on what you think will lead to the best improvement of your players, team in total, and competitive results. A suggestion is to start with those skills that rank below both the benchmark and the competition.

You will want to consider the linkage to the other three building blocks. For example if your 1v1 moves are weak, but your game approach is to play a fast/short passing game, you may not need to improve 1v1 moves a lot. We will deal with this linkage in future articles.
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Soccer Coaching - How To Win Games

2008-07-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

We received a very simple question via e-mail from an interested soccer fan:

How do teams like Real Madrid, Man U. win games?

This soccer fan had researched everywhere and did not find an answer. So we asked ourselves: How do they win? Is there a secret recipe? Is there a magic formula?

After some thought we decided that the four fundamental building blocks of soccer provide the answer. these blocks are:

1. Technical Skills

2. Tactical Ability

3. Physical Fitness

4. Mental Fitness

We believe that the team, in any contest, that on that given day exhibits the better combination of those four areas will win the game. Yes, there is luck on occasion, but we believe that less than 5% of games are won by luck.

No team will ever deliver 100% in each of the four areas at any one time, so it is the relative strengths and the total combination that determines the outcome.

In future articles, we will examine in depth each of the four building blocks and how they work together. We will look at training to overcome specific weaknesses in your own team and how to react to the opponent, who may be better in some or all areas.

Stay tuned !!

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Soccer Coaching Learnings From Euro 2008

2008-06-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

Now that Euro 2008 has ended with a desrving victor, Spain, it is useful to examine any new trends and learnings from the tournament. Our team at http://www.soccerpracticebooks.com/ watched and analyzed every single game of the tournament. Here are our observations:

Formations

The trend away from the standard 4-4-2 continued to more teams playing with one striker, mostly in a 4-2-3-1, with the occasional 4-1-4-1. The idea is that the three offensive midfielders can alternate in the support of the lone striker and therefore create a more variable and unpredictable scoring threat. Germany is a key example of this with any of Ballack, Schweinsteiger or Podolski joining Klose in the final attacking plays. The downside is that if the opponent shuts down these midfielders, then the lone striker is a bit lost. Also, there can be a loss of variability because in a two striker system one of them often goes wide for a cross and doing so opens up the space in the middle. Finally, when opposing defenders have the ball and start playing out of the back, then one striker isn't always enough to pressurize the defense and not always did we see the offensive midfielders step up. They tended to focus on the opposing midfielders.

The two defensive midfielders provide backing for the attacking midfielders during transition to defense, and have responsibility to start the attack from their own end.

The 4-1-4-1 is mostly a response to the 4-2-3-1 putting a defensive midfielder to cover the central attacking midfielder from the 4-2-3-1.

In our view, the system you choose depends on the ability of the players you have. What is important is that your team stays disciplined in all areas of the field, that the transition to defense and to offense works and that the attacking play is variable enough to cause problems for the opponent. We advocate that any team is capable of playing more than one system and is able to adjust in a game when the starting formation doesn't work.

Tactics

The trend to minimize ball contacts continued. There was a lot of one touch and two touch soccer being played. It seemed like the more skilled the players, the less touches on the ball and the more quick passes. Exception being when they went into 1v1 situations. Some game statistics had over 600 passes per game.

One or two touch passing is not to be confused with tactics, however. Some teams played a lot of one touch passes in a slow build style, looking for opportunities for final penetrating passes or combinations into the scoring zones (Spain and Holland), we call this horizontal/vertical soccer. Other teams played as quickly as possible into the attacking third, we call this vertical soccer (Germany and Russia). Again, it is a matter of choice for the coach.

There was a general preference for quick transition play with the entire team moving fast. Almost all teams transitioned to defense very quickly, getting all players but one striker goalside as fast as possible. Transition to offense was equally fast, however the horizontal/vertical teams only broke fast on counter attack opportunities, otherwise they played the possession game. Vertical teams broke fast to the other half, no matter what.

Skills

overall ball skills are improving everywhere, and countries that had a lull in the 1990's are producing higher skilled players again, Germany being the prime example. Like aerobic training is the foundation for speed, so fundamental skills are the foundation for tactics. We always recommend, regardless of age of players, to train skills.

We offer soccer practice books that are up to date on all these development, check them out:

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Soccer Coaching - Complete Player Development

2008-05-31T08:09:00.001-07:00

There are four areas coaches need to train in order to develop individual players and hence their teams:

Technical Skills
Tactical Skills
Physical Fitness
Mental Fitness

The coaching approach and time spent on each of these areas in practice and throughout the season depends on the age and competitive level of the team. below are some suggestions.

Technical Skills

Ball control (receiving and controlling), passing, finishing, heading, tackling, etc. are the fundamental skills each soccer player needs. The younger the player, the more time needs to be spent in practice and outside of practice.

Ages 4-8: 80% of practice time
Ages 9-12: 60% of practice time
Ages 13 +: 40% of practice time
Competitive: 25% of practice time

As players get older and more competitive, the intensity and complexity of drills must be increased.

Tactical Skills

Areas of training are combining with team mates, playing in units (defenders, midfielders, attackers), transitioning and combining between units, playing in a specified formation as a team.

Ages 4-8: 5%
Ages 9-12: 20%
Ages 13+: 30%
Competitive: 40%

The requirements for the youngest group should start with the basic idea of scoring goals and preventing goals and the direction of the goals.

Physical Fitness

An aerobic base is essential for all soccer athletes. With the youngest groups this is easiest developed in fun games that involve some running. As players get older, we believe fitness is trained best in conjunction with technical plays, sprint and shoot drills for example. Only at the competitive, senior and professional level would fitness training without soccer balls be appropriate. This would involve strength development (weight room), resistance sprints (held back by elastic cord or parachute), etc.

Ages 4-8: 10%
Ages 9-12: 15%
Ages 13+: 20%
Competitive: 20%

Mental Fitness:

The mental fitness aspects again vary as children and players develop. The key for the very young ones is to get them to enjoy the sport, develop social interaction with others and instill a love for the sport such that they want to come back. With the next age group, coaches need to start on focus, discipline, communication and interaction for the purpose of achieving team results. In these younger groups, the coach builds mental training into practices in such a way that the players are passively trained, i.e. they may not be aware that they are being trained. Monitoring behavioural results and adjusting techniques are the coach's job.

As we progress to older age groups and more competitive play, the coach still develops the mental training program, however, players are now actively engaged. Open discussion about expectation, measurements, results and improvement plans are held with individuals and the team. Players receive their own exercises such as visualization, goal setting, performance self monitoring, team environment building events, etc.

Ages 4-8: 5% - largely within drills and team pizza party
Ages 9-12: 5% - some instruction, team events
Ages 13+: 10%
Competitive: 15%

All of these elements are carefully trained and balanced in the practices you can obtain by clicking on the links below:

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soccer drills - effective design

2008-04-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

What Makes Excellent Soccer Drills?

Excellent and effective soccer drills must support the theme of the practice session. They must be targetted in complexity towards the age group and the competitive level of your team and players. They must motivate the players. Young kids need fun motivational games, older and more competitive players need more challenging exercises since they are motivated by accomplishment and competition.

Effective soccer drills must be easy to explain and demonstrate. They must be designed for the space and equipment available and must be adaptable as the players go through them (add or reduce the complexity). They must always show improvement in players performance from beginning to the end of the drill.

Excellent soccer drills must be relevant to game situations and players must easily understand how they can translate what they learned to a game. You can test this in the end-of-practice scrimmage. They must keep players' attention and interest and must keep players moving with a ball as much as possible and must always end with a success.

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Soccer Tactics - Transition Play

2008-03-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

In previous articles we have discussed the relative benefits of a possession vs a fast break approach to the game. Today, we'd like to briefly review what we believe to be the "engine" of modern soccer tactics:

Transition Play

Stepping back for a second, the aim of the game of soccer hasn't changed since its inception: Score goals and prevent the opposition from scoring on you. Sounds simple, but with today's athletic ability, technical ability and sophisticated training methods, its not so simple anymore, or is it?

Looking at the game from a different perspective, one can say that soccer is a game of constant change of possession. So one team is always defending trying to win the ball, while the other wants to move the ball into scoring position and score. Unless the team in possession scores, there will be a change of possession. After change of possession, both teams will need to transition:

The team that lost the ball now needs to transition from attacking to defending, trying to force a turnover. The team that was defending now needs to transition to attacking. How best to do this?

The simple answer in today's soccer is:

AS FAST AS POSSIBLE

Speed is of the essence. Looking at it from both teams' point of view:

Transitioning to Defense:

You want your team to immediately pressure the ball and not let the opponent get organized into an attacking mode. This is best done by putting a challenging and a support player on the opponent with the ball and everyone else to close down passing options by marking players and closing down passing lanes. This requires mental and physical speed. Mentally, your players need to react extremely quickly to a change of possession, perceive the position and movement of opponents and anticipate possible plays so they can prevent them. This requires lots of training sessions, co-ordination of positional responsibilities and communication. Physically, players need to be able to get to their destinations as fast as possible, sprinting and not jogging is the requirement.

Transitioning to Offense:

Your team has won possession of the ball. It should already know what the opponent wants, i.e. see comments above. Your goal is to get the ball moving towards the opponent's goal as quickly as possible, before the other team has done its job of marking and closing down options. In this transition, your players also need to react quickly, perceive where the spaces and opponents movements are, anticipate plays and make the runs and passes quickly. This requires technical accuracy (passing in particular), physical speed and mental speed.

If you train your team to be fast in both transitions, faster than any opponent you can imagine, and train to execute accurately at high pace, you will be successful.

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Soccer Goalkeeper Evaluation

2008-03-03T14:26:00.000-08:00

How can you determine if one goalie is better than another? Whom should you pick after team tryouts are complete? Who should start?

Here is one method to objectively evaluate your goalkeepers. It is based on a weighted point system. Give your keeper a score for each attribute between 0 and the maximum number of points for that attribute. Add up all the scores for each keeper and you have a rating based on complete soccer goalkeeping skills. If you would like to assess different values to each attribute based on your preference, feel free to do so.

Soccer Goalie Attribute Rating Systems:

Reaction and reflexes on goal line (20 points)

Domination of penalty box - catching crosses (20 points)

1 v 1 ability (speed, angles, save %) and challenging (20 points)

Organizing the team from the back - vocal (10 points)

Playing with confidence and being a presence (10 points)

Flexibility (10 points)

Upper body strength (10 points)

Total Maximum Score: 100 points

How do you assign the scores? You can use your observational ability over time or you can use specific measurements. For example, count the number of saves a keeper makes on the line facing shots from various distances and angles. Number of crosses caught in traffic and without pressure (low and high). 1v1 situations saved. Game observation regarding team organization and presence. Flexibility tests and bench pressing strength.

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English Soccer Goalkeepers

2008-02-04T16:29:00.000-08:00

This will be one of our shorter articles, but perhaps one of our most controversial ones. One may ask why England is struggling at the national team level, indicated most recently by failure to qualify for Euro 2008.

One theory is to look at the number of English players in the Premier League. In 1992, 75% of all players were from England. In 2007 that dropped to 38%.

Now that may not be unusual in the top leagues today; Germany has a high % of imports in the Bundesliga, and they have enjoyed moderate success. Italy, France and Spain also have imports in their leagues, but more nationals??

Now here is the interesting difference between England and Germany, for example. Premier League teams have an unusual high % of import goalkeepers. And that is where we will challenge your thinking, if you're an England fan. Could it be that the goalkeepers are more important than experts give them credit for?

Where are England's Kahn, Lehmann or Buffon? Aren't critical goalkeeper mistakes in world cups (Seaman), qualifiers and friendlies becoming routine? Why start a national rookie against Croatia?

Our suggestion: ENGLAND - DEVELOP WORLD CLASS GOALKEEPERS.

Godspeed

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Soccer 1v1 Skills - A Necessity

2008-01-17T16:34:00.000-08:00

We want to share a statistic from a major European soccer league with you. Tracking close to 150 games they measured the amount of 1v1 situations each of the teams won in a game. They then correlated the 1v1 success to wins, ties and losses. The results are:

The team that won the majority of 1v1 battles:

won 48% of the games
tied 23 % of the games
lost 29% of the games

One way of looking at this statistic is to say that if you win the majority of 1v1 situations in soccer, you have a better than 70% chance of not losing the game.

We think this is incentive for coaches to train 1v1 situations. Our soccer drills and practice plans emphasize 1v1. Also, click on the soccer skills training link below to access the Coerver Coaching system and other soccer skill training resources.

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Soccer Systems of Play - A Global Perspecive

2007-12-27T09:43:00.000-08:00

Today we want to focus on a debate that has been dividing soccer clubs, soccer coaches and even entire countries. The question is:

Should there be a unified system of play that is taught at all age groups, across all soccer clubs across a whole country? Or, should each team, coach and club be left to develop the system of their choice?

The Unified Approach

If an entire country adopts a unfied approach from the ground up, then players arriving at the national team will now the system to perfection and make the team stronger. For example, if a country chooses a 4-4-2 system with two central defensive midfielders, then starting from age 9 or so, all teams can train that system. Coaches will be taught how to develop players and as kids move up in age, they will be very familiar with their roles on the field. This allows coaches to focus on individual technique development, fine-tuning the system, teaching targeted variations. Coaches will not have to spend time retraining new kids arriving on the team with whatever system the coach prefers. Imagine you are taking on a competitive U17 team and everyone knows how to play their position. Or taking on a college team?

The downside is that teams become predictable to their opponents. Teams will find it difficult to adapt to a different system when the game situation calls for it.

The Individual Approach

At the youth level, players have different talents and skills and quite often the coaches have no influence over who shows up to play on the team. Since everyone wants the team to perform at its best, the coach needs to pick a system of play that best suits the abilities of the players and is most effective in their competitive environment. Therefore coaches train each team uniquely. The next year, new players arrive and a new system may be required. This keeps coaches thinking and trying to optimize performance. Players will learn different positions and different systems and become very adaptable. By the time kids reach adulthood, they should be able to quickly adapt to any system.

The downside is that you may develop generations of players who know a little bit about everything and aren't expert at any one thing.

The Answer ?

We will not pretend to know which is the better way. We do propose that each country and club within a country or region thinks about this topic and makes a strategic decision as to how they want to approach player and team development. It could be a unified approach, an individual approach or a hybrid of the two. Once a strategy has been selected, stick with it and implement it with discipline.

Let us all be mindful, that the fundamental goals of soccer have not changed:

Prevent the other team from scoring goals
Score goals yourself

Then develop the strategies and programs best suited for your environment.

At Soccer Drills and Soccer Practice Plans we offer soccer drills and complete soccer practice plans that fit either philosophy. Our soccer drills are designed to develop players and teams techniques and tactical understanding regardless of system used. Our Soccer Systems of Play book introduces all modern systems of play for you to choose from. Check it out.

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soccer drills

2007-12-08T11:13:00.000-08:00

As we approach the new year it is time to plan your 2008 season. We are here to help by offering state of the art soccer coaching resources. Regardless of age group and skill level of your team, we have top quality soccer drills and soccer practice plans for you. That includes specialized goalkeeper training sessions. We also offer clear, up to date, explanation of modern formations and systems of play. Fully diagrammed with coaching tips. Click on any of the links below to get more info.

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soccer skills - ball control

soccer ball control drills

2007-11-02T16:41:00.000-07:00

It is never too late to improve your soccer skills, however, the older a player is, the more difficult it becomes. It has been said that you need 4000 touches on the ball per week from early childhood on to develop excellent soccer skills.

We have developed a progressive skill development program for a team we are coaching right now. The focus is on ball control and passing. Both are individual development programs that are ideally suited for indoor gym training, but can also be used outdoors.

The concept is to challenge players through 10 levels of skill which they must achieve to demonstrate competence. Today, we want to share with you ball control skill development. If you combine the exercises with the idea of 4000 touches per week, then 2-3 hours per week doing these exercises will give you sufficient touches. The drills today are designed to play balls off a wall from various distances, various angles and various height of contact on the wall.

These exercises can be done outdoors by playing off walls. You may want to use rubber balls so you don't damage high quality and expensive regular balls. Players will improve weight of passing, ball receiving skills and 1/2 touch control. Other benefits are improving anticipation, movement without ball, reaction, decision making and aerobic conditioning.

Note: The number in the "passes" column is the number of consecutive successful passes following all rules a player must complete to move on to the next level.

Please click on the link below to open the program, print it and enjoy the improved skill of your players.

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Soccer Goal Scoring - Build-Up

2007-10-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

A major international soccer league reported on where and how goals were scored. Over 400 goals were recorded and we will provide an analysis of the results, and what it means from a coaching point of view.

What was the build-up to scoring goals?

Goals in the study were scored after:

controlled attacking plays (slow or fast build-ups): 43%

set plays (corners, free kicks,etc.): 26%

counter attacks: 13%

turnovers: 10%

2nd efforts after set plays: 8%

Coaching Implications

The stats emphasize the needs to practice three key areas:

1. a strategy of play leading to scoring chances, be it slow possession, fast break, combination of above,etc.

2. set plays and second efforts after

3. turnovers/quick counters

Too many times coaches emphasize only one or two of the above strategies, thus limiting a good % of chances and making the opponent's defending job easier.

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Soccer Nutrition

2007-10-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

THE ULTIMATE NUTRITION GUIDE For Soccer Families With Hectic Lifestyles!
Answers the questions of what? when? where? and how much? to maximize your nutritional patterns for soccer performance
Click on the book below for all the details:

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Soccer Goalkeeper Warm-Up

Soccer Goalkeeper Warm-Up

2007-09-15T05:45:00.000-07:00

Far too often goalkeepers are left on their own while the team goes through their pre-game or practice warm-up and stretching routines. Maybe someone will throw some balls or take some shots at the goalie. At www.soccerpracticebooks.com we believe that a proper soccer goalie warm-up is essential. It gets your keeper game ready and sharp, therefore being in the best mental and physical condition to make the saves that count. Below is a soccer goalie warm-up plan for you to use. Click on the link and a PDF file will open in a new window.

Make sure the warm-up ends with a good save by the goalie !!!!

We offer an entire book of soccer goalkeeping practice plans and drills:

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Soccer Practice Special Offers

Soccer Tryout

2007-09-02T10:50:00.000-07:00

www.soccerpracticebooks.com has developed a quick tryout package for soccer teams. This package is ideally suited for situations with limited time prior to season start. The package includes information forms, evaluation charts and three tryout sessions. It is available as a free bonus with any soccer book combo deal available at:

Soccer 4-4-2 Zonal System

2007-08-30T04:29:00.000-07:00

The following is an example of systems explained in our Systems Of Play book. In the book are diagrams showing basic positioning for defending, transition, attacking.

Soccer Systems Of Play

OVERVIEW

This system is very popular and used by such great teams as the Dutch National and Manchester United. It is a very effective and versatile attacking system based on coming down the sides as well as spreading the defense and then penetrating through the center. With overlapping outside defenders and midfielders the 4-4-2 quickly converts to a 4-2-4 or 2-4-4 putting immense pressure on the opposing defensive units. The vulnerability of the 4-4-2 lies in its flat back defense which can be torn apart by diagonal runs through its center.

TEAM REQUIREMENTS

Teams employing this 4-4-2 system must have outside defenders and midfielders who are in exceptional aerobic shape as they will both make deep runs to attack and then need to chase back in the team's transition to defense. The zonal system requires a high degree of verbal and visual communication, particularly when defending, to ensure that opposing attackers are challenged and covered. This system relies on the off-side trap and that is where defenders need to be alert to ensure they step
up just before the ball is played in behind them. This requires almost automatic mechanisms because there is little time to provide each other with instructions.
When attacking, the outside players as well as the forwards all need to be able to play 1v1 and place accurate crosses into the penalty area. Both forwards and central midfielders must have goal scoring technique and capability for heading the ball.
Inside midfielders are the strategists who read the play, decide when to come back to support the defenders, where to distribute the ball and when to make penetrating runs down the middle. They require excellent vision and ability to read the position.

COACHING REQUIREMENTS

First and foremost, coaches need lots of time before the season starts to train the key elements of this system. Emphasis needs to be on keeping players in their zones and on getting them to make the right decisions regarding challenging penetrating opponents. Much work will be required to coordinate the off-side trap, which again requires verbal and visual communication. Players with ability to beat opponents 1v1 on the wings with the ability to play effective crosses into the target area need to be developed. Aerobic conditioning and speed training are a requirement, articularly for the outside players.

GAME STRATEGY

This system works very well when attacking just about any other system an opponent might play. It is particularly effective against other zonal 4-4-2 systems or a 4-3-3 system because it outnumbers it in the critical midfield area. The weakness of this 4-4-2 lies in defense, particularly against a 3-5-2 system which can outnumber it in central midfield, thus pulling out a central defender causing difficulty with the integrity of the flat back zone. A 3-4-3 system can also cause difficulties, particularly if its three forwards get additional support
from overlapping midfielders. Ultimately, the strength of your own team will determine if the opponent is forced to make an adjustment to their system during the game or if you need to adjust because the opponent's system is dominating. This 4-4-2 is a very attractive attacking system with risks on defense.

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soccer passing drill - ages 9-12

2007-08-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

Each month we will feature a soccer drill from one of our soccer practice books. We will show you the training secrets behind the drill, how and why they improve your players and your team. This information is exclusive to this site. All our soccer drills in all our books have the same depth and training benefits behind them.

Today's soccer drill is Technical Drill #8 from our Youth (9-12)Book. Please click on the link below to open the drill, print it and enjoy finding out the training concepts behind it:

4v2 passing drill

Skill Development

Attackers will learn receiving the ball in a tight space under pressure. They will need to move the ball quickly and therefore will need to set up a good first touch. Passing must be accurate over a short distance. Players will learn the proper weight (pace) of the pass for these short distances. One and two touch passing will quickly become the standard. The small size of the grid will ensure maximum number of passing opportunities in a very short period of time. There is very little opportunity to set up 1v1 moves. Attackers will learn to judge the movement of players and pass into space as well as to the feet.

Defenders will learn to close down players with the ball putting on pressure quickly. They will have opportunities to practice slide tackles at the appropriate times. Once defenders win the ball, passing is not likely an option. However, they will learn to keep possession, mostly through shielding the ball.

Tactical Development

The tactical underpinning for the attackers is to learn how to split the defense. That is why there are more points for a pass between defenders. They will learn to anticipate where spaces between defenders will open up. The player with the ball will need to develop vision and play a ball into the space that either is open or will open up shortly. The other attackers need to recognize the same space at the same time and move into it before the ball arrives. Therefore timing of runs and passes will develop into automatic movement after a while. It is a great drill to have two forwards and two midfielders play against two defenders.

Defenders will learn the key tactical element of "challenge and cover". One defender will put pressure on the ball carrier while the other needs to be in position to (a) challenge if their partner gets beat in a 1v1 or (b) intercept a pass to the most likely target. In particular, the covering defender is responsible to shut down the passing lane and opportunity between them. Once the ball is passed, it is typically the covering defender who now challenges and the challenger will move into covering position.

All players will learn quick transitions from offense to defense and vice versa. As soon as possession changes to defenders, defenders will now need to play a possession game to keep the ball away from attackers. Attackers on the other hand will learn how to apply pressure and win the ball back.

Mental Training

The key mental aspects being trained are anticipation and quick decision making.
Attackers need to make a decision first as to how to receive the ball, i.e. is the first touch a pass or a set up in a certain direction for the pass. Once in possession, they need to anticipate the runs of any of the other three, always looking for the pass between defenders. They then need to decide if the 3 point pass is available or not. There is little time. They also need to be able to change their decision quickly if the play they thought was available has been closed down.

Defenders also need to make quick decisions. They need to decide who will be the challenging and who the covering defender. That will require verbal communication. Once in position, they will need to read the movements of the attackers and anticipate the pass. The decision then becomes whether or not to move to close down a passing lane or to wait and intercept the actual pass. It all depends on what skill level and pace the attackers operate at. So defenders will also learn to judge the abilities of their opponents.

All players will rotate through all positions so they will all learn the responsibilities of various functions. That will make them better in reading opponents and ultimately get them to make better decisions. Communication, both verbal and non-verbal will be required and acquired.

Finally, the point system adds a natural competitive element, forcing players to play quickly and look for the play that gives maximum points.

Fitness Impact

This drill will have lots of short sprints for all players. As the players get better there will be a lot more running. The drill will deliver both aerobic and anaerobic benefits when the players are good enough to keep in constant motion, playing with few interruptions. Initially, however, expect some static breaks and hence the key benefit will be short distance speed development. There will also be lots of turns and quick body rotations so that flexibility and co-ordination should benefit.

Game Application

Playing the ball through lanes between defenders is one of the most effective ways to penetrate a defense. Two attackers can easily play through two, three or even four defenders. For instance, your team has possession in the opponent's half. The opponent plays with a flat back four defense and your forwards are covered by the central defenders. The ball carrier anticipates a diagonal run by the striker in behind defenders and plays the ball between the neares two defenders. That can open up much more space and a quicker attack than playing the ball to the feet of a covered striker with their back to the goal. Also this is a crucial technique to play the ball out of defense when being pressured.

If you watch some soccer on TV you will see this play a lot and you will see its effectiveness. It is valuable in all areas of the field.

Coaching Tips

Introduce the drill to the players, stating the objective and ask them to do a quick demonstration. If they don't seem to understand, step in and show them. Do not explain the entire theory behind the drill up front. Getting them organized and started should not take any more than two minutes.

To get the maximum benefit out of this drill, encourage the players to be in constant motion.

Do not stand in the practice grid, but rather on the side to be able to observe. Let them play without constant interruption or shouting of instructions by you. They need to learn to make decisions on their own. If the drill really is slowing down or the players are not catching on, then take a brief time out and show them what they could have done better in a specific situation. Give positive feedback as they improve. You will notice smoother and faster play as time progresses.

Have two or three grids going at the same time and spend time which each group. That allows the two groups not being observed to develop independence. Do glance over though and see if they are doing the drill or slacking off because you're not there.

This drill may give you new ideas as to which positions might be better suited for some players than where you thought. Some good passers, communicators and decision makers may offer themselves for midfield positions. Quick runners with good sense of spaces opening up may be new candidates for forwards. A forward who slide tackles may be a defender in the next game.

After the drill is done, call everyone in and ask what they learned or thought was important. They should mention most of the points above. The missing ones, you fill in. Take no more than a minute for the review.

If you think the team didn't quite get as far as you'd like, repeat the drill at the next practice, explaining clearly what needs improvement.

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Soccer Tryout - Position Profiles

Soccer Tryouts II - Player Positions

2007-08-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

If your league is starting soon, you may be involved in running tryouts for your team.

You will need to have some objective way of selecting your players. We believe that a measurement system is very safe and fair. In our last article, we offered a template leading to ranking players from best to worst. Today, we offer you a second evaluation tool.

This model helps you determine which position a player is best suited for. It is based on the skills mostly required for either defense, midfield or forward. Once you have rated your players, you can see which score highest for various positions.

This is important because you need to establish how many players you need for each position. For example, if you wanted 18 players on your team, 2 goalies, 6 defenders, 6 midfielders, 4 forwards, you may find out that the 19th best overall player is your 6th best defender. Now you have a choice. Do I keep one less defender because the 7th best midfielder and 18th ranked player could be converted to a defender? Or, do I keep the 6th best defender and drop the 18th ranked player?

If you are familiar with MS spreadsheets, you can easily adapt the template provided based on your own preferences.

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Soccer Goal Scoring - Distance of Shots

2007-07-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

Goals in the study were scored as follows:

from inside the 6yd (5m) box: 28%

from outside the 6yd box but inside the penalty box: 55%

from outside the penalty box: 17%

In total then, 83% of all goals are scored from inside the penalty box.

Coaching Implications

This confirms what good coaches have been practicing for a long time. They get theri team to work the ball into the target area inside the box, which almost forms a triangle with the 6yd box as its basr and the penalty spot at its tip.

Next we will talk about which build-ups lead to the goals.

the practice books below have many drills emphasizing attacking plays to the target areas.

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Soccer Tryouts I

2007-05-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

If your league is starting soon, you may be involved in running tryouts for your team.

You will need to have some objective way of selecting your players. We believe that a measurement system is very safe and fair. Today, we offer you one such evaluation tool. You will see that it is actually filled out from a real tryout we conducted with our team. There are many ways to score and rate players, this is just one of them. We will provide another method in a future article.

The link below gets you to a spreadsheet with all the mathematical formulae intact, so be careful when you make changes.

This model places equal value on attendance, effort and skills, breaking down skills into 7 categories. The last four areas are weighted at 50% of the first three: skill application (in games), movement (off the ball, requiring vision), attitude (leadership, passion, interest, focus) and communication (verbal, non verbal.

There is a % rating excluding attendance for those coaches who place less emphasis on it and a total. You can change the weightings or the categories to whatever you like, this is just one suggested format.

The key then is to run tryout practices in which you can observe these categories and skills and get at least three opportunities to rate each player. You can use the drills from our practice books, they are well suited for this purpose.

Experience has shown that the top 10 players coming out of this rating scheme will provide at least 7 of your future starting line-up.

Soccer Tryout

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Soccer Tactics - Learning By Watching

2007-05-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

We all watch live soccer games in the stadium or on TV. Some of us even watch taped classics. When we watch as a supporter of a specific team, or simply as a fan of the sport, we get totally immersed in the competitive aspect, in the drama unfolding, in the great plays, the goals, the referees. It's fun, it's excitement and it is what makes it the beautiful game.

There is another way we can watch soccer games, through the eyes of the learning coach. And learn we can. Instead of reading up on particular team's strategies and coaches, why not watch the strategy, the tactical manouvering, the coaching adjustments unfold before your very own eyes.

It is a matter of mindset and discipline to watch a game and learn tactics. You need to pretend that you are scouting the two teams you are watching.

Try to figure out their formations, not by what the reporter tells you, but by what you see. Write it down.

Then look at defensive and offensive moves of each team. these moves are the result of the game strategy and tactics, they just don't happen. Professional coaches also have a game plan.

If you know something about the teams, like the playmakers, the scoring threats, the unbeatable defender, the weak spots, that will help.

Remember also the basic objectives of each team: Score goals and prevent the other team from scoring. So what are the defensive tactics. How is the other team trying to crack the opposing defense. How are they trying to get players into scoring positions.

Try to notice transition plays - fast or slow. Vertical or horizontal build-ups? Possession game or fast break attack? Lots of switching side of attack or flooding one side? Overlapping or not. And so on.

Try to read each team's game plan and watch the opponent adjust. Take notes. Before your next practice, decide if something you saw is relevant for your team. Incorporate it into practice and try it in the next game.

Learning By Watching - one interesting way of developing coaching skills.

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Ideal Performance State Evaluation Sheet

Ideal Performance State II - Soccer

2007-04-21T17:18:00.000-07:00

Today we will discover the ideal performance state (IPS) for soccer players. The IPS is the mental, emotional and physical condition at game time which allows a player to perform at their peak.

Each player has a different IPS and it is up to the coach to work with the players to a)find out the player's IPS and b)help the player create it before the game.

The tool we use is the IPS Evaluation sheet (click on link below). First you ask the player to reflect on past experience. Fill out section A. This will help the player remember any special thoughts, feelings, pre-game activities or special events around the best game they ever played.

Then ask the player to fill out section B for at lease 3 games, ideally 5 games. The answers in the evaluation chart will give coach and player a definition of which emotional, mental and physical state gets a player to perform best.

In conjunction with the answers to part A, develop a specific pre-game routine for each player that creates the IPS. It is important to build the individual pre-game routine into the pre-game preparation for the team. Creativity here is the key.

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Soccer Fitness - Active Rest

2007-04-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

It pains me to see soccer practices where players sit down after sprinting exercises or aerobically demanding drills. The same way it pains me to see players sit on the bench after they come off the field during substitutions, half-time or at the end of the game. I have even witnessed entire teams sitting down on the field when a player gets injured and is being tended to.

The practice of coming to a complete rest after strenuous exercise is very dangerous to anyone's health. The heart is pumping at elevated speeds from the stress and then the body stops. Blood is still being pumped at high speed to muscles delivering oxygen, except the muscles aren't moving anymore. That is a precarious imbalance.

That is why the concept of active rest was developed. It calls for a tapering down of the heart rate after it has been elevated. Instead of elaborating on theory, I'd like to give some practical suggestions.

Practice

After elevated heart training such as sprints or high speed drills, have the players work with a ball at walking pace. They can walk it on their own or pass it back and forth with a team mate.

When the team takes a (water) break, don't let them sit down, keep them moving for at least a couple of minutes. If the break extends, then they can sit.

Game

Players on the field need to keep moving. If there is a break in the action, they can walk around (even to the coach for some advice) or do some stretching exercises.

Allow the team coming off the field at half time a few minutes to walk and stretch before you sit them down for the half time talk. Same idea about drinking - have them drink and walk.

After the game, we recommend a slight cool down jog followed by a complete set of stretching exercises before the post game meeting/talk.

It is equally important to loosen up and stretch before going into action. So players on the bench being substituted in need to move, warm-up and stretch before they get on the field.

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