#076 Breaking Down and Teaching Skills

10/14/16 • 39 min

Coaching Soccer Weekly: Methods, Trends, Techniques and Tactics from WORLD CLASS COACHING

The weather was really unsettled last week. We ended up having to cancel a number of practices. Outdoor training sessions in the midwest each spring can often be interrupted by bad weather but it’s not usually an issue in the fall. Luckily we didn’t have a busy weekend of game scheduled so it didn’t affect us too badly.

I’ve been seeing great progress in my teams recently. It’s great to see things we’ve worked on it training sessions showing up in game situations. That transfer of training from practices to games is the most rewarding aspect of coaching and working with young players.

The week’s question and answer is, “My team are u11s and during a lot of games they seem to lose focus at the later stages of each half of the match. Is it down to fitness?”

I don’t think fitness has much to do with the performance of players this young. The best way to improve late game performance is to put the players in those situations during training.

My favorite way to work on this is to play ‘1 Up – 1 Down’. Before playing a regular scrimmage, the teams are told that they are up a goal or down a goal with five minutes to play. I then ask each team how they plan to adjust their play based on the fact that they are either losing or winning with only five minutes to play.

If the team that is up by a goal can score another one, they win automatically. If the team who is down by a goal scores, it counts as two so that would put them up by a goal with less than five minutes to play. If the game ends as it began we play another five minute game where the roles are reversed.

Today I follow up on one of our most popular episodes. I received a lot of great feedback and a number of questions.

Check out the complete printable show notes below for all of the diagrams and descriptions of how to breakdown and teach the key skills of the game.

Printable Show Notes

The show notes for each episode are accessed through the WCC Training Center.

They are FREE but you will need at least a Free Membership to the Training Center in order to view and print them.

Click on the image of the notes and if you’re already logged in to the Training Center you’ll be taken to the Podcast page. If you’re not logged in your be taken to a login page where you’ll also be able to login or register if you are not already a Member.

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In the Next Episode

Next week I’m going to talk with Mike Saif about his new book, ‘Coaching a Team to a National Championship’. We’ll talk about the specific things he did that help his team push through to the very top.

The week’s question and answer is, “My team are u11s and during a lot of games they seem to lose focus at the later stages of each half of the match. Is it down to fitness?”

I don’t think fitness has much to do with the performance of players this young. The best way to improve late game performance is to put the players in those situations during training.

Today I follow up on one of our most popular episodes. I received a lot of great feedback and a number of questions.

Check out the complete printable show notes below for all of the diagrams and descriptions of how to breakdown and teach the key skills of the game.

Printable Show Notes

The show notes for each episode are accessed through the WCC Training Center.

They are FREE but you will need at least a Free Membership to the Training Center in order to view and print them.

Remember!

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and the information that we are sharing here.

In the Next Episode

Previous Episode

#075 When It’s Just Not Working

Thanks to the coaches that took the time to give the podcast a ranking and review on iTunes. I really appreciate your support of the show!

One stood out because the coach commented that they would like the show to be longer because I sometimes gloss over important points. This got my attention because if there’s something you want to know more about then I want to bring it to you.

Please let me know if there’s ever something on that show that you’d like to hear more about. You can put a question in the comments section at the bottom of the episode or email me at [email protected].

I get a number of questions each week from coaches about their teams. I thought other coaches might be interested in some of these questions so I’ve decided to bring you one or two of them each week.

Here’s this week’s questions from Anthony:

Hi Tom, I’ve got a very talented team of individuals at u11s, most of which have been noticed by scouts and had trials (just to make you aware of the kind of level they’re at), problem is I struggle to get them to play as a team/unit, whether it be defending, attacking or simply movement on the pitch, I have a lot to learn as a coach and by no means do I think I’m brilliant at it. I feel my strong points are teaching them the techniques as individuals, but I lack experience on teaching them how to defend or attack as a unit. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I talk about the answer I sent him in this episode.

What to do When the Session is Just not Working

Today I talk about a situation we all find ourselves in. It’s when your practice is just not working. This happened to me recently and I describe the session I was running, how I knew it wasn’t going well and the six questions that I ask myself in these situations. I share what I decided to change and how these changes affected the session

So what should you do when this happens to you? What are the solutions for the six different possible causes? What are the risks of just pushing through.

These situations can be frustrating to the coach and the players but if you recognize that it’s going to happen eventually you can be prepared to find the solutions and make the adjustments.

The complete show notes can be downloaded from the link below and include the diagrams and descriptions of each exercise in the session.

Printable Show Notes

The show notes for each episode are accessed through the WCC Training Center.

They are FREE but you will need at least a Free Membership to the Training Center in order to view and print them. They’ll be available there for eight weeks before they’re placed in our archive which can be accessed at any time by Pro and Elite Members.

Remember!

Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode.

We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future.

Next Week

In Episode 44 – Keys to Being an Effective Coach, I looked at the key coaching points for five technical skills. Next week I’ll talk about five different skills. What coaching points to focus on, activities to improve the skills and how to integrate those skills into the game.

Next Episode

#077 Five Keys to Youth Soccer Success

Everything is easy when you’re playing on good fields. Last week I had a game on an aweful field in a wicked wind.

We started off the game trying to play our normal game but it quickly became apparent that it was going to be an exercise in frustration.

I explain the change I made and why I was concerned if it was the right thing to do.

This episode is a bit of a long one because I had a great discussion with Mike Saif, President and Founder of WORLD CLASS COACHING about his new book, ‘Coaching a Team to a National Championship‘.

The book details how the team was formed and the process that resulted in the team winning the U14 USYS National Championship. Mike shares the Five Key Factors that he feels made the difference and took this team to the highest level. These are elements that every coach can add to their arsenal that will make their teams more successful.

Whether you’re looking to put together and develop a group of players from scratch or you’re searching for the key elements that will take your team to the next level, there is something for every coach in today’s interview.

The printable show notes below include a complete transcript of the interview as well as a selection of exercises and drills that Mike used to prepare his team.

Printable Show Notes

The show notes for each episode are accessed through the WCC Training Center.

They are FREE but you will need at least a Free Membership to the Training Center in order to view and print them.

Remember!

Thank you for listening to this episode! If you enjoyed it, please feel free to share it using the social media buttons on this page.

I’d also be VERY grateful if you could rate, review, and subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly on iTunes, Google Play Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In the Next Episode

Next week I’m going to talk about how you can develop and maintain a good working relationship with the parents of your player. This is an often overlooked component that is vital to the smooth functioning and development of your team.