Spatial Awareness

High school soccer presents a vast array of problem solving opportunities for coaches.  In the best of programs there will exist multiple teams on a developmental scale - Varsity, JV A, JV B, Freshman and Middle School teams.  I've been there.  At the other end of the spectrum are high school teams with varsity only.  Sometimes these varsity only teams are even co-ed.  I've been there too.

As a new parent-coach back in the mid 1990's I inquired of the local high school coach what he believed most freshmen were lacking when they came out for the high school teams. His reply was"the ability to execute a push pass". As this man would become a mentor to me, I took him at his word. The youth players I worked with could all successfully execute the push pass when they entered 9th grade. When my son was being recruited to play in college I often asked coaches what they believed was the biggest weakness in most recruits games.  The answer was a near unanimous - "spatial awareness". If you have ever worked with a team of wide ranging abilities, you will surely appreciate this response.

My most recent club team and most recent high school team both suffered from a lack of cohesive and uniform understanding of spatial awareness. It's often said a team is only as strong as its weakest player on the field. There is a measure of truth to this especially as it concerns spatial awareness.

I often inform my teams the game is a living breathing thing and they must work on developing a relationship with it through listening and observing how it changes in response to ball and player movement. The boundaries and various lines affect this as well as the distances required on restarts.  Even the referee crew impacts responses to spatial awareness. So too do the technical ability, tactical understanding and physical ability of individual players.

In essence, spatial awareness is about the relationship between Space and Pace. In this context spatial awareness becomes about learning to manipulate the game to your and your teams benefit.  Using spatial awareness in conjunction with the principles of play is what formations and tactics are all about.  When a player is able to consciously recognize how to create space for a teammate and use space created for himself by a teammate, intentionally manipulating the game becomes a real possibility.  

These relationships are simple and yet very complex all at once.  Bringing someone new to the game up to speed with a player who has several years experience can be a daunting task. The difference in understanding of spatial awareness between a seasoned player of club soccer and a recreational player can also be significant. When players of widely varying abilities are all on a single team it can prove difficult to find common ground. This where ideas about a team only being as strong as its weakest player take root.

This is the problem I am seeking to solve going forward. Spatial awareness in soccer is something that begins developing at the youngest of ages.  Simple ideas like boundaries and which half of the field is to be defended and which half has the goal to be scored in are spatial awareness.  When a player comes to the game later in their youth the theory of these simply spatial awareness concepts might be known yet the practicality of them never experienced.  Extend that train of thought to the differences in understanding of spatial awareness between a recreational player and a club player or even an entry level club player and an elite level club player. This s a recipe for frustration all around for both players and coaches alike.

In past seasons I have relied on older more experienced players to mentor younger or inexperienced players in practical settings. I've come to question this approach as results have been found to be wanting.  I have also used a classroom and written homework approach using soccer journals.  The two approaches in combination have been effective.  The issue has been in players being steadfast in their commitment to recording what they are learning in their journals.  I must assume responsibility for this as in the interest of players being able to write down their thoughts honestly about any and all things soccer I have deemed a measure of privacy to be important to the process. I am being forced to make daily writing assignments mandatory and checked by the coaches.

I am also going to include more handouts and more opportunities for visual learning experiences. This will include instructional videos and analysis of videos of practice and games.  A multi pronged approach to the situation.  This is not an ideal scenario, of course. It is however a necessary one.  I would rather spend time on the field than in the classroom but must also face the reality of the situation and adapt what I do accordingly to be as effective as possible in coaching my teams.  

Space in Soccer

One of the aspects about my current position that I am beginning to really enjoy is teaching the game of soccer on a basic level.  When coaching high school I had come to rely on a majority of student athletes being relatively experienced in the game through years of travel and club soccer. Most of my current team's experienced has been in recreational soccer.  I am finding myself explaining and teaching on a simpler level than I am accustomed to doing at the high school level.  And I am really enjoying this as I embrace the process.

Space

One of the most used words in coaching soccer is SPACE.   It is used in a generic sense with a variety of accepted meanings dependent on context. Coaches and players alike are generally able to identify which definition to apply based on the situation being discussed. Of course, when the concept of space is first being introduced players are taught to "spread out" in order to find open space.  Spacing becomes important and how to utilize spacing becomes a focus of basic tactics. As our tactical understanding evolves we teach how to consciously create and deny space.  Throughout this process our use of the word space morphs.  This is what I want to focus on today.

Space is such a generally accepted and overused term that many soccer glossary's donot even list the word among its contents. There either exists an assumption everyone knows what space is or no one knows how to properly define what space is.

For me, it seems reasonable to look at space from an individual perspective.  Personal space might be considered as that which the body or its parts can reach without moving from its starting position. In my estimation that is a very narrow definition of personal space.  I prefer to elaborate upon it just a bit.  How much space does a player require to effectively maneuver in and play the ball? The answer to this question more realistically defines personal space for soccer players, in my opinion.

To descriptively define this space I think of it in terms of an individual's technical and tactical radius. This is a term that is, I believe, being adapted by US soccer.  Of course, each individual will have an unique technical tactical radius.  The more technically proficient and physically balanced a player is, the less space he will require to play confidently on the ball.  A colleague refers to this as spatial management which is great nonmenclature to be sure although it would probably not resonate with youth players all that well. At the heart of this matter is two relationships every high school player should have an understanding of 1) space and time  and 2) space and pace. In other words, a players awareness of space in relation to technical ability and tactical decision making.

What of other kinds of space?

Open space is easily recognizable. Neither players nor the ball are in open space. Ideally, from an attacking perspective, the ball carrier and a teammate will recognize open space with the ball carrier playing the ball into it and a teammate meeting the ball in the available space.

This leads us to idea that space, like the game itself, can be a living breathing entity that is constantly being created, destroyed and morphed to one teams advantage or the other.  When a player makes a purposeful run to open space for a teammate, the space created is live.

When an area of the field is congested or clutter we think of that space as being dead. Think bumble bee ball in you little play or some styles of channel play that see an overload of players in a single channel.  We could also visualize a pressing defense that seeks to get as many people around the ball and into passing lanes. All these are examples of what I refer to as dormant space. The space is not
dead, but is of little use at the moment.  Yet, it can and will be reawakenedthrough ball movement / player movement and game situations.

In other places on this blog we have written about negative space.  This is the space behind the backs and in front of the goalkeeper.  Attackers love to preserve this space until they can take advantage of it at pace.  Defenders seek to deny negative space to attackers by constricting it in relation to the threat level opponents present.

The overriding theme in this article is recognition that space is alive. Within the boundaries of the pitch space expands and contracts around the ball and players. Spatial awareness aids in the efficiency of ball and player movements with timing being a critical element. These things must be taught and developed in order to play at the highest possible level.