A brief look inside our Pace of Play Camps

Combining the Keys to Pace of Play, Sequence of Touches and the Four Elements of the Game of Soccer are essential to playing fast soccer. This is a THINKING man’s game.

Keys to Pace of Play

·        Be in your teammate’s vision early

·        Know your next play before your first touch

·        Be a back footed player

Do not close your hips to the passer

Keep your hips open to as much of the field as possible.

Heels to touch when playing in wide channels

·        Play the way you face

Sequence of Touches – Two touch play with the inside of the foot. Toes up heel down only

·        Right / Right

·        Right / Left

·        Left / Left

·        Left / Right

The Four Elements of the Game of Soccer

·        Penetration

·        Depth

·        Width

·        Mobility

There's more, of course.  We build activities around these ideas.

Club or School?

If your expectation was to read my thoughts on the battle between high school and club soccer you might be disappointed. I am going to take this to the grass roots level. Where I live, each school district has a youth soccer program for children K - 8th grade.  The club scene is rather muddled - they come and go with the exception of Grand Lake United which has been around seemingly forever.

One of the newer clubs on the local scene is making a big push for youth players to abandon their school oriented soccer programs and play only for their club. I believe this is a huge and monumental mistake. They are asking children to specialize in a single sport at an age when they should be exploring all sports ... and other avenues of interest as well. They need to be kids, not little future college athletes in training.  Trust me, for the overwhelming majority of these kids will never receive a scholarship to play in college.  See here:  College Soccer Scholarships: The Facts

(Hit the jump for the rest of the article)

The Second Team

In my day they were called second string. Second team, second unit, it doesn't really matter what the designation for these players is.  What is important is the vital role these players play on winning teams.

There can be no question starters play a key role in a teams performance, but so too does a team's substitutes. Players on the second unit may not often be directly responsible for winning goals, but they also cannot be responsible for allowing game winning goals. 

So what do substitutes need to bring to their teams when their chance to play comes?

What separates the good from the best?

Conducting  team camps throughout the summer months gives me exposure to a great many athletes. Each week a different location with a different team. I love the variety but at the same time each week can be much the same as the last.  Each team has a hierarchy within the player ranks. Over the years I have come to appreciate what separates the good players from the best players on any team can be summed up in one word - preparation.

There is, of course, a minimum level of ability within any team that sets a standard. For many teams this standard is remarkably similar. The difference in both individuals and teams is found in the intangibles  It is the intangibles that separate good from great and are the difference between a win and a loss.

Every team works on the same sets of fundamentals. Every player knows the basics. Not every team brings the same dedication to preparation.  Not every player will exhibit the same level of dedication to preparation.  Not every team or individual will define preparation in the same manner. We are talking about STANDARDS.

An individual player may spend countless hours on his own  preparing himself as a player but devote very little time towards being a teammate. He might shine on the ball but provide very little to his team off the ball. A talented group of individuals might never achieve to its collective potential because they lack team oriented intangibles. It is the intangibles that make the difference and this is especially true when teams are closely matched or when a coach must decide between which players make varsity or start games.

So it is that coaches should work to develop and accentuate the intangibles of both individual players and the collective team. When talent level is comparable it is the intangibles that make the difference.  And it's often not about the quantity of preparation or the quantity of effort given, but rather about the quality of the work being put in.

Every week I see players arrive early to camp sessions. It is  always the same individual or small group of players that arrive early for each session. In fact, as a rule of thumb, individuals of a team tend to arrive in a regular and specific order.  Early arrival itself does not make a difference. What one does upon arriving early can make a difference. 

Some arrive early to put in extra preparatory time before practice. This might be working on their individual game. It might be to work with a teammate or group of teammates on improving a specific facet of the team's game. It might be to help set up for practice so actual practice time is devoted to practicing.  

In the end, the players that stand out each week are those who  best combine talent and intangibles. These are the players who tend to win starting assignments and play the most. They are the ones who separate themselves from the pack largely through an intelligent dedicated approach to preparation. 

It's part of coaching

We often speak of athletes learning life lessons through their participation in team sports.  Coaches learn life lessons through heir participation in team sports as well.  One of the most important lessons sports has taught me is the necessity to develop, establish and maintain healthy working relationships.
I put a lot of time and effort into developing working relationships with everyone remotely connected to the program.  My athletic director and his administrative assistant. The boosters organization. Surely our players and coaches. The parents as well.

Now, with parents I tend to keep them at arms length as it concerns team selection, positions, playing time and the like. On the other hand, I desire and need parental support for a healthy program. I rely on parents for everything from fundraising to furnishing team meals.

Players get suspended or cut from the team and coaches lose their jobs often due to poor relationships and ineffective communication.  Communication is a shared responsibility.  That is, it takes a minimum of two to hold a conversation unless one is talking to one's self. LOL. This is another lesson I have learned - if people choose not to respond to your efforts to include them in your program, repeating those efforts ad nauseum is simply a waste of time.

I have a three strike rule.  If I ask you three times for your input or help and you choose not to respond, I move on.  This happens mostly with parents of student athletes in my current position. A sad commentary on our society in general.  Please do not misunderstand, I do indeed enjoy tremendous support from many parents. The vast majority jump in and help in whatever way is needed and I am genuinely appreciative for their involvement. It is a small minority that decide not to respond, not to work on establishing, developing and maintaining a working relationship in teh best interests of their child.

Being a responsible decision maker is also something sports teach us. Not every decision we make is cut and dried. I often seek input from every source imaginable when faced with a tough decision. I also give difficult decisions a lot of  prayerful consideration.  In the end, as a head coach it's still my decision. I live with both the rewards and consequences of those decisions. I firmly believe it important everyone involved with the program knows I take making these decisions very seriously and own up to them regardless of how they turn out. It's a matter of trust and respect.

Trust is the glue of life, the single most essential ingredient in effective communication.  If I do not own my decisions, why should anyone trust me?  Trust is the foundational principle that holds all relationships together.  Disagreements are a part of life, its how we handle disagreements that matter more than the disagreement itself.  Adversity is a part of life and athletics. It is a given, individuals and the team will encounter adversity at times. The adversity is not as important as how the adversity is handled. Being able to trust those you face adversity with is critical to success in overcoming the obstacle. Successfully overcoming adversity or an obstacle with others is how respect is earned ... and given.  Without respectful working relationships not only is trust absent but the prospects of success are greatly diminished.

We ARE all in this together, correct?

216 Days Until the Start of the 2017 Season

The 2016 season ended 73 days ago and we have 216 days until the 2017 season officially begins. The transitioning from review to preparation is underway. I am moving on from "why" Team 29 failed to meet some of my expectations to what is necessary for Team 30 to fulfill its potential.

Program > Team > Student / Athlete

I believe we are all better when we are servants to a greater good.  In my personal life, I strive to serve God. As stated on the introductory page to this site, God is first, family and friends are second and I am third.  God > Others > Me.  Team 29 of our program made strides in establishing Program > Team > Student / Athlete as the basic tenet of the Lima Senior Soccer program but we still have a ways to go before we can say this truly defines who we are.

To begin with, I am not convinced every student athletes appreciates or understands Program > Team > Student / Athlete.  Allow me to provide an example of what I am talking about; we established new academic standards for eligibility in 2016. Each student/athlete was required to maintain a "C" grade or above in each class in order to be eligible to participate. Still, when weekly academic reports were issued we had a handful of student athletes who failed to meet this standard. In this regard, those student athletes failed themselves, their team and the program.

In a school system absolutely loaded with athletic talent this is an all too common occurrence.  And completely unacceptable to me. Maintaining a "C" in academic classes is about two simple things completely within our control - attitude and effort.  We are simply asking our student athletes to be average n the classroom.  Some are making a choice not to do so and are thereby lcultureetting down their team and, by extension, the program not to mention themselves.

So, here lies the first hurdle we must clear in pursuit of establishing a Program > Team 30 > Student / Athlete culture.

Being sure to have our shirts or jerseys tucked in at all times.

By the end of the 2016 season we had become very good concerning this simple task.  Many of the players rebelled at this rule when it was first instituted, but eventually became compliant with it if not overly enthusiastic about it. Simply put, compliant is not good enough. Too many of our student / athletes failed to recognize the reasons behind mandating shirts be tucked in and in fact, ignored the rule whenever out of sight of the coaching staff.  When allowed to wear their jerseys to school on game day the majority failed to tuck the into their pants. And it was of no surprise when I recently attended an indoor game to see not a single player have their t-shirt tucked into their shorts.

What's the big deal?

Behavior.

We have a cheer we break huddles with: Prepare like Champions! Play like Champions! Become Champions! A big part of this is to look the part. We look the part, we begin believing. We begin believing and we begin acting the part. We begin acting like champions and we begin playing like champions. eventually we become champions.

Character is all about doing the right thing even when no one is watching.  We are not there yet as witnessed by having our jersey's hanging out during school hours. There was a failure to comprehend and understand the importance of living the role of champion 24 / 7 / 365.  This has extended to the off season as was recently witnessed at the indoor game.  They won the league championship with an undefeated season and will believe this is an accomplishment that invalidates the need to look the part failing to realize how they look not only impacts  how they feel about themselves but how others perceive them to be. Being a rag-tag group is perfectly fine if your highest aspiration is to win your rec league indoor grouping.  It's not nearly enough if you aspire to be the champions of the toughest scholastic soccer league in northwest Ohio.

Personal preference before TEAM interests and program well-being.

No one player is bigger than the TEAM and no team is bigger than the program.

Last winter I led a Leadership Class for many of our student / athletes. A main theme of this class was the importance of being a Servant Leader. The general premise of this is for the individual player to serve the TEAM and by extension have the TEAM serve the program.  We have made strides in this. There is also still work to be done here.

So much of what is discussed here is either or propositions

We should always strive for perfection. It may never be attained by greatness can be. We all make mistakes. Each mistake made is a learning opportunity. That is, we have a choice when a mistake is made - accept it or correct it. Our decision on how to handle a mistake, adversity, sets the course for who we will become.  If a mistake is not corrected, our forward progress is stopped. We plateau as a an individual and as a team. What we allow, will define who we will be.

Defining who we want to become as TEAM 30 will be the key to the 2017 season. Setting goals is a part of this process, Defining the process to be followed in achieving the goals set is a area we failed miserably in last season.  The goals set were within an established comfort zone. There would be minimal change required to reach these goals. They were safe goals. They accepted expected adversity as their lot and lacked true challenges to be overcome. They goals set were well within established comfort zones and lacked impetus to expand and grow, to improve.

These are the areas we will be concentrating on over the next 8 months. Can we step outside of our established comfort zones to set our goals AND define a process that will provide us a legitimate shot at achieving our goals?

Dare to dream big.

Work to make those big dreams come true.

That's what 2017 needs to be about.

11 Captains

I believe this article is the handiwork of Graham Ramsay who I have referenced on this site before. A quick google search of his name will result in numerous hits.  I re-discovered this article when going through some soccer files. It goes well with some of the themes I have recently been posting on.  Enjoy!

Eleven Captains

Wherever the soccer ball goes, the well-coached team will float mini-teams of three or four players toward it (1 v 2, 1 v 1, 2 v 1, etc.) throughout a game. The more times these duels are won, the greater your chances of victory.

To make this a reality, a coach needs 11 captains to organize, encourage and influence the play. One captain cannot do it, unless he is wearing a big "S" on front of his shirt.

Nor can Superman's dad, resplendent with cape and kryptonite shinguards, help as the all-seeing, all-knowing coaching expert on the sidelines. They are often too far from the critical plays, and this is why coaches must educate their players to create a "captain/coach on every play."

The nearest player to the teammate who is involved in the "eye" of the game action becomes the captain/coach for that vital moment. He has the best seat in the house to coach and to advise his teammates how to win the duel.

The more times you put verbal oil into the team engine, the smoother it will perform. Quality information "in" creates quality play "out."

Screaming instructions at the last moment is no way to win anything. It will probably reverse your strategy of getting ahead of the play and coaching your teammates to win. You have to develop the art of reading the play early and preparing your teammates for the next action.

Good players are like detectives--spotting clues to outwit their opponents (visual cues, body language, and habits).

For example, their last look at a play is often the first choice of what to use when play is resumed. A savvy defender might use such a clue to determine how to defend.

For example, if the head of the opposing passer goes down as he is about to pass and he winds up kicking the ball, the defense can channel the play. The information will allow the nearby defender to get ahead of the game by planning his move--maybe intercept or contain,

At that very same moment, the nearest teammate will be alerting/coaching his teammates. Sending them good advice.

The "real coach" must educate his players into this winning mode of thinking by:

1. Playing small-sided games where it's easier to spot and have many opportunities to "captain" each other.

2. Playing one-on-ones with a third player on the outside coaching one of the players.

3. Going to pro or college games. If possible, let them be ball-boys/girls.

Its vital for the coach to both highlight good examples and correct the "non-coaching" efforts of the players.

A team of captains, coaching each other, is like facing a team that's playing with 30 players--it intimidates.

As one coach said after his team had lost to Liverpool, "I'm certain they cheated. The Mighty Reds (Liverpool) seemed to be everywhere with their support play and verbal enthusiasm. To play that way, they had to have had two teams out there!"

Such was their energy level. Great teams know the power of knowledge and enthusiasm--coaching each other and encouraging each other to play brilliantly.

This is particularly so whenever things are going against your team. Too often youth or high school teams tend to clam up when the going gets tough.

 Potholes, red lights and  conceding goals are part of life's rich canvas. The teams and players that can rebound from these setbacks with renewed vigor are the ones to stay away from, as you know they are going to compete to the final whistle. They are mean.

When is the right time to start addressing this black hole in the vast majority of youngsters' soccer education? The earlier the better--and keep adults far away. How can a child learn to be a captain/coach when they have a dozen parents screaming 20 pieces of expert advice per second?

We have had a generation of subservient non-talking players because of this assault. Who can blame them? Haven't the parents been their verbal life support system since infancy?

You know the picture is wrong whenever the parents become the dominant vocal force and the players remain verbally invisible. Sadly, it should be the other way around.

For proof go out and listen or probably not listen to a couple of games. Another indicator is watching/hearing a high school game.

Most of these youngsters have played for nearly a decade and yet cannot read nor coach nearby teammates. What have they been doing all these years? It's almost as though they have been playing in their own bubble or world.

In fact, trying to correct this fault in older teenagers is almost impossible, as their habits have, for the most part, been set in stone. You cannot over emphasize the need to start creating thisverbal intelligence in the pre-teenage years.

POSTSCRIPT

To help understand the learning process, you must understand the three main cancers in fighting the development of skillful  players. They are:

1. Fatigue. Players simply don't learn when they are tired.

2. Verbal interference. Yelling  names ("Carlos!") as you receive the ball is of little use.

Hopefully you've learned your name by your teens. What you do need is simple, vital information to help you and the team retain the ball--"Man on!," "Time!" 

Giving misinformation or poor advice, or worse still, no verbal help whatsoever is a major soccer crime!

As one coach, upon seeing one of his starters about to be tackled hard, said: "It's like watching your girlfriend or mom about to be mugged on the other side of the street. Don't you have an opinion? Don't you care?" Can't you even shout, "Man on!"

3. Coach dependence. Where the coach dictates every play and shouts constantly. He winds up with non-thinking robots who traditionally get their speed pass and sprint out of the sport as fast as possible.

As you can see, these verbal skills, allied to "soccer savvy," are like secret weapons that very few players or coaches understand or use.

Can your team be the first in your area to create 11 captains on the field? If you can mold a squad of individuals into a real team, you will deserve a new Superman uniform for the play-offs.

Go for it!

It takes zero talent.

IT TAKES ZERO TALENT

* To be on time

* To be prepared

* To have a great attitude

* To be focused on the task at hand

* To pay attention to the details of the process

* To be energetic and enthusiastic

* To work hard and always give your best effort

* To give extra to the process

* To be coach-able

* To be a great teammate

Doing any or all of the above simply requires making the decision to do so. These are things only YOU control. So, what's YOUR decision going to be?

Soccer is a read and react game.

Sometimes we are so close to a situation we cannot see the forest for the trees. When this happens hopefully a ray of sunshine will bring light to the situation allowing one to view things from a different perspective.

Tyler asked, "Should I look to cut face when making this run?"

The team as a whole was looking for a road map for how to attack. In a manner of speaking they were looking for a play to run in a sport that is not conducive to set plays in the run of action. When Tyler asked this question I saw the proverbial light shining through the trees. My response to Tyler was, "There is no definitive answer. You have to read the defender and take what he is giving you. If he is set up outside, cut his face, but if he is set up inside make the outside run to draw him out. This might possibly set him up to have his face cut."

Soccer is a read and react game,

Vision is a greatly valued attribute in soccer players for this very reason. Players who are GAME WATCHERS are far superior players to those who are BALL WATCHERS for the simple reason they SEE more of the game than ball watchers do.

Ballwatchingitis is an article I adapted from a Graham Ramsay handout. It really is a disease that plagues poor teams. Ballwatchingitis can turn a talented team into mediocre lot quicker than anything I know mainly because of its negative impact on the decision making process of players in the game.

In soccer the game tells players what to do. So an important question to be asked and answered is, what does the player see?  Hopefully it is as much of the game as possible for successful players make decisions based on the data they collect while playing the game. Players need to collect as much data as possible for their decision-making process.

Game watchers see more of the game and thus read and react differently than ball watchers who see a much smaller portion of the game.  This directly impacts the decision making process for each type of player with ball watchers reading and reacting primarily to ball movement while game watchers read and react to player movement, ball movement, space and field position.  In short, ball watchers tend to play one-decision soccer whereas game watchers are capable of playing multiple-decision soccer.  The importance in the difference between a ball watcher and a game watcher is found in the Pace of their Play.  Ball watchers may play with physical speed but this is diminished by slower mental pace of play whereas game watchers combine physical speed with informed decision making speed to play at an optimum pace of play.

Which are you, a Ball watcher or a Game Watcher?

Mail Bag

Although I have shared questions posed to me by colleagues, friends and readers of this blog I have never done so in what is considered a mail bag format, I thought I would give this a try and see what you think.  For disclosure sake, none of this questions relate to teams I coach.

QUESTION I
This first question actually came to me from a number of people and it pertains to Ohio High School soccer: If a referee issues a red card but does not report make out the report does the athlete have to serve the two game suspension?

I admittedly did not have a ready answer and had to ask referee friends of mine what the ruling would be.  The referee is supposed to file a report within 24 hours of the incident, The school administration is then notified so it can enforce the suspension. No report = no card = no suspension is what I was advised by a couple different referees. But wait a minute! OHSAA covers itself by including this disclaimer in the OHSAA General Sports Regulations; It is the responsibility of the local school authorities to ensure this regulation is enforced. This would seemingly absolve the referee from not filing a report while placing enforcement on the coach / athletic director / administration of the offending players school.  I later learned the referee did finally file a report 12 days after the match had been played. Knowing what the rule was, the coach had already sat the player for two games. Technically it might be the player would not have to sat two games until the report was filed but the spirit of the game was observed by the coach and school.

QUESTION II
You have undoubtedly seen the video of two San Antonio, Texas, John Jay High School football players intentionally hitting a referee during a game. If not, click on the You Tube video provided here.

The first series of questions involved what type of punishment I felt the student athletes deserved. I am old school.  I say they should be banned from any further interscholastic participation. Period. Their high school careers should be over.

Now with news that the "hits" were ordered by their coach I still stand by that and would include banning the coach from ever coaching again.

Plus, it seems possible legal and or civil charges could be brought against the players and the coach.

I firmly believe the punishment must be severe to discourage this type of incident from ever being contemplated again.

QUESTION III
This one comes from a coaching colleague in Arizona.  Robert writes,  "I have one player who refuses to get with the program. While everyone else is striving together he is marching to the beat of his own drummer. When he is challenged about his me first behavior he disengages by looking away, rolling his eyes and smirking. Then at first opportunity he talks about whoever challenged him behind their back."

Unfortunately this is not an uncommon occurrence, It tends to happen more in teams with weaker culture. Regular followers of this blog will recognize my favorite question when confronted with difficult situations is, why?

Why does this athlete do this?

Because he believes he can get away with it.

The student athlete in question here is apparently pretty talented and no one wants to offend him so they tolerate his selective effort and abrasive behavior. There are two basic levels of intervention that can be attempted with both being largely dependent on the programs culture for success.

Informal:
Non-verbal prompt - Temporary benching or removal from an activity

Gentle verbal prompt - A reminder of expectations for the team and position

Assertive but non-confrontational request to change behavior - A one on one talk specifically identifying the problem and expected modification of behavior

Formal:
Official warning - The behavior will be modified or specific consequences will be meted out. Loss of playing time for instance.

Removal from the environment - Benching for game or dismissal from training.

Public recognition of detrimental behavior and consequences - Player is suspended from or removed from team.

These are steps I follow and in most instances there is no need to progress from the informal to the formal. Generally speaking if unacceptable behavior is identified and consequences made clear people are not likely to violate the standards or norms for acceptable behavior.  However, human beings tend to be boundary pushers so incidents of inappropriate or unacceptable behavior will occur once in awhile. In over 35 years of coaching I have only had 3 individuals who pushed the boundaries to a point that dismissal from the program was necessary,

QUESTION IV
Gretchen from Kentucky wrote; "My daughter has been a forward since she began playing. She is a dominant player. We moved to a different club this year so she could play on a stronger team and against better competition. This new coach has her playing as a right defender. How can I approach him and make him understand that my daughter is a forward?"  With a little further research I learned the daughter is a U14 player participating on a good club team.  I'm pretty sure Gretchen did not like what I had to say about this situation.

It is the coach's role to decided positions and playing time. It is quite possible the team has better or more experienced players at the forward positions, in the coach's opinion. It is also possible there is a need on the team for a  right back. In many of today's systems of play the outside backs are expected to be main cogs in the offensive flow. They can be primary goal scorers or assist givers.

My response: Ask for a meeting with the coach. Ask what he sees your daughter's role on the team being and listen to what is being said instead of listening for what you want to hear. You just might find out the coach has an expanded role in mind for your daughter that will enhance her overall game.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Okay, I hope this was informative for you.  I know when people ask questions of me it is a learning opportunity for me as well.  If you have questions you would like answered and don't mind my sharing them as part of a mail bag article, please send them to coachtjbrown@gmail.com
As always, thank you for reading!

Hope Solo: Innocent until proven guilty?

Hope Solo is arguably the best goalkeeper in women's soccer. It is not a stretch to say the USWNT hopes of a World Cup championship rest in no small part in her hands. Off the pitch, Solo continues to make news and not always in a positive light. Alcohol often seems to be a contributing factor.  It seems reasonable to suspect she may have a drinking problem. And she's evidently not the most truthful person either.

Hope Solo not yet cleared of Domestic Abuse charges.

Although our legal system proclaims one innocent until proven guilty when it comes to sports figures the consequences for decision making that lead to legal troubles more often than not result in an athlete being suspended or even dismissed pending the legal proceedings playing out. Hope Solo has never been publicly suspended concerning this incident. She was kept out of the public limelight.  Solo was suspended for 30 days earlier this year after her husband crashed a USWNT van while driving drunk with Solo in the passenger seat,

The current legal proceedings will conveniently not take place until after the World Cup is completed. US Soccer seems willing to allow Solo to play in the World Cup and take its chances on how the legal proceedings will play out afterwards.

I cannot complain if only for the fact we are presumed innocent until proven guilty.  Even when this reasoning flies in the face of the conventional wisdom in dealing with athletes who run afoul of the law these days.  However, I am not comfortable with putting Hope Solo on the World Cup stage as one of the faces of the USWNT.  I am left to wonder if her participation is all about winning with her personal well-being a secondary issue.  Will World Cup glory, if it is to be, be tarnished if Solo falls from grace and is convicted of domestic abuse?  Is this the epitome of trying to win at all costs? What message are we sending to all the impressionable young girls playing soccer and watching the World Cup?

What say you?

What is development?

In re-reading the recent article on coaching to win I found myself pondering what exactly is development. I apologize in advance for what will almost assuredly be a rambling article. I often write as a means to gather my thoughts on a subject and this is the process I am following today. Process is a good word to begin with for development is most certainly an active on-going process.

The idea of playing, in this case playing a game of soccer, is fun.  So, soccer development should be oriented in fun activities.  We often have the most fun when being challenged. Curiosity is a good thing. We explore to learn. The process continues when we apply our new found knowledge to take ourselves somewhere we have not been before. So, developmental activities should be designed to promote thinking, exploration and attempts to succeed.  Failures will be part of the process. Success will be relative, ever changing, ever elusive and yet always attainable.

Drill work should be limited to introducing new techniques and demonstrations of new tactics. There is nothing stimulating about drill work. It is tedious, can lull the mind and cause it to wander from the task at hand as it seeks stimulation from other sources. Development then must be centered on activities designed to promote thinking.

I have sometimes thought how promoting players to think for themselves in sports might be considered heresy or anathema to American coaches. Most American sports are coach driven, after all. Free thinking creative problem solving players are often looked upon as trouble makers or non-conformists in most American sports.  Yet, in soccer ingenuity and creativity are prized traits attributed to the elite of the sport.

Development needs to take place in the context of the Four Pillars of Youth Soccer.

Technical: The skills of the game.  Running with the ball, dribbling, receiving, passing, heading and defending.

Tactics: Player decisions and application of techniques in problem solving.

Physical: The ability to perform at a sustained high level of play.

Psychological: Freedom, Responsibility and Positivity in play.

Each of these four pillars of youth soccer are grounded in FUN.  Skill development is a critical component of FUN.  The attempts, failures and successes found in application of tactics is FUN.  Being physically fit to execute techniques and tactics is paramount to having FUN. Being psychologically challenged with the freedom to explore, fail and succeed responsibly is definitely about having FUN.

I think we could describe the process in a number of ways, but two in particular come to mind. Truthfully, they are one and the same.  First is giving ownership of the game to the players.  I have repeatedly stated my belief that soccer is a player driven game.  Ownership of game occurs when the players are allowed to think for themselves, decide for themselves while playing the game.  For this reason, training the art of decision making should be a primary consideration in every practice session. Player decision making.

With all this talk of development it might seem I am devaluing the importance of winning. I am not. However, I do believe winning should not be equated to a team result in a match, especially at the younger ages. Winning implies a competition is taking place. Competing is what athletics are all about. I am suggesting that the opponent in terms of development is one's self.

The intrinsic rewards of self-knowledge, self-worth, self-esteem that stem from competing against one's self will last a life time. Whereas the extrinsic rewards of victory, relative fame and glory are fleeting at best lasting only until the next game or next season. Where sports are about elimination in a search for the best we cannot allow this to overshadow the benefits of competing against our self to make one's self a better player, a better person.

What you see is what you get. Maybe you should see something else?

There are numerous sports quotes that urge players (and coaches) to look at things from different perspectives. If all you ever do is all you've ever done, all you'll ever have is what you've always had. This is one example that implores change to be made.  In our camps we seek to retrain the brain, which is another way to say changes must be instituted before progress can be made. Asking players to step outside their established comfort zones is yet another means to motivate them to change.

As coaches we "borrow" from one another all the time.  When one coach is successful his methodology and systems of play will be examined and reversed engineered by his peers. Perhaps the most recognized example today is the spread of zonal defenses. The strictly man-marking system is nearly extinct although I suspect it will rise again like the mythical phoenix in retro-ness some day. A by-product of zonal defense is the incorporation of the outside backs into the attack. These players are filling non-traditional roles. Because of this the players manning these positions have been granted freedom in exploring how to execute their duties and responsibilities. In a sense the outside backs have been allowed to write their own job descriptions.  As a result we are beginning to see creative and innovative play emerge.

I often refer to "our" attacking system that we run from our 1-4-2-3-1 or 1-4-1-4-1 formations. I lay claim to it, but in the last 3-4 years I have seen it emerging independently at various ages and levels of play. It is a natural extension of the zonal defensive systems in prevalent use today. That the Columbus Crew SC are successfully running "our" system in MLS validates what I have been coaching these past several years.

Many of the coaches we conduct camp for want us to demonstrate how we have taught our players to make creative / deceptive runs that stress defenses. They want to know our patterns for making runs and are shocked that I spend less than one training session per season working on specific patterns.

I have written often of how I allow the players to conduct our half time discussions. One of things they cover is what the opposing defense is giving us and more specifically which opposing player(s) is (are) the weak links we can attack. We have learned to also identify how we wish to set up those players to be attacked. How do we move players and the ball to isolate the defender(s) we wish to attack in the match ups we prefer to have?

Patterns in soccer are, in my opinion, symptomatic of the problems that plague American soccer. American sports are largely coach driven sports and patterns in soccer are an extension of this. In short, patterns are restrictive. Patterns take the onus for decision making away from individual players. The coach teaches the pattern and its variations and expects the players to adhere to these. Even the decision of whether to follow the patterns or not is taken away from the players for if they do not, they will find themselves on the bench in favor of someone who will. Any deviation from the scripted established pattern and its variations is blasphemy regardless of if it is successful or not.

So it is when we come to conduct a camp on off-the-ball movement that we need to retrain the soccer brains of the players ... and coach.  A few years ago I had a coach ask me how to get his team away from playing direct soccer.  We watched some game film of his team and one of the first thing we noticed was nearly all off-the-ball movement was towards goal and at the same pace the ball was traveling.  What else could his team do, but play direct? So, if you want your team to have a balanced, dynamic and varied attack the off-the-ball player movement is key. Retraining the brain to allow for multi-decison, multi-tasking play is the solution.  The answer for how to go about doing this?  Well, you'll have to sign up for one of our camps for that!   ;) LOL.

Little Things Make a Big Difference

If you have been around sports for any length of time at all you have undoubtedly heard a coach state that it is the little things that make the difference between winning and losing, between being good and being great.  I mention The Details of the Process on a regular basis.  That coaches constantly speak about the "little things" is testimony to their importance, but how often do you find the "little things" identified?

Toes up / Heel down / Strike with the ankle bone ... these are little technical things that make a difference.

Here is a small tactical detail to remember that can make a significant difference in a teams ability to defend.

Great defensive teams move on the movement of the ball.

 

Poor defensive teams move on the completed pass.

 

 

Think of the times you have seen a team chasing the ball around the field as the opposing team strings pass after pass together. Perhaps you have even been on a team that has chased the ball around the field?  Not much fun is it?  And it is physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting. In a word, it can be demoralizing.  To prevent this from happening TEAMS must defend as if they have one heartbeat shared by 11 players.  Great defensive teams know everytime the ball moves they must collectively move with it.

 

What about great offensive teams?

 

 

Great offensive teams move before the ball moves.

  

Poor offensive teams move when or after the ball moves.

 

 

Small but subtle differences between defending and attacking.  "Little things"  that make profound differences in the quality of play. Good teams pay attention to the details of the process. Great teams never allow themselves to become bored with the details of the process.  It's a matter of choice.  Choose wisely for the quality of your game depends upon it.

 

 





If you can't pass, you can't play.

(originally published August 4, 2012)

I have at times referred to Graham Ramsay on this site. "If you can't pass, you can't play" is a phrase I have heard him utter often during the camps he has conducted for us. I have myself repeated it to players and teams I coach. It is a basic and simple truth of the game, but I have come to realize it is also much more and that players tend to receive different and varying messages from the phrase.

Technical excellence
Vision
Soccer IQ or Game Intelligence
The Will to Prepare
TEAM First attitude

The ability to pass begins with mastering proper technique and maintaining it at the highest level. "Toes up. Heels down. Strike with the ankle bone." is a mantra echoed during training sessions around the soccer world. Unfortunately for many coaches and players alike the process of passing begins and ends here when there are actually several other significant elements that go into being able to pass the soccer ball.

"Vision" is another word commonly associated with passing. Left to stand on its own "vision" implies "seeing the pass" within the context of the game about you. At first glance this seems like another basic and simple truth, but once again there are layers of complexity involved.  Every player has "vision" but what separates good passers from the rest is what they see and when they see it.

Soccer IQ or Game Intelligence are terms that apply to a players decision-making process.

When do I shoot?
When do I dribble?
When do I pass?
Which direction - diagonally, forward, backward, laterally - should I pass?
What do I do after having passed the ball?

The correct decision is the one that scores the ball or maintains possession of the ball for your team. In terms of passing the decision-making process is all about possession and creating scoring opportunities. What is the longest secure pass I can make?  How many defenders can I defeat with a single secure pass? What is the safest pass I can make to relieve pressure and maintain possession? What is my next movement after having passed the ball.

Timing is also a critical element in Soccer IQ. The timeliness of a players decision making often determines the success of failure of the action take. Too early or too late breaks the rhythm and flow of the game and can lead to lost possession.

Hall of Fame basketball coach Bobby Knight stated "Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win."   Preparation is the king consideration to successful passing. Before your first touch on the ball, you need to have a plan for how you will play the ball.  EVERY option for play must be explored before your first touch - Do I shoot, dribble, pass? Which technique should I use to execute my decision? In what direction should my play be made?

A willingness to pass, a willingness to share the ball with teammates must also be in evidence. If a player is unwilling to pass he will soon find others are unwilling to pass to him. However, is a player truly unwilling to pass or is his decision-making process leading to the pass short circuiting? Is the player selfish or merely struggling with proper individual pattern of play?  It is important to analyze and work with the player to establish good on-field decision-making skills for these are the basis on TEAM play.

When any of the above facets are missing a players ability to pass is impaired. Aside from technical excellence a player must get in the habit of collecting all the information available concerning what is happening in the game.  Scan the field constantly and consistently, but especially before receiving or winning the ball. Secure the ball in a manner that leads into the play you will make based on your scanning of the game. Then look to the play you have decided to make and execute the correct technique.

What happens if part of the process breaks down or is skipped altogether?  

For instance, what if the player fails to scan the game before securing the ball?  The focus is on "winning the ball" and figuring out what to do with it after that fact?  "Win and whack" is often the result. A player "wins" the ball only to turn it over by creating another 50/50 ball when his winning touch is nothing more than whack the ball in whatever direction he happens to be facing. 

Or what if the player does win and secure the ball but has no plan for how to play it?  If he has space and time he may look up and find a quality play to make. If he secures the ball under pressure without a plan for play excessive touches will ensue as he attempts to find space and time to get his head up and find a play. Often times the player will eventually find the correct play but his excessive touches have broken the rhythm and flow of the game.  The timing that would have made the pass easy is lost. A success rate of late or mistimed passes is significantly lower than well timed, accurate and properly weighted passes. It is often the lack of preparation / vision / game intelligence that dictates success of a pass more so than a lack of technique. 

Once again, success is found in the details of the process.  No single detail of the process can be ignore or overlooked without impacting the quality of the process. "If you can't pass, you can't play" runs much deeper than imploring players to pass.  Is the player selfish, inept or does his thought  and decision-making process need a tune up?  As coaches we must be able to discern the root cause of a players struggles and do our best to help them fine tune their game. As it concerns passing, this can be a more complicated process than it seems at first glance, but since a player really cannot play the game without being able to pass effectively we must be diligent in improving our players ability to pass.

How to Measure Success in Youth Soccer.

As a youth soccer coach I have occasionally lost players from my club teams when they (or their parents) have heard me proclaim I am not overly interested in our won / loss record, that I am more concerned with developing players. 

Lost in the translation is the simple fact soccer is different than most team sports in the United States which are coached centered and statistically driven. 

Think of the other major sports – football, basketball and baseball. In each of these sports the coach is often the primary decision maker. In football, coaches call offensive and defensive formations and plays from the sidelines. The same is true in basketball. In both sports a coach can call a timeout to further instruct their players. In baseball, coaches go so far as to call what type of pitch should be thrown and on the other side whether the batter should swing or “take” the pitch. In soccer the privilege (and burden) of in-game decision making resides mainly with the players on the field. Not just a single player such as a quarterback, point guard or catcher either.  In soccer the decision making responsibility is shared among all 11 players on the field. 

Let that sink in for a moment.

Soccer is a Player Driven Sport.

"I had a coach who yelled and screamed at me constantly. If I made a decision he didn't agree with, he would yell at me. He would even try to tell me what to do with ball before I even received it.It's difficult to make a decision and carry it successfully when someone is second guessing you and giving conflicting instructions to the decision you have made. I would be preparing to play based on my decision or actually have the ball at my feet then hear him yelling for me to do something completely different. It broke my train of though. It confused my mind and therefore my body and more often than not led to a turnover that he blamed on me. It drained my confidence and made me second guess my decision-making. It made me a slower player, a worse player."

***********************************************************************************

The above is a quote from a player who was obviously frustrated with a coach yelling at him. "Michael" came to me after a high school game with watery eyes and ready to walk away from soccer. His coaches routinely yelled or shouted at him.  They were what I call "joy stick" coaches - they would have preferred to have joy sticks to control player decision making and actions on the field.  This is such am American approach to coaching soccer.

Most sports played here in the United States are coach driven. That is, the coaches make a vast majority of the decisions that influence the outcome of the game.  In American football, the coaches call the plays, call timeouts and make all major decisions for the players.  In basketball, the coaches call out plays and defenses, they call timeouts and otherwise dominate the game.  In baseball, coaches call the pitches from the dugout, the defensive coverages from the dugout, hit and runs or squeeze bunts, intentional walks  - all coaching decisions..

In soccer, there are no timeouts.  The pitch is typically 120 yards long by 70 yards wide with players spread out.  Coach to player communication in-game is limited... to yelling or shouting.  It should be limited to silent observation in-game, clear / concise player led communication at half and post game.  Then coach led communication in training.

A successful soccer match is player driven. 

A favorite mantra among soccer coaches is The game is the best teacher.

Practice what you preach coach!  Allow the game to be the voice the players hear. Mistakes will happen and players will learn from the mistakes they make. We favor experience but not the mistakes that provide the lessons to gain experience.  When it comes to in-the-game soccer coaching, Silence really is Golden.

What one gives ATTENTION to

 

determines his DIRECTION in Life!

 

One's DIRECTION in Life

 

determines his DESTINATION in Life!

 

Your Thoughts determine your PATH!

 

Therefore it behooves you to gather

as much information as possible
 

and choose wisely those Details

you give the most ATTENTION to.

 

 

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life: “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.”It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

 

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf will win?”

 

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Do we want Robinhos or Robots?

I think this is a good companion article to 11 Captains.  It is probably not a coincidence that I found both articles in the same file. The credit for this one I think goes to Mike Woitalla via Soccer America magazine from several years ago. Great reading and I know I have shared the thoughts if not the actual article with teams (and their parents) in the past.  Enjoy!

Do we want Robinhos or Robots?

How over-coaching and the emphasis on winning stifle young American talent.

The little boy dribbled and kept dribbling. He had taken the ball away from the midfield pack and zoomed toward his own goal. This surprised the other children and allowed him to keep the ball to himself for much longer than any player had managed during this U-8 game.

Having put some 15 yards between himself and the other players, he slowed down and seemed to marvel at all the territory he now had to himself. He started making a wide U-turn and flashed a big smile.

Why 4 v 4 should be a staple of training.

If I could change one thing about youth soccer in our area it would be to teach the four basic elements of the game – penetration, depth, width and mobility.  

Some years ago I introduced 4 v 4 spring soccer league in our local school district. Four field players with no goalkeepers. We utilized 4’ x 6’ goals with a 5 yard restraining arc around the goal for safety purposes and to prevent “guarding” the goal. 

4 v 4 is the fewest number of players that can represent penetration, depth and width around the ball carrier without duplication.  Every season I ran this league, each and every team eventually settled on a diamond or 1-2-1 alignment on the field.  It can be helpful to think of playing in 3 lines with a forward, two midfielders and a back. Or simply as having penetration, width and depth present.