THE ELEMENT OF PERCEPTION

In 2011 I belonged to a club that favored its’ senior teams and had no interest in their juniors. The juniors were a means to an end, as the only way that the senior squads could belong to a local football association and play in a league, was by having a minimum of three junior teams covering u9, u11 and u13 respectively. I coached the u11 squad.

The club’s facilities were more than average with a club house, change rooms, equipment and three well maintained fields. The goal posts were portable and required some effort to set up. The club’s committee refused to allow the junior teams to use the proper sized goals on practice days and we all were given small steel goals to use (with a height of 1.5 meters and a width of 3 meters.

We had a terrible season as we lost the majority of games and conceded more goals than we scored.  I took the time to investigate why we were struggling, by visiting other clubs in our league and watching their practice sessions. I also observed my players in action and made notes; got a friend of mine to video record a few games that my team played in and spent time putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

My team was struggling because we were practicing with small sized goals, whereas our opponents from other clubs were using large goals. They were strong on set pieces i.e. corners and were able to take aerial shots at goal from way beyond the goal area. My players on the other hand needed to get right up to the large goals to score, virtually running over the opposing goal keeper in the process. On match days my goalie looked like a fish out of water inside a large goal as it is far easier to defend a small area than a large one.

Training with small goals had created a one dimensional approach to scoring. My players could not see the big picture at all. Shooting at a small target at most times with low shots in order to score had created tunnel vision which held us back. Our set pieces like corners were poorly executed and virtually impossible to do in front of small goals, as the players were as tall and some even taller than the goals we were using.

REMEMBER: When dealing with young minds you need to look at how they see things and perceive things to be. If you’re struggling to achieve positive results then you need to take a step back and analyze the problem. More often than not the solution is staring you in the face.

Cheers for now.

Mike

P.S. Next time youth football coaching drills, we will cover a drill that works well in improving your players’ shots at goal.  

 

KICKING THE HABIT

In youth football coaching drills, it is vitally important that every member of your team can kick a soccer ball. Most kids and even 16 year old players develop the habit of toe punching the ball, as they find that they lack the power if they try another kicking technique. Soccer is all about kicking and unless your players can kick properly, you are going to struggle to win matches and score goals. Many coaches tend to rely on those players in their team who can kick a ball and ignore the players who can’t.

Take the time to teach all of your players how to kick a soccer ball. Repeat this youth football coaching drill until it becomes instinctive to each of your youngsters. Even if it takes months to get it right, believe me it will be worth your while.

Yesterdays Youtube video gave you a visual understanding of how to kick. Listed below is the basic method of how to kick a ball properly. 

1)      The right position of your kicking leg: The higher you bring your kicking leg back behind you the more powerful kick you will get.

2)      Lock the ankle of the kicking leg: Keep the ankle of your kicking foot locked.

3)      The position of the knee: The knee of the supporting leg must be slightly bent. This will make it easier to kick the ball with the instep part of the foot. Remember that the more you bend the knee the easier it will be to kick the ball with the instep.

4)      Where does the supporting leg stand? The foot of the supporting leg should be at least a foot from the ball. This will allow the kicker to strike the ball from a 45 degree angle which will increase the power of the kick. Remember that the direction of the supporting foot determines the direction that the ball will travel.

5)      The body position: By leaning the body forward the shot will stay low to the ground. If you lean your body back the ball will become airborne.

An easy but effective youth football coaching drill regarding kicking the ball is to line your players in a straight line, each with their own soccer ball facing a target (3 or 4 cones) at least 30 - 40 meters in front of them. Each player takes a turn at shooting at the target, with the objective of hitting the target. Once the player has taken the shot they line up on the other side of the target ready to take another shot. Reward those players that hit the target. An incentive always creates a buzz and makes the drill fun to do.

Cheers for now.

Mike

P.S. I will continue with shooting in my next post.

HOW TO KICK THE BALL

HOW TO TACKLE THE PROBLEM

Tackling is a basic skill that every player must be able to execute properly. Otherwise the consequences will be disastrous. With youth football coaching drills, I would like to focus on three methods of tackling.

THE BLOCK TACKLE:

 

The block tackle is used when confronting an opponent head on. Timing is crucial and players need understand when to make this tackle. If the opponent is off balance or has allowed the ball to run too far in front, then making a block tackle is simple. The technique works as follows:

1)      Ensure that the non-tackling foot is firmly on the ground to act as an anchor.

2)      Let the tackling foot make contact with the middle of the ball like you would a side-foot pass.

3)      Keep your body forward and your knees bent.

4)      Ensure that your knee and ankle are locked and that you are balanced.

5)      Commit to the tackle and put a foot under the ball to lift it away.

THE POKE TACKLE:

The poke tackle is simply knocking the ball away from the opposing attacker so that it either goes out of play or you are able to win the ball back. This is an effective tackle as it throws the attacker off guard and can allow for a counter attack. It’s done as follows:

1)      Approach the attacker from the side.

2)      Use the foot nearest to the ball.

3)      Extend the foot from the side or through the opponent’s legs.

4)      Stab the ball away using the toes to kick near its center.

5)      Ensure that the body is balanced and avoid tripping up the opposing player.

THE SLIDE TACKLE:

The slide tackle is similar to the poke tackle and is effective in tacking the ball away from opposing attackers who you know are very fast. The tackle is done as follows:

1)      Run towards the person you want to tackle.

2)      Try to lead with the foot that is nearest to the opponent and ball. This allows you to reach the ball quickly.

3)      Slide down to the ground extend your leg out, poking the ball away from the opponent. Hit the ball from the front and onto the opposing players legs.

4)      Ensure that contact is made with the ball to avoid committing a foul.

REMEMBER – It’s not just your defenders that need to know how to tackle. Every player must tackle opposing players and ensure that the pressure is always on your opponents.

Cheers for now.

Mike

A DRIBBLING CIRCUIT

THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF DRIBBLING

I have been asked why I have given little attention to dribbling. In youth football coaching drills one would expect an emphasis on dribbling through cones etc.

Dribbling is certainly important and if you have a small number of players then one can focus on individual dribbling drills. However if you have in excess of sixteen players in your squad and you do not have an assistant, you will encounter a problem as most of your players will be standing or sitting idle waiting for their turn and hardly touching the ball during a practice session.

The dribbling drill that I laid out in an earlier post is to me very effective as it involves all of your players at the same time and if done correctly will ensure that they get the necessary training on dribbling. Also my fitness programs include sprinting and dribbling.

However it is important to go back to basics and cone dribbling has its place. The above video offers a look at setting up a circuit which should involve all of your players. Use this as a guide as you can set the circuit to your specific needs and with the equipment you have on hand. The more you have in your dribbling circuit, the busier your players will be and the more effective this youth football coaching drill.

Remember each player must have a ball.

Cheers for now.

Mike

LETS CONTINUE WITH PASSING DRILLS

In the above video titled: ADVANCE PASSING TRIANGLE; this youth football coaching drill works as follows:

1) Mark out a triangle with cones each with a distance of 20 meters between the points.
2) Put 1 player at each point of the triangle with 1 additional player at the starting point (in other words you will have 4 players in total).
3) Player 1 passes to player 2 who passes back to player 1 as player 1 runs to replace 2’s point. Player 1 then passes on the outside to player 2.
4) Player 2 passes to player 3 who passes back to player 2 as player 2 runs to replace player 3’s point. Player 2 then passes outside to player 3.
5) Player 3 then passes to player 4 at the starting point. Player 4 passes back to player 3 who again passes to player 4.
6) The sequence starts again.

 Another really good passing drill is called: DOUBLE BALL PASSING and is done as follows:
1) Set your players up on a starting point in pairs (each player with a partner next to them). Measure a distance from the starting point of 30 meters and mark it with two cones.
2) Each starting pair of players must have a ball.
3) The starting pair will dribble their ball forward and in turn pass their ball to their partner as they move towards the 30 meter mark.
 4) They do the same when coming back to the start.

This youth football coaching drill works well as it forces players to concentrate on their pass, especially in trying to avoid their ball from hitting their partner’s ball when they make the pass. It also forces your players to communicate with each other and avoid passing to opposition players on match days.

 REMEMBER: There are many passing drills that you can practice, but you need to focus on drills that work and not on drills that look good on paper but are very hard to implement. Depending on the age group that you are coaching, complicated drills cause too much confusion and waste precious time. Adopt the “ KISS” principle which is keep it simple stupid. In this way players will learn quickly and implement what you teach them on match days.


Cheers for now.

Mike

THE PUSH PASS

PASSING

Before I go into the passing drills, let me add some advice which I have learned over the years. As I have mentioned there are a lot of different youth football coaching drills that one can use, however you do not have the time to implement every one. If you’re an amateur coach, then time is a problem (you don’t have enough of it). Therefore you need to assess what’s really effective and works versus what’s fun and time consuming.

When passing a ball it is important to use the inside foot from the base of the big toe to the central area of the heel under the ankle bone. The kicking foot is at a right angle to the ball and the player’s belly button should be facing the player who is receiving the pass. Let the kicking foot hit the ball’s horizontal mid-line in order to keep the ball low.

1)      PASS & SHOOT DIRECTLY:  Set up three groups of players outside the goal box and at least 20 meters apart in a triangle. The first player in the middle passes the ball to the player in the left group who passes the ball to the first player in the right group. This player should then shoot at the goal directly. All three players then rotate.

2)      DISTANCE PASSING:   In an area of 10 X 15 meters using six players per group as a maximum; place two players on either end of the marked area and two players in the middle. The player at the end side foots a pass along the ground to the center of the playing area, where the nearest player returns the ball on their second touch. The player at the end controls it and then hits a lofted pass to the far side over the heads of both players in the middle. The sequence is repeated at the opposite end.

3)      PASSING ON THE MOVE:   Mark out two small fields of about 15 X 15 meters. Divide your players into groups of no more than five players a side. The small teams face each other inside the marked out field. The team that is in possession of the ball should try to keep the ball within their team for as long as is possible. Normally eight consecutive touches within a team will gain that team a point. This is in my opinion one of the most effective youth football coaching drills and really improves inter play on match days. You should do this drill at least once a week.

Passing is a very important drill both in terms of attack as well as ensuring continued possession. You need to practice this drill every week.

Cheers for now.

Mike

SO LETS GET TO THE DRILLS

In my opinion the most important youth football coaching drills are dribbling, passing, clearing and shooting; which pretty much sums up football. However there is the right way and the wrong way to doing these specific drills. I have in the past subscribed to various online websites where they offer a host of effective drills, which in my opinion just don’t work and create more confusion than anything else. Let’s start off with dribbling and again as mentioned in my previous posts, it is important that all of your players have a soccer ball at their disposal.

RUNNING THE BALL:

This is just the basic dribbling of the ball in an open space, which allows for better handling and focus. Do this for at least 5 minutes ensuring that each player is running with the ball.

SPRINTING WITH THE BALL:

Slit your players into three groups one behind the other. Mark a 40 meter line with one cone at the end in front of each group. Then get the first player of each group to sprint to the cone, go around it and come back to the start. Then let the next player from each group go and so on. When dribbling the ball at a speed, ensure that the player keeps the ball close in front and does not kick the ball too far ahead. If done regularly will ensure better control when carrying the ball forward on match days.

FOCUS DRIBBLING:

Make a square of about 30 meters by 30 meters. The size of this square will vary depending on the number of players you have in your team. Have an identical number of players positioned evenly alongside the square. Each player must have their own football and stand opposite each other on the sides of the square. When you blow your whistle, every player will dribble the ball to the opposite side and stop on the line opposite them. In youth football coaching drills, this drill teaches your players to dribble across the square with their heads up and ensures that they do not interfere with the other player’s path, thus ensuring that they control the movement of the ball. I find this to be a truly effective dribbling drill which is far more effective than dribbling through cones. 

Cheers for now.

Mike

P.S. Next time we will look at some more drills.

ULTIMATE SKILLS BY ANDRES INESTA -WHAT A BRILLIANT PLAYER

A SECOND FITNESS PROGRAM

Another fitness program that you can add to your youth football coaching drills is listed below. This program need only be done once a week as part of your second weekly training session if you train two days per week. Just do one set of eight repetitions for each exercise from points 2 - 6.

1)     Five 30 meter sprints.

2)     Squat to lunge combo: Start in a standing position. Go down to a squat until the thighs are parallel to the floor. Come back up into the standing position, then move directly into a lunge, then go back up into a standing position. Do eight repetitions per leg (alternate).

3)     Pike push up: Start with you hands on the floor. Keep you bum in the air with your legs slightly bent and your feet shoulder width apart. Slowly go down bending your elbows until the top of your head or forehead touches the ground. Push back up until your elbows are fully extended.

4)     Squat Jumps: In a standing position, squat down as low as you can go. Keep your back and chest straight. After reaching the bottom position of the squat, jump up as high as you can and land down into the squat position again.

5)     Mountain climber: Start in a plank position. Bring one knee up towards your chest while keeping your torso rigid. Bring the leg back and switch legs. Alternate legs at a fast pace. Keep your body rigid. The only body part that should be moving is your legs.

6)     Burpees: Bend your knees and place your hands flat on the ground in front of you. Push your legs back so that your body is now in a plank position. Bring your legs forward with your knees once again bent in the starting position.

I am currently putting an e-book together which will include several fitness programs with proper pics on how to do these exercisers.

Before I go, if you find the programs to be too long then scale it down yourself in order for either program to fit into your practice session. Remember these are guidelines which if used correctly will make a huge difference to the fitness levels of your players.

Cheers for now.

Mike

THE BASIC FITNESS PROGRAM

Normally practice sessions will take place twice a week. When doing youth football coaching drills, it’s important to concentrate on fitness training and basics on one day and fitness training followed by small sided games on the other day. You need to keep your practice sessions lively and interesting.  

A favorite fitness routine of mine is listed below. Remember you don’t want to spend your entire coaching session doing fitness drills. You will do three sets of ten repetitions per exercise. Run the program from points 2-6 as a circuit.

1)     Jog 50 meters with a sprint of 50 meters. Do this three times before carrying on with the other exercises below (remember that each player must have a soccer ball when doing this).

2)     Air squats. Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Squat down keeping the chest up, low back straight and the glutes back. Squat down as low as you can go while keeping the lower back as straight as possible.

3)     Lateral lunge & reach. Lunge to one side and reach down towards the floor with both arms, touching the floor with both hands flat. Come back up and repeat on the other side.

4)     Knee push-ups. Start in a plank position with arms fully extended, then lower your knees to the ground. Your head, chest and back should be in alignment. Lower your body until your chest is about 1” off the floor. Push your body back up into the starting position.

5)     Over unders. Pretend that there is a hurdle about knee high next to you. Start by stepping over the “hurdle” with both legs (one at a time). Once over the other side, come back under the “hurdle”. Make sure that you bend forward from the hip, keeping your lower back straight. Repeat this going one way and then the other way.

6)     Split squat jumps. Start in a split stance. Go down into a lunge position until the thigh is parallel with the floor. Explosively jump up as high as possible. Land softly in the same lunge position. Repeat consecutively.

7)     Sprint 50 meters and then jog 50 meters. Do this once only.

I have been involved with sport fitness training for the past twenty-five years and I believe in building leg strength to improve both speed and stamina. Follow this program for a three week period doing it once a week.

Cheers for now.

Mike

P.S. I will look at the second fitness training program next time.

SO WHAT NEXT?

You’ve got the equipment and you have your squad. So what now?

The most important aspect of youth football coaching drills is FITNESS. That’s right…fitness. The average junior soccer match will be between15 and 25 minutes a half with a 5 minute break in between. In that time your players are going to be running and sprinting; which means that they need to be fit.

 As I have mentioned before, a typical season will last for eight months of a year of which two months will form part of your pre-season training and the rest of the season will be taken up with playing matches. You need to realize that fitness training is as important as drills and basics. However you also need to realize that the type of fitness program needs to be effective or else you will fail. Getting your players to jog around a field once, twice or even three times during a training session will not suffice. Your squad needs to be conditioned and this requires body resistance training along with sprints. You also don’t want to turn your youth football coaching drills into a boot camp and end up with the vast majority of players leaving the club. Your squad needs to know the importance of fitness training. They may well dislike you but in the end the effort will pay you dividends during the season.

The very first and most important thing to do is to measure each individual’s level of fitness. This is done by measuring a 40 meter line with a start and a finish. You need a stop watch to time the sprint. Each player will sprint the 40 meters only once and you as coach will time them. This will allow you to focus on two important aspects:

1)     Who are the fastest players in your squad?

2)     And how fit are all of your players.

This exercise should be carried out once every three weeks and duly recorded. This will allow you to see the progress of your fitness program.

Next time we will look at different fitness programs.

Cheers for now.

Mike