My coaching philosophy is to stay focused on individual skills and let the intricacies of cooperative team play develop naturally as the players get more experience. Less yelling from me, more playing for them.
We'll want to be working on building the very basic foundations of skilled individual play that allows players to then cooperate in their attack and defense. To do this I'll be trying to maintain a very consistent vocabulary with the kids so that any in-game coaching I do is simple for them to understand. I won't be coaching for wins and you may see me on occasion put a seemingly weak line-up on the field even if that allows our opponents to score. I'll be doing this to put each player in positions that force them to test their skills and to develop confidence. Nobody hides on the field when I'm coaching. Everybody is in the game.
Here is what we'll be working on with the teams this session.
Good posture. Knees bent most of the time. Running on the
toes most of the time. Moving your body to get over the ball rather
than reaching out for it. Simple stuff but it's the foundation of a
good player's skills.
Soft touch. Soccer
isn't about kicking. It's about possessing the ball and moving it with
you to a point where you can let go a pass or shot. I want every kid on
my teams to know that no matter how reliable and big a kick they have I
won't be really impressed until I see them develop a soft touch that
allows them to settle the ball, move with it and then use that big kick
they're so proud of in the right situation. The first thing you need in order to be able to
trap and settle the ball with a reliable soft touch is good posture.
Looking up. I'll
keep asking them to try and get used to feeling the ball with their
feet and keeping their eyes up to see the field. When they can
comfortably move with the ball without looking down at it the passing
and shooting opportunities will become obvious, so you won't hear me
yelling to them to "pass it!", rather I'll just keep reminding them to
"see it all, see the field".
Find the space. If
they are looking around and seeing the field as the ball comes to them
they'll understand how to move into the open space to find a path to the
goal. I want them to develop a sense of the field that allows them to
move in any direction, not simply always straight ahead, although I'll
also be encouraging them to take on those one-on-one straight ahead
challenges too and to develop the deceptive moves you need for that.
So, to keep it simple: Get in the habit of having good game-ready posture,
knees bent and on your toes so that as the ball comes to you you can
catch it on your feet with a soft touch. Then look up, find the space
and go. I'll teach them a few basic dribbling techniques when I have
time and try to repeat those and the above points throughout the
session. It's great to have a lot of talented and skilled players on my
teams but I want to see every single player improve from the start of
the session to the end. I want everybody in the game.
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