Session progression advise

[Eric DykesParticipant]

Gary-

What would be a recommended progression of sessions for a U10 team going U11 that has played a traditional US club soccer system for the past 3 years.
Aggressive, quick, direct combinations that plays well with individual creativity but lacks that TEAM playing as one person mentality. We have sinned as we hoof it out from the back on goal kicks. Feel like Im in confession : ) Especially since my director of coaching is a River Plate diehard. We both know we need to make the switch.

We have already incorporated the following into our Every Day Drills-
Rondos w/o pressure
Rondos w pressure in the form of ghost and double rondos and circle keep away to much success. My kids are already getting some muscle memory on collecting the ball across the body. Very please with the results and can see where this is heading.

Thoughts?

[David WilliamsParticipant]

Sort of answered your own question Eric.

[Eric DykesParticipant]

Maybe I didnt ask the question clearly.

Now that we have put the rondos in place and established a technical base to do the rest what session progression would you recommend from there and suggested length of time on each task.

Example- If you choose playing out from the back

Do you hammer playing our from the back day in and day out over and over with little session variation until they get it? Or is there a amount of time to spend and then revisit.

Example-

2 week theme playing out from the back
2 weeks combinations
2 weeks lose your man

then maybe in week 8 you revisit playing out from the back

OR

maybe a session or two on playing out from the back move on and then teach another similar session a week and a 1/2 later

Whats it look over time when your train this age?

[David WilliamsParticipant]

It does depend on the children. Some groups can handle doing the same work over and over, some will hate it. I have children who hate rondos, they moan about it, so I found other ways of doing the work which suits them. What you have to do is find ways of making it interesting and challenging but still get your point across. So be careful before you move on.

You are basically layering your work, adding layers over each other. You build the foundations, then the walls, before you add the roof.

[Chris RyderParticipant]

David,

What are some of the other ideas you have to replace rondos if the kids get bored of them?

Thanks

 

[GaryKeymaster]

Hi Eric,

This is part of your art.

All I can give is a general guideline:
You want your teams to get to a point where they consistently execute during competitive matches.

And of course “consistently” & “execute” are relative depending on what your standards for those are. If you’re looking for a reference, the videos we’ve uploaded give an indication.

That’s your feedback loop though – match day execution.
If it’s not to your liking, it’s possible you’re not doing enough repetition in training.

But what I do recommend without hesitation is that #1 priority – on par with the rondos and the principle of receiving across your body – is getting your team to consistently “play out of the back”. That is the foundation to everything else.

For instance, we didn’t introduce “losing your man” well over a year after getting the team (pretty sure it was into the U12 season).
That doesn’t mean you have to do the same, but it shows you how long the process of just one topic can be, before layering in the next level of complexity.

Remember, not only do the players have to reach a level of mastery with a particular topic, the coach does too. When a coach achieves mastery, he’s able to project genuine confidence, energy, charisma, & detail into the players … and hence risk of “boredom” doesn’t set in with the players.

I’m going to try and revisit this topic again, as I know lots of coaches want a more specific guideline … it’s just that ultimately it depends on how the team/coach is executing.

[David WilliamsParticipant]

I have put the whole group into a 30×15, divided them into 3 groups of four. One player from each group has a ball, he is dribbling and trying to intercept their passes, do this for 1 minute each. Player has a ball at his feet to make it easier (can not tackle) for the 3 to keep the ball, as they get better play without a ball at their feet. Players now have to cope with 2 other teams to keep the ball, so making the decision to pass and find space is game realistic. The kids preferred the moving around the area and I was still able to coach the receive on the back foot, check your shoulder, scan the pitch etc.

I have done the rondo without cones and asked them to move around the pitch as they do it, found this worked well with the active kids, who get bored with standing around.

That is not to say that I do not use the rondos which we see in the videos as I do with other groups I coach.

[Eric DykesParticipant]

Thanks Gary-

Ive been such a stickler to the US curriculum in the past. 2 weeks of this then 2 weeks of that. I agree that we often move on before mastery. There has been improvement but the term mastery is not one Id use.

Revised training outline- 4 weeks until state cup is not a good water shed moment and I am a meticulous planner. So here we go.

Spring Season-

Technical- Continue as planned Rondos and support angles
Tactical- Playing out from the back/ basic combination play

Well use your philosophy and play down when scheduling our friendlies to build success and then ramp up our competition near the end of spring.

[GaryKeymaster]

Cool Eric!

You definitely should throw in the pressure side of things too. Never too early to instill the defensive work ethic and identity. That is key.

Not at all saying this is you … but my biggest worry with coaches is that they won’t continue the process long enough to see the results. The methodology is one that requires long-term repetition, commitment, and dedication.

One might see a pretty quick team improvement in matches, but I caution not to confuse that with the players “getting it”. They don’t. Consistency is the sign that players are “getting it”. That will take a long time.

If a coach wants to adopt our methodology, these activities aren’t something to just sprinkle on top of what they’ve historically done. The frame of mind must be the opposite. This is the core, not the icing on the cake.

[Eric DykesParticipant]

Funny you mentioned pressure. Met with the director today and told him my plan and he wanted organized pressure added to the mix too. Done.

Looking forward to getting started with it.

This will be the core. assured.

Thanks again!

[CalebParticipant]

Trying to build on this topic-

 

1 hour 30 min session-

 

30 min warm-up/rondo

30 min tactical (build out of the back/pressure)

30 min possession oriented game/scrimmage

 

Here is my question- what possession oriented games are you doing at the end your sessions? I was thinking about doing a lot of 2 v 1 and working on combos- give and go, etc.

[Ryan RichParticipant]

I think this is a great question, and I would love to hear  the Kleibans and other ideas on this. Here are some things I’ve done with my kids playing 7v7 and 8v8….

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fpuxmqemhktj887/6v6%2B1%20zone%20game.mp4

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nb449sh72ecgim1/3v3%2B2%20positional%20rondo.pdf

I’m not sure if the second would be considered a real final possession oriented game or just a more advanced rondo that you’d use to reinforce playing out of the back but u9-u11 kids seem to get it when put in their positions they would play on the weekend.

Would love to hear other ideas on this.

[Eric DykesParticipant]

I really like both drills. Especially since they are more positional. Nice variation.

[Eric DykesParticipant]

Progress thus far- 8 v 8 middle of the pack U10 Flight 1 team

What we have done in the last month-
1. Dynamic warm up
2. Rondos 4 v 0
3. One of these variations-
a)Rondos 4 v ghost- A MUST IMO- it really explains the angles of support and players can see why the angles are so important
b) 3 v 1 rondos
c) double rondo
4. One of these tactical pieces
a) playing out from the back basic- Then added pressure with defensive player having numbers up. Also do it with 8 players/ 2 sets facing each other and working on movement while working the ball around the pitch. Lots of kids engaged and replicates offensive movements as well for positional play.
b) Offensive pressure- we added out outside backs pressuring on the rotation vs target players as we play a 3-2-2 with very active outside backs.
– players not in the 3four3 tactical drill are working 1 v 1s and 2 v 1s with assistant/ they then rotate to our drill
5. scrimmage

The real watershed for this group will take place right after st. cup but we have already begun our club wide implementation of Rondos with our youngers program. We have been late to the game with goal kicks and will make a club wide effort in the spring to play out from the back on these situations as well.

Results (Committed to the program 100% so negatives are just struggles and we know mastery takes lots of time)-KEY technical and tactical outcomes of the drills

collecting across the body-
Practice- VAST improvement- no mastery- in the double rondos count the number of times the players lose the ball when failing to collect across the body vs. proper collection. ITS CRAZY!!!!!!!!!! about a 4 to 1 margin with my group. Almost all loses of the ball when collecting correctly are poor touches on the pass or failing to lift their head when making a pass and the ball carries out of the play area. Not uncommon for some groups to string 10-15 passes together.
games- much improved but making mistakes in high pressure situations. Several of our U10s played up in U11 flight 1 friendly. The opposing coach said that my U10s were technically the most skilled players on the field. Mentioned their focus on collecting across the body as one of the compliments.

angles of support
Practice- VAST improvement with lack of pressure- Playing out from the back basic looks like the video often. Added pressure- outside backs not getting wide enough yet and the center back favors right foot so much that it gets him in trouble when pressured. Have to fix that.
games- some improvement- replicated the ball movement well out of the back a few times. All players entering the attack too early and leaving proper angles of support. Results in a lot of turn overs as players cover themselves up.

Offensive pressure-
Practice- Improvement- The drill vs cones looks pretty good. Add players to pressure and kids stall when the defense escapes. Especially if the outside back gets the ball to our center back as the player pressuring the center back stops allowing him to play wide or push up the middle of the field to relieve . This is an area where we need much improvement as we let the defense out too easily and we tend to attack from our defensive 1/3 and not the middle or their third, thus goals are harder to come by
games- Got a goal off of proper pressure vs a State Cup favorite to take an early lead. Inconsistent pressure though. I have found a kid or two we may have to drop to the flight II team as they score goals but refuse to have a pressure mindset. Ill keep demanding it and see if they improve.

Overall- I am seeing the progress and am excited about our development. The parents that get it are loving it. Will continue to work on the above things every practice.

[SEAN KIERNANParticipant]

Eric,

Sounds great, I have been drawing up my proposed training cycle for Feb which is our first month back/pre-season month

I think I am going to do similar

1) Rondos 4vo 15 mins

Ghost 4v1 Rondo

s-warm up(just to mix it up every 3rd/4th session)

Every sessions to to warm-up

2)then either 4v1 full pressure/3v1 rondo/double rondo depending on progression of the players 15 mins

3) Playing out from the back, no pressure moving onto adding numbers each week-30 mins

losing your man & offensive pressure I will do here once our playing out is good enough.

4) scrimmage 25-30 mins

I am excited to start back up as I have always coached the above stuff but I have always just (now I am realizing) skimming the surface as I try to do too much and at times used to feel that I wasn’t doing a good job unless my session was new, never seen before etc!! makes me laugh now as I have been missing the obvious.

I am also having my players do beast mode soccer to keep up their juggling, dribbling and ball striking away from team practices.

my main question to you Eric is how did you deal with lower numbers at practice to still do the drills? I was thinking I could change the 4v0 to 3v0 in a triangle  or join in myself any thought would be appreciated

Thanks

 

 

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