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Hey Phil,
I think your team payed our Toca U10s this weekend in StL…which is the team in this video below.
What did you think of the game?
More possession highlights from the U9 Toca FC. Getting better, little by little…
Thanks Phil! I didn’t know if U9s could understand spacing and possession concepts, but they seem to be getting it. This is our first time as a club trying to teach possession this young. I’m hoping the speed and smoothness of the possession will come with repetition over the years. If we keep working on it every practice and game from U9 to U18, it could be pretty fast and smooth in a few years!
Here is our U9 boys. Some promising stuff from a young group of u9s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tD0fxWFEd0
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This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by
Alec.
We are the light blue team in this video. The previous video in this thread was the 1st game of winter league and this is the last. The play is better, but we still have a long way to go. Space is really limited in the winter, so I’m looking forward to outdoor when we have more than a small basketball court to practice on. I think by the end of spring the comparison of progress will be huge! I hope! 🙂
Love to hear any feedback.
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This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by
What does your 6v0 Pattern Play look like? I’ve struggled with how exactly I want the ball to circulate.
I have to train two teams together, any thoughts on keeping the kids engaged and focused when doing any of the drills that are more tactical based. High pressure or playing out of the back. My thought is they can learn a lot of from watching too, but getting them to watch is the key.
U10 boys, indoor/winter 7v7.
We have a lot of work to do, so I’m praying that this isn’t my best work! Lol. This is our 1st game of playing on a big field for indoor doing 7v7. Hopefully this will be the video we look back on and say wow they are soooo much better now than they were in this video. I’ll get some more video up so you guys can see the developmental progress.
We have done a lot of work on the 4v1 rondo and we still do a lot of individual skill work. The kids are trying some of the right things, but it’s obvious they need a lot more reps of building the possession out of the back. 🙂
I have my ideas, but you what do you guys think? How would you start the process of really helping these kids get the spacing correct and playing the ball out of the back? I don’t want to throw too much at them and I don’t want to under estimate what they can handle.
Thoughts?
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This reply was modified 10 years ago by
Thanks Damian,
I’m excited to see how it translates to the game. Are you trying to do any set tactical work with them. Like basic ideas on how to move it around the back with your kids?
I have just been doing the basic out of the back drill before games.
The main way I’m trying to get the 4v0 and 4v1 rondo to translate to games is by talking about it in all the other drills in practice. We focus on using the farthest foot in all possession drills, scrimmages and doing two touch mandatory in possession drills and scrimmages sometimes. It’s a turn over if you obviously use the wrong foot or take 1 or 3 touches. I’ll try to get some game footage up, this is the youngest I’ve ever tried to teach possession, so I’m not an expert. I’m experiments with how to translate all Brian and Gary’s stuff to my teams, lets hope the experiment goes well!
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This reply was modified 10 years ago by
Hey Gary,
You might have guessed we have been struggling as you retweeted to the world that we got rocked. Lol. I have no shame about the fact that I need to get better. 🙂 We played the Sporting Academy team (my best center mid was out, not that it would have mattered much) and they just rocked us like 4-0. Their possession was sooo fast – all one and two touch and their movement off the ball was crazy good any age actually. We have hung with them in the past, but their coach finally got them playing and they just had us chasing our tails the whole game.
My U13s are really struggling. It’s my first year doing 11v11 and I think I’m not breaking things down enough for them. I’m feeling like a pretty average coach right now and it really pissing me off!
I’ve been implementing the 3four3 drills and they are helping and I can see a lot of positive things from the boys in games, but it’s just too slow.
My biggest issue is just intensity in the execution. I’m not sure that I’m creating game like intensity enough in the practice. I’m pretty vocal at pushing them, but I know it’s not enough.Do you have any tips? Against weaker opponents we can create all the patterns great, but once we play a true equal, they just can’t get the timing. We also struggle with transition play and establishing possession. I know that is something you have talked about choreographing, but I’m not sure exactly how to create that in practice.
Also, how important do you feel it is to practice on a full field. We have limited space and never really get to train on a full field. I feel like our spacing is just a little off and the speed is a bit too slow. I’m wondering how much of it is, the practice in a smaller space than games. Before games we usually get to shadow play on the full field, but I just don’t think it’s enough.
Thanks for any thoughts.
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This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by
Gary.
I had a miserable Sunday to put it nicely. My two U13 teams lost both their games….and we had no business losing. I was getting pretty confidence and starting to feel like I had a grip on how my teams were playing, but I got toasted this weekend. 2-1 and 4-2, but just terrible soccer.
The grass/dirt was very bumpy and there was about a 60 mile an hour cross wind.
Here is my question. I fear that I’ve got mentally weak players. Basically when the environment is perfect ie. good grass or turf we can kill teams. When there is snow, freezing rain or 70 mile an hour winds on terrible surface we are reduced to a crappy jungle ball team! I basically have sold out so hard to possession that if that fails, I don’t have a plan B. Or at least I have not choreographed, practiced or prepared for a plan B really.
Do I need a plan B?
How do I plan for games like this?
Do I just except it and blame it on the environment?
The thing is, isn’t this just soccer? If you look at the MLS, while the pro teams don’t play on terrible fields, it can be really hot and there can be snow. I think we as coaches have to prepare kids for everything, but if I stick with just the 3four3 drills for now, do I just except loses in games like this last weekend?
Any thoughts. Do we just need to get better? If so, how do I win some of these games so I can keep my kids and continue my possession development process.
Thanks guys!
The picture is starting to come together and gives me some insight into what gaps I need to fill. Not much else to say yet…except this is PURE GOLD! So much to be learned here!!! Exciting stuff!
Better to be corny than boring. Looks like you are inspiring the girls! The progress speaks for itself! Great work!
Girls are doing great! Did you say they were U8 or U9. They are doing really well to receive the ball across their body. Very impressive for U8 or U9. My only add is I’d like to see a little more individual skill and creativity. 🙂 the basic framework is great.
I think you are off to a good start with the rondos. It takes time for the kids to learn any drill, but they can do it if you keep working on it.
Here are some thoughts for you. Think of them as positive criticisms. I’m not trying to be negative. I just know that if I posted something I’d want honest feedback not just surface talk.Little kids have the attention span of ADHD squares – if you really want to get more out of the rondos you NEED to inject some excitement into the kids! Everything they do isn’t good. Some things are ok and you can call it good, but then when someone actually does something good it’s got to be AWESOME!!!! Some of the best kids coaches I know are the ones that willing to look a little silly with their excitement about the good things the kids do! Otherwise the kids don’t really know the difference between when they are learning and when they are going through the motions. Re-read this post: http://blog.3four3.com/2012/06/11/soccer-coaching-evaluation/
But maybe you were just feeling weird filming yourself, which is totally normal and I think I might feel the same. LOL.Possession drill at the end…
While you want to challenge them, you want success, you want to challenge the kids so you give them things that are inches outside of their reach, not miles. Even if they get some level of success in our possession drill it’s not the fastest way to teach possession.
I’ve had a teams playing in the U8-U10 range for about 6 years now. What I have found is that doing full possession (as I saw you doing a little of at the end) is not something you want to do with the younger kids that are still learning basic techniques of passing.
4v4, 5v5 or 6v6 or even 5v5 + 1 or 2 possession drills don’t translate to possession in games just because you do in in practice. It can help but in my opinion it’s the long-cut to teaching possession in games.1. Master the receiving across your body.
2. Get the kids a basic level of understanding about weights of passes. 1. Hard (rockets) 2. Firm (like the ball is sliding on glass) and 3. Soft (trapping it for your teammate).
There are lots of different drills for teach this and it mostly comes down to coaching in the drill if you want the kids to know the difference in weight of passes.3. I would do some shadow play in practice and before games. Show them how the ball can potentially be moved around the field in a game vs trying to get them to play possession. Translating possession without goals into a full game is a lot to ask of 7 and 8 year olds. Heck most college and professional teams spend tons of hours at practice on possession and we know it doesn’t translate to games, so why would it be any easier for 7 and 8 year olds.
Possession drills are primarily beneficial for the technical focus, not tactical. The tactical benefits can be taught better through other drills. And the technique with this age needs more focused coaching attention, because it’s terrible at this age. lol.
I hope that gives you some things to think about, without sounding too critical. 🙂 I’d love to keep the conversation going. -
This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by
