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Michael
That is a great list of books If I may suggest Soccer Tough and Soccer Brain are both good reads on psychology as well…both are written by Dan Abrahams
My Fav from his podcasts is https://soundcloud.com/coachingmanual/tcm-008-patrick-ladru
But having come from Ajax myself I am not terribly impartial
Did so today I frequently listen to his podcasts they are generally pretty good
Just finished :The Gold Mine Effect” by Rasmus Ankersen. I found it intensely interesting and well written. It speaks against many of the more common philosophies, especially here in the US, on rearing world class athletes. Its speaks of the 10,000 hr rule from time to time, but takes it a bit further and goes through what similarities each of about 7 sport factories have in common. Brazil for soccer, Russia for tennis, S Korea for golf, Jamaica for sprinters etc etc all these places where they just churn out world class athletes have certain traits in common. He is really continually trying to debunk the thought that genetics is a key factor in obtaining world class status, basically the premise is that certain genetic traits may prohibit you from attaining this high level but they are relatively few and generally extreme and almost none are a predictor of superiority in sport. The best compliment I can give the author is: It has made me rethink the how and why I do things with my own children and those under my care as a coach.
Steve
The team does show some individual skill which is nice to see. To answer your question of how others get kids to knock the ball around I can tell you what I do. From U8 on I do a 5v2 drill where the 5 cannot dribble and the 2 can only win the ball if they call out a mistake from one of the 5 players…ie received on the wrong foot. My session are all 1.5 hours where the first hour is the topic of the week, the next 15 minutes in this no dribbling session with the last 15 minutes is just open play time where I encourage the kids to be creative and use what was covered earlier. Now I do many variations of the same concepts but that is the basic jist
Hector
Is this not a major problem in philosophy of American sport at the youth level. The pressure to win and win now is huge and it takes a certain type to forgo this win mentality for a development mentality. I too have the issue with the club having a common philosophy through each age group and the variations are huge. I think what you are seeing is a result of this win mentality and not the problem itself. The kids run because the coaches know at U10 generally the better athletes can still take over a game. Even the best of trained teams will have difficulty beating one that is superior athletically. I guess a long winded way of saying the pure lap running type of training IMO is not the disease but the symptom.This is what I do.
My practice is 1.5 hrs
Spend 30 min on individual type skills, generally of the Coerver type
Spend 30 min of possession type play, focusing on passing and receiving moving into space etc
30 min ssg 3v3 or 5v5 where I focus on beating a single player but passing if confronted with more than oneIn games I give no instruction as to how they can play but discuss afterwards what worked and what did not and why
Very similar to what Dana stated. I break down even the 4v0 Rondo into its components and then layer them on top of th previous skill until we get to what you see here. Depending on the skill level I work on just receiving on the back foot, then I may add in to movement and communication to receive the ball, then Ill add in the checking each shoulder during movement and to communicate direction of the pass after yours ie tell the receiver who is open. Once they have these down and it takes on average for my boys 3-4 tries I will add in the passive defender
I too coach kids this age and begin the basic concepts at U7. There are some very simple Rondos and three man drill sI use to get them use to the concepts that are displayed here. I found that at U7 and U8 they get the basics in about 3-4 sessions. Then I just continue to reinforce the concepts during SSGs. I have a rule in practice that you must receive across your body in all situations, in games they can do where appropriate but again try to reinforce this where applicable
I think it is also a matter of philosophy and when you feel single sport specialization should begin. I coach slightly younger kids but I have set some ground rules. If you miss a game for another sport game, you sit a game. We have two practices a week, attendance at one is mandatory if you miss both, for other sport practices, you sit the game that week. This way I try to encourage kids not specializing too early yet reward those who make the time and dedicate themselves to the team. I try to gear the rules so you can do other sports but not to the extent that it harms others on the team
One more pragmatic reason why badges are needed is insurance. In my club you need a NJYS “F” to get insurance coverage. So while I have a UEFA “B” and played at a top academy, all that mattered for coverage was this 6 hr course with people who have never touched a ball before. This experience has made me question getting further badges. I am all about continued learning but the current system should be changed with the changes in the game to make it truly a worthwhile venture
I coach kids on the young side U10 and below so I use small Coerver type sessions for home, put them on a daily spreadsheet and rotate sheets every three weeks or so for variety. I find many are willing but don’t know what to do. There are some great at home programs IMHO by BeastModeSoccer and Paul Spacey that are free to download and easy to modify for individual levels For me home is about touches and getting many of them.
I find it great that Gary modifies for each individual and does specific player home sessions, maybe I need to up my game 🙂
For me it generally depends on size of the group If there are 12 or less I don’t use a whistle but over 12 I find it useful
I read a story on Cryuff’s blog, it is written by his son in law, I will share it here as I believe it also illustrates the philosophy between technique and tactic. While I cannot disagree with your statement personal technique is also what allows possession to occur. If a player cannot receive, pass and create space, even if they are tactically great, they are not effective either. Its the balance of the two that is needed I believe the Ajax method is that tactics are not easily taught to young kids but fairly easy for those over 14 to pick up so focus on technique in the younger years.
http://www.cruyfffootball.com/uncategorized/wanting-vs-working/
I see it as a change back to the way things were. I was at De Toekomst 30 years ago and they never stressed tactics until 14. We had a general idea of what was needed from positions but were trained to think of space and how we all were in relationship to the ball, not so much what a CM responsibilities were. If I were to put percentages on it I would say training was 85% individual technique and 15% tactics, again a general statement. I see many who are now in charge were educated their 30 years ago, maybe they just lost their way for a while
