Plan Your Practice
“Failure to prepare is preparing to fail,” John Wooden. A game provides countless challenging opportunities for your players, and you to learn.
In your coaching role, these moments are the content for your training session. They are the ‘soccer problems’ that your players encounter but failed to solve during the game.
Given a training session is all about improving the performance of your players, you need to have that vision to set up training is challenging and provides repetition.
Lines, Laps & A Big Field
My first team was 11-year-old girls. They have graduated from college several years now, and I am happy some still play soccer given how my training sessions were designed.
Our training was at a middle school that had a combination of 2 soccer and 2 baseball fields. The area was huge to say the least.
Warm-ups were 2 – 4 laps around the playing. They were exhausted halfway into the first lap. Of course, this was appropriate for soccer players, that what the pros did. That followed with some stationary stretching.
The next exercise with a passing line drill, where cones were 10 -12 yards apart, and players passed the ball back and forth. The practice progressed to playing a scrimmage 5v5 or 6v6 on half the side of the full-field (about 60 by 50 yds).
The 4 L’s of a Training Session
The four L’s can be problems for your players.
Are your players running Laps to warm up?
Are you doing Line drills of passing or dribbling. to improve perception, decision making, and execution?
What is your Language during play, especially after a mistake?
Do you Lecture your players?
To improve the important demands of perception, decision making, and execution training needs to have a different form.
The Greatest Teacher
A common term in the soccer world – ‘The game is the greatest teacher.’
Setting about the training session so that it is a game or game-like is often more important than coaching. Players learn more from playing than from listening. Worst, when it involves waiting for their turn.
Understanding how to set up a training session for players 10 to 12 years old is important for your players and team to grow. To maximize your practice time, transitioning from one phase to another needs to be smooth.
Repetition is the mother of learning, which keeps players engaged.
Training Session Organization & Transition
Essential training variables – Goals, field, balls, players, cone, and vests.
Players – 10 to 12 years old
Design – Can be adapted to many topics
Phase 1 – Warm Up – Game (3v3 w/ mini goals)
Step 1 – Marking the playing area
– Use 10 yards per player as a guide (for ex. 1v1 10 by 7 yds grid).
– For some players 10 years old a cone every 7 yards more appropriate.
– Sideline cones should have a different color than end lines.
– Use a different shape and color for corner cones.
Step 2 – The layout of Goals & Balls
– Mini goals are placed at opposite ends, facing each other
– Use the 6 yd box for the goal line at the end closest to the goal
– Extra balls should be beside each goal
– Have extra vests
Phase 2 – Transition to Small Sided Game (4v3 + Gk)
– Move mini-goal and place adjacent to goal at the half-line
– Remove cones from penalty box lines
– Extra players are subs.
Phase 3 – Transition to Expanded Small Sided Game (5v4 + Gk)
– Remove sideline cones
– Goals are the width of the penalty area
– Game is played sideline to sideline (full width)
– Place goal line cones 6 to 7 yards from sidelines and goals
– Extra balls beside each mini-goal and large goal
Phase 4 – Transition to Game (6v6)
– Add Build Out Line about 12 yds from each goal
– Add a regular goal at the half line (or use 2 mini goals side by side)
– Extra balls beside each goal
– Use half of the center circle for penalty box
The design of the training creates problems for players to solve and learn to play the game.
You need to maximize training time so transitioning from one phase to the next needs to be seamless, otherwise, players lose interest. Involve players in this process by making it competitive.
What challenges do you encounter transitioning from one activity to another?
For the full training session – https://fierce-thinker-4123.ck.page/a1a932a0da
References
US Soccer National Coaching A License
US Soccer National D License
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