Most Impactful Book on Coaching Perspective

InSideOut Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives by Joe Ehrmann “One of the great myths in America is that sports build character. They can and they should. Indeed, sports may be the perfect venue in which to build character. But sports don’t build character unless a coach possesses character and intentionally teaches it. Sports can team with ethics and character and spirituality; virtuous coaching can integrate the body with the heart, the mind, and the soul.” ~ Joe Ehrmann This is a very, very powerful book. Ehrmann believes there are two types of coaches, transactional (coach first, team second) and transformational (nurturing and transformational with the coaches needs met by meeting the needs of the players). He challenges the modern definition of what it means to be a man and how we can use sports as a platform to make a better society. At times a very difficult read due to personal experiences the author shares, but a really wonderful book on perspective and how important the role of coach and mentor is in society.

Three Favorite Soccer Books:

The Italian Job: A Journey to the Heart of Two Great Footballing Cultures by Gianluca Vialli and Gabriel Marcotti “A good manager has to have convictions, but those convictions must not be certainties. What’s the difference? A certainty is immutable, it’s a dogma. A conviction is a belief that, based on the circumstances, may or may not change. It’s something on which you can build. As you grow as a manager, you learn and better yourself and re-evaluate your convictions. What may have been true before may no longer be true now. And so, because you have convictions and not certainties, you are ready to change your system. It may be because your opponents have started playing in a certain way or because you have a different set of players or maybe the weather conditions. Whatever it is, being able to change your convictions is a sign of intelligence. I know it’s a cliché, but, ultimately, the great coach is the one whose formation maximizes the strengths of his players.” ~ Marcello Lippi This book compares soccer culture and player development philosophies on the European Continent vs Great Britian. Some wonderful insights into the game from many of the top coaches in the profession (Lippi, Mourinho, Ferguson, Wenger, Capello, etc.). Ajax Barcelona Cruyff: The ABC of an Obstinate Maestro Frits By Barend and Henk Van Dorp “I never practice tricks. I play very simply. That’s what it’s all about. Playing simple football is the hardest thing. That’s the problem of all you trainers. Simple play is also the most beautiful. How often do you see a pass of more than 40 metres when 20 metres is enough? Or a one-two in the penalty area when there are seven people around you when a simple wide pass around the seven would be a solution? The solution that seems the simplest is in fact the most difficult one.” ~ Johan Cruyff Johan Cruyff is one of the most influential players, coaches and thinkers in the game’s history.  He was the centerpiece to Rinus Michaels Dutch teams that played “total football” and helped establish the Barcelona Academy as well as being Pep Guardiola’s coach at Barca. His influence is widespread in the modern game. This book came about from interviews with Cruyff over three decades as both a player and manager and was released as a celebration of his 50^th birthday. You cannot help gaining a deeper knowledge of the game by reading this book. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GqGZby7284 Teambuilding: the road to success by Rinus Michels “Team tactical coaching demands that the coach is able to break down and analyze the match in team tactical components. In other words, how the “football orchestra” operates harmonically in defense, during the build-up and in the attack. You must be able to “read the game”; thus competently analyzing is a must… Which training exercises should I choose to work on our shortcomings? How can I perfect the team tactical guidelines and thus the tactical variations? How can I make my training as meaningful as possible?” ~ Rinus Michels If you like a dry book, this one’s for you! This book really opened my eyes to all the various aspects of coaching and the tactical considerations for a coach to consider when working with a high level team. I only include this on my list since it is a book I would return to each preseason as a refresher when I coached at the college level. It would be totally inappropriate for a coach that isn’t working in the 11v11 format to try to apply these concepts, but I wanted to include Michels’ book on my list since it had a great impact on me and how I view the game.

Best Take on Talent Identification

The Gold Mine Effect: Crack the Secrets of High Performance by Rasmus Ankersen “Athletes don’t respond well to too much information. You must only give them a minimum. If one of my athletes has a problem I don’t necessarily tell them so. Instead I get them to train in a way that I think will solve it, without making them aware of it. The last thing I want them to think ahead of an important competition is that they have a problem. There is a feel good factor you have to be aware of.” ~ Colm O’Connell “Godfather of Kenyan Running” “In the 2010/11 Champions League, the world’s finest club tournament, 79 Brazilians had time on the pitch, compared to only 25 Britain’s, 26 Germans and 49 Spaniards- and not a single Brazilian team takes part in the competition!” The Gold Mine Effect explores how in eight different areas of the world there is an inordinate amount of talent produced to a particular sport. Why and how do these “Gold Mines” develop? What are the takeaways we can apply to our own coaching to create our own Gold Mines? One concept that I found of particular interest was the idea of identifying “talent that whispers”. Can we look past our player’s current performance and project who will be better in 6 months, 2 years, etc.? The Gold Mine Effect covers a lot of ground and offers some interesting insight on a players Mindset (Carol Dweck), the concept of grit, the 10,000 hour rule and plenty more. It’s a very enjoyable read.

Favorite Book on Leadership

The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership by Bill Walsh with Steve Jamison and Steve Walsh “My Standard of Performance- the values and beliefs within it- guided everything I did in my work at San Francisco and are defined as follows: Exhibit a ferocious and intelligently applied work ethic directed at continual improvement; demonstrate respect for each person in the organization and the work he or she does; be deeply committed to learning and teaching, which means increasing my own expertise; be fair; demonstrate character; honor the direct connection between details and improvement, and relentlessly seek the latter; show self-control, especially where it counts-under pressure; demonstrate and prize loyalty; use positive language and have a positive attitude; take pride in my effort as an entity separate from the result of the effort; be willing to go the extra distance for the organization; deal appropriately with victory and defeat, adulation and humiliation (don’t get crazy with victory nor dysfunctional with loss); promote internal communication that is both open and substantive (especially under stress); seek poise in myself and those I lead; put the team’s welfare and priorities ahead of my own; maintain an ongoing level of concentration and focus that is abnormally high; and make sacrifice and commitment the organization’s trademark.” ~ Bill Walsh A superb book on how to build, sustain, and lead an organization. This book offers an inside look at Walsh, his leadership style and all the intricacies a leader must deal with when running a high performing franchise at the highest of levels. It covers in-depth how to plan and prepare, how to respond to set-back’s, establishing core principles and the necessity of surrounding yourself with good people. This book delves into the many set-back’s Walsh faced along the way to becoming the architect of the West Coast offense and revolutionizing professional football. His tenure with the 49ers began with back to back losing seasons (2-14 followed by 6-10) before winning his first of three Superbowls in his third season. Without the self-belief, guiding core principles and grit to work his way through adversity, Walsh would never have accomplished bringing a new brand of football to the NFL.

Outstanding Blog on Youth Sports

http://changingthegameproject.com/ John O’Sullivan, Founder of the Changing the Game project, offers a really wonderful perspective on how to return youth sports back to the kids. John is passionate and consistent in his message that we are dealing with kids, not little adults and this being the case, we coaches need to have a player-centric approach and allow the children to be the major decision makers of what they want to pursue. John is a proponent of the multi-sport athlete and is anti-early specialization. Like any good blog, I don’t agree with each and every one of John’s viewpoints, but I always find myself reflecting on his material again and again. Certainly worth subscribing to John’s newsletter. There are many other books and blogs that have impacted and helped shape my coaching philosophy, but the list above stands out in that they are ones that I often return to many times over the course of a season/year when I’m re-evaluating or affirming my approach. Thanks again for all the time you dedicate to the soccer players of Lexington and the community as a whole. Have a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season! Best Wishes, Brendan  

Romeo Jozak, the Technical Director for the Croatian Football Association and Former Dynamo Zagreb Academy Director, has become a mainstay at the NSCAA Convention over the past 5 years. Coach Jozak’s sessions are annually among the very best the convention has to offer. Coach Jozak’s ability to translate his insights from the modern game at the highest level into a comprehensive model on how to train youth players to meet these “demands of the game” is unsurpassed. Below is a summary of some of my observations and takeaways of Coach Jozak’s presentations.

The phrase “the game is the greatest teacher” holds many truths and has been a common refrain of many coaching schools over the past decade, but it can also create a false impression that kids always learn best by playing “the game”. If we acknowledge that the game itself is the most complex environment to learn from since one is competing under full pressure (equal number of opponents), while dealing with all the aspects the game presents (attacking, defending, and transitions both to and from), should we revisit the notion that the game is the “greatest” teaching environment? Maybe we can change the phrase to “the game is the greatest revealer” of what needs to be taught, but is it truly the greatest teacher?

If a practice game (scrimmage) is played in a sloppy manner and the coach allows play to continue uncorrected, does that teach the players proper habits or instill bad ones? If we observe our players continuously make poor decisions without offering guidance or perhaps at times even pointing out the “best decision” they could have made, is the game teaching the players to meet the demands of the game or is it the coach’s responsibility to provide more than “the game” to their players?

Coach Jozak, recommends instead of just accepting the “game is the greatest teacher” mantra, that we systematically teach our players the required techniques and movements of the game, and instill the ability to read the game through functional exercises in training with an age appropriate progressive teaching model. Coach Jozak also contends that it is virtually impossible for a coach, no matter what their level, to be able to observe all of aspects of what is truly occurring during a game. This being the case, we coaches need to observe and understand the game and based upon our conclusions develop exercises that are functional, progressive, and reveal the flaws in our players’ game. This will allow us to correct those flaws and prepare our players best to meet the demands of the game.

How do we do this?

Windows of learning is well known in the world of education, but often overlooked (or underappreciated) in the youth soccer world. When a child first enters a classroom, no matter where they are from be it America, England or Croatia, he or she learns the alphabet as the starting point. A young child writes the letter “A” thousands of times (repetition) since the foundation MUST be set during the first window. Learning to read words comes later in the learning process since it’s impossible for a child to read words or sentences until they’ve mastered the letters. Once the mastery of these basics is achieved, then and only then, can a child create sentences and paragraphs, conjugate verbs, etc. We all accept this as a fact when it comes to the education of our children across the world, but when it comes to our young players we often ignore the windows at their development peril.

How do these windows apply to player development?

The order we introduce information is as crucial to the development process on the field as it is in the classroom.   Until a player has established a comfort level with the ball where they aren’t fighting to control it, the ability to get their head up and process tactical decisions will be a nearly overwhelming task. The more time we spend at the youngest ages instilling good habits (receiving with all surfaces, taking a look prior to reception, hard passes, changing direction and speed while dribbling, etc.) in our players the better the team play will be at the older age groups since players will no longer struggle to command the ball and will now be able to process situations that are unfolding around them. If we make our players aware of how to create good supporting angles for their teammates (certainly an important concept), but we haven’t provided them a technical skill set to pass the ball accurately what have we accomplished?

Why are there so many cracks in the windows?

Adults too often place a premium on winning youth games, even as young as 9 and 10 years old, over instilling the necessary building blocks best learned in the first window. When this happens, holes in the player’s soccer education begin to surface. These holes, perhaps not immediately noticeable, do reveal themselves as the demands of the game increase (better competition, faster pace to the game, need for quick decisions, etc.). This is NOT to say the kids shouldn’t want to win, they should. Jozak states, “We want our kids to win, we want our kids to want to win, but there are no consequences for not winning.”

At Dynamo Zagreb, youth players are allowed lots of freedom in the first window (approximately 8 to 12 years of age), where player’s touches on the ball are maximized. As a player moves into the second window (approximately 12 to 15 years of age), they “take these touches away because the game demands it”. The modern professional game is continuing to trend faster and faster in all aspects not just in terms of the player’s physical movement, but also in the time a player spends on the ball. If one cannot process their surroundings, make a decision and play the ball accurately (at least 80% of the time) within two touches they cannot compete at the highest levels.

The development of the player IS the foundation of the team. This can be a frustratingly slow process that requires a great deal of patience, but if the foundation is not set properly, cracks in the surface develop over time. These cracks may be patched up temporarily, but they never become whole again. Let’s let the foundation settle and harden before building upon it. During the first window the team should serve the player, there will be plenty of time down the road for the players to serve the team. The youth soccer highway is littered with once “talented” young players that are left on the side of the road due to a poor foundation being set where windows of development were sacrificed in an effort to win games. As coaches, it’s our duty to educate the players properly even if it temporarily compromises the result. Let’s “teach them to read the book” so they become readers for life.

According to Coach Arena there are four things all coaches should take into account prior to practice:

1. Understand the level of your players. Try not to plan a sessions they are incapable of carrying out.
2. How many players will I have today? You don’t need to be a soccer expert to be organized.
3. How’s the surface? If you’re practicing at Adams you can’t do some of the things you can do at Lincoln.
4. Equipment Available. Do I have a goal today? Enough discs and pinnies, etc.

I’ve found taking Coach Arena’s advice has been helpful in not only my own growth as a coach, but also my players’ development and enjoyment of the game. I’d recommend that all coaches give these four points consideration when preparing their practices, but I’d also add fifth point to follow upon arriving at the field.

Get Set Up! The Set-up IS important. The number one thing I look for when I observe a training session is the pace of the practice. The better the initial set-up, the better the flow and the better flow, the more engaged the players are. The more engaged your players are, the more they enjoy the training and the better they develop. Virtually all problems I witness when running my own or observing others practices arise out of boredom (long lines, too much time between activities, lengthy instruction, etc). The antidote to these practice problems is a proper set-up.

If one arrives at the field and gets their set up correct, he or she can run their entire practice with little to no changes from start to finish.

This simple set-up will allow one to run a:

1. German Box Warm-up
2. 1v1 Pressure Training Exercise
3. Fast Break Attack Exercise
4. Short Goal, Far Goal Game

Warm-Up: The German Box

Exercise 1: Dribble in, in a controlled manner, around the disc without touching it, and accelerate back to your line. Once the first player begins to accelerate back, the next player in line dribbles in to the middle.

Note: Coach should designate which side the players dribble toward the disc from, lessons the chance of collisions with teammates.

Exercise 2: A player stands,”on his/her toes” without a ball, about 2 yards past the inner disc. The first player in line passes the ball to the player in the middle, the player in the middle touches the ball behind the disc to the other side the space” and accelerates back to the line. The player that passed the ball now runs into thmiddle and assumes the position of the middle player.

Exercise 3: A player stands, “on his/her toes” without a ball, about 2 yards past the inner disc. The first player in line passes the ball to the player in the middle, the player in the middle passes the ball back to his/her teammate and moves behind the disc for a return pass. Once receiving the “wall pass” he/she should accelerates back to the line. The player that combined with their teammate now runs into the middle and assumes the position of the middle player.

Exercise 4: Same as exercise #2, but the ball is tossed underhanded to the player at the disc forcing them to receive.

1st Activity- 1v1 Pressure Training

The Set-up: All players now move to the blue discs. Red players (split into two lines) facing one another, white players do the same. All players in line should have a ball. One red player begins in the box without a ball to serve as the defender.

Note: You can only defend in the box.

The Exercise: The first white player dribbles into the box to “take the red player on” and attempts to dribble out the other side of the box. Red attempts to win the ball and dribble out of the box to either side his/ her teammates are on.

Once the white attacker dribbles the box, the first white player in the line his teammate dribbled immediately begins to attack in the opposite direction. The Red player MUST immediately transition to defend the new attacker in an effort to prevent him from dribbling the opposite line.

When Red wins the ball and dribbles out of the box to either side his or her teammates are on, the white attacker who lost the ball now remains as the defender and the first red attacker from the line that the red defender dribbled begins to attack.

Coach should enforce the boundaries. If the attacker dribbles “out of bounds” he/she becomes the defender. Also don’t allow the players in line to creep forward.The gap from the end-line to the disc the defender a chance to transition and defend the next attacker.

Focus:

• 1v1 Attacking
• 1v1 Defending
• Transition
• Commitment

2nd Activity: Fast Break Attack 1v1 (becomes 2v2) to 4 Goals with Lateral Sprint

Set-up Adjustments:
Move the orange discs down to be in line with the pugg goals.
Move the yellow discs in line with the orange and blue discs to form a sideline and shooting zone. The yellow discs should be approximately 6 yards from the end-line.

The Game: When the coach yells Go! The 2 players closest to him, sprint behind the far goals and onto the field. The coach should play the ball out to the player quickest onto the field. A game of 1v1 ensues. The white player tries to dribble into the shooting zone and score in either of the two goals defended by the red. If Red wins the ball he/she should attack the white’s goals. Once a goal is scored or the ball goes out of bounds, the other coach yells Go! And the same movements occur from the other side.

Focus:

• Quick Sprint
• Taking a player on
• Acceleration
• 1v1 Defending

1st Progression: When one coach yells Go! The first 4 players sprint behind the goals, need to avoid running into each other, and onto the field. Each coach should play the ball out to the player who is quickest entering the field behind the goals closest to them (this will prevent the same player from getting both balls played to him).

Two games of 1v1 ensue.

Note: Players can score in either of the goals being defended by the opposite color.
This progression creates higher levels of repetition and forces players to have a better sense of their surroundings (heads up to avoid collisions).

Final Progression: When the first 1v1 concludes with a goal or the ball going out of bounds, these two players should move quickly to support the ball that is still in play. This will create a 2v2 situation.

Variation: The first goal scorer is done. This will create a 2v1 in favor of the team that conceded the initial goal.

Point System:
1 point for goals scored in the 1v1
2 bonus points for a goal scored in the 2v2

Focus: 1v1 Attacking, 1v1 Defending, Transition, 2v1 with Recovery, 2v2, Fitness

Game Segment: Short Goal, Far Goal

Set-up Adjustments:
None to the initial layout, but there are now two large goals approximately 15 yards behind the original field.

The Exercise: It is a normal scrimmage, but with the option to either attack the short goals (the puggs) or the long goal. Coach can add a restriction that doesn’t allow the defending team to drop deeper than the near goal until the ball is played in behind. The off-side rule should be in effect.

Note: If you use larger goals, each team should have one goalie that would be responsible for helping defend all of their teams’ goals.

Focus:

• When to attack the space behind the near goals?
• When to attack the near goals?
• When to keep possession and re-circulate your attack?* If you initially attack the large goal and the defense recovers, can you bring the ball back (re-circulate your attack) and score in the puggs?

In Conclusion: Selection of practice activities is a huge component of coaching and preparing a team properly. Once a coach identifies areas that their team needs to address, the selection of activities to address these needs comes into play. Not only should a coach choose exercises that are developmentally appropriate and on topic, the exercises should flow together (simple to
complex) to create a proper pace to the practice which will maximize the players learning and enjoyment. Limiting the amount of down time due to changes in the practice set-up is an often overlooked piece of the puzzle, but once it is in place the quality of practice time with one’s players will be enhanced dramatically. The Set up IS important and is something we, as coaches, can control. Enjoy your coaching!

This is a favorite question of a former colleague of mine that has really impacted the way I look at not only my coaching, whether it is for a single team or directing a club, but making life choices.  I’d encourage all parents to consider this question when signing up their child for youth sports, and ask that all coaches ponder it before volunteering their time.  There are very few instances when it’s time to make an important decision that pausing to reflect upon it isn’t helpful.

Players generally arrive at a soccer club or any other athletic endeavor through their parents signing them up.  So the starting point of a child’s experience stems from a decision their parent makes.  When clicking the mouse to register, I ask parents to please consider “What are we trying to accomplish here?”  There are so many positive reasons to sign a child up, but they are worth listing.

• To have fun playing
• To make new friends
• To instill the values of sportsmanship and fair play
• To be active and healthy
• To acquire new skills
• To learn to deal with both success and failure

If the program the parent signed up for provides their child with these opportunities, I think we’d all agree it should be considered a success.  Now that a parent has made the decision to enroll their child, it’s our duty as a club to ensure the experience is a positive one.

How do we ensure this? 

If there is a single quality that I hope to instill in the coaches that I work with and the parents that I come across, it’s perspective.  Without perspective all the other qualities a coach may possess, whether it be technical proficiency or tactical knowledge, he or she will always be limited in the development and enjoyment of the players they are charged to lead.  The good news is that in my experience, perspective isn’t a constant, but something that grows deeper over time and comes through experience.

Before going any further, I think it’s important to establish a definition of perspective.  Perspective can be defined several ways, but the definition I like to focus on is:  the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance.  I believe as the adult, the parent or coach, in the decision making process for the child we have a responsibility to truly understand the “relative importance” of youth sports.  If we allow the “relative importance” to guide our decision making process we should be on solid footing with the decisions we make.  Is it important to play our “best players” to win a U11 game or is it more important to provide all players an opportunity to play knowing kids develop at different rates and the child that may struggle now could emerge as the one we turn to a few years down the road?  Do we view the result of the game as the bench mark or the team’s performance and the effort they gave as our measuring stick knowing the result is often out of our control?  Do we praise effort or talent?  https://lexingtonunited.org/praise-effort-or-praise-talent/  If we as adults model proper perspective, over time, as the child matures, they will become more involved in the decision making process both on and off the field.

When a coach has perspective, they do things that are appropriate.  Not the flashiest of words, but solid as an oak.  I had the opportunity to watch Tosh Farrell, former Director of the EvertonYouthAcademy, run a session at this year’s NSCAA Convention where he used the phrase “provide the kids with the appropriate diet”.  A good coach does just that.  A good coach runs practices that are age appropriate by choosing exercises that are developmentally appropriate and delivered in a manner that is both verbally and visually appropriate.

I want to expand on the visually appropriate comment since this is an area that can often be a shortcoming for many coaches at all levels.  Dick Bate, Cardiff City Academy Director and a world class coaching educator, posed the question, “when is a coach communicating?” in a lecture on communication skills that I was fortunate enough to attend a few years back.  The answer:  all the time.  All eyes are on you as the coach, so how do you want to look?  When a kid shoots wide of the target and you toss your hands in the air or turn your back to the field, before regaining your composure and offering “good try” or “unlucky” as words of encouragement what message have we sent our player?  The demeanor of a coach has a profound impact on the game our children are involved in.  When a coach has perspective and behaves in a composed manner, he encourages players to attempt new things and to take chances without reprimand.  When doing so, he sets a tone that is often emulated by the parents on the opposite sideline.  This creates a wonderful experience for all involved.  By contrast, when a coach lacks perspective we often observe players deferring to teammates in an effort to avoid making mistakes or taking ownership of their game.  When the fear of failure enters youth sports, the values we signed up for begin to diminish and we need to rethink our investment.

“What are we trying to accomplish here?”

I believe as coaches we have a unique opportunity to develop not only players, but people.  That is what we should be “trying to accomplish”.  When we rotate a player to different positions and “weaken our chances of winning”, but know it is the right thing to do, we need to do it without hesitation.  When we ask our players to take risks or play out the back and the ball gets turned over, we need to encourage them to do it again or as Samuel Beckett says, “Fail Better” https://lexingtonunited.org/fail-better/ the next time.

Just as parents begin the process with their child by signing them up to play, they often are the ones that put closure to the weekend’s game on the ride home.  This is a responsibility that can have a lasting impact on the player’s mindset.  Please take great care in this responsibility.  Instead of analyzing the game, John O’Sullivan, Founder of the Changing the Game Project, recommends sharing these few words on the ride home  “I really love watching you play”.  What a wonderful comment for a parent to share with their child.  What a great perspective on what we should be trying to accomplish.

What should we work on today, this week, this month, etc.? Assuming I have the opportunity to have two training sessions per week, one practice plan will follow a curriculum-based plan where the practice is in place well in advance, and tends to fluctuate very little based on my team’s performance week to week, and instead focuses on core development aspects to help players build a skill set to meet the demands of the game over the short and long-term.

The second practice, which I’ll refer to as the team practice, and the one I will explain my preparation for in this piece, follows a different construction path. The most complex aspect of coaching, and playing for that matter, is the game itself. Analyzing what has actually taken place in the match and prioritizing what needs to be worked on in training is the starting point of my team practice plan. Very rarely, if ever, will I come away from a match and feel that there is only one thing my team needs to work on; however, it is important that when putting the practice plan together I settle on a single topic.

This provides a clear focus for me when putting pen to paper on the plan that will hopefully translate into a more effective practice session on the field for my players. Below is the typical structure of my sessions. All of my practices end with a game and cool down (light stretch, quick review of session, any relevant updates, etc.) so there is minimal initial planning done here. Granted, I do consider the size and shape of the field and who is going to be playing with and versus whom during this segment, but in reality these things are considered after I’ve settled on my core training activity for the session.

Example Topic Chosen through Match Analysis: Attacking Transition

Once I’ve selected the topic for the session, I spend a great deal of thought and care in trying to figure out what exercise will best address improvement in this area. This exercise is almost always the 2^nd Activity/Match Related Activity for me. This activity is a complex activity that places players in an environment where they are forced to make decisions quickly, to perform techniques under game like pressure (promotes functional technique) and has a high resemblance to the game itself in that the players are attacking and defending in a directional manner.

Example Core Activity:  Transition Game with Mirror Goal

With the core activity in place, I work backwards in my selection of the 1^st activity.I try to ensure that this activity (1^st activity) will “tune the players in” and create a comfort level both technically and tactically for the main activity of the session.This activity will be performed under some pressure, but not too much pressure that the players struggle to have success.If this activity is too difficult and the players get frustrated in that they can’t find a rhythm, the success of the core activity will suffer.I also like to have the set-up of this activity mirror the set up of the core activity as much as possible.This will allow for me to make slight adjustments to the set-up during a quick water break for the players, but not have to do so much adjusting that the players are waiting around that the practice tempo suffers.

Example 1st Activity:Transition Boxes

The Warm-up is the first official activity the players will experience at practice (I tend to hold a street soccer arrival prior to the warm-up), but it is the last item I put in place when preparing my plan. I view the warm-up stage as an integral time for player and team development, not an insignificant part of the session plan. To me a good warm-up should:

1. Set the tone and rhythm of the practice.
2. Begin on time and get the players focused.
3. Provide numerous repetition to technically prepare the players for the demands of the session
4. Be related and lead to more success in the activities that will follow.

Example Warm-up:  Notre Dame Passing Warm-up

This is the method I use when I build a practice plan. I’ve come to this system over time and found that it is the most effective one for me to address my team’s preparation and development. If you currently struggle with putting a plan together, I’d recommend starting from the core and working your way out. It may seem an unorthodox way of building a session, but I’ve found that the most important exercise in team preparation to be the final activity prior to the scrimmage. If I can select this activity wisely and prepare a plan that builds toward this exercise, the session will be a successful one for both the players and coaches involved in the session. Full practice plan is below.

Street Soccer	10 Minutes
Notre Dame Passing Warm-up	15 Minutes
	The Set-Up:  In a free space 6 to 8 players with one ball. The Exercise: The players move freely throughout the area.  When the ball is played to a person, they must take a touch that is big enough that it would take them “past pressure” from a defender.  They should pass the ball to any other player with their second touch. Focus: 1st touch, Handling speed (amount of time between 1st touch and delivering the pass), Crisp passing, Movement of the ball 1st progression: The players continue to move freely, but now every other person receives the ball “past pressure” and the next person receives the ball by “opening up”.  When a player opens up with the ball they should receive the ball with one foot and pass the ball with that same foot.  The key is the first touch opens them up to the field of play and doesn’t go back in the direction it came. Final progression (pictured): The exercise continues with the same pattern as before, but now the third person must play a first time pass (one touch) to any teammate. That player should take a touch “past pressure” and play to a teammate who “opens up” and plays a ball to a new player who MUST play one touch. Focus: Receiving, Crisp Passing, One touch passing, Movement off the ball
Transition Boxes	15 Minutes
	The Set-up: two 25 x 15 yd boxes are connected. The Game: 6 Red players are keeping possession against 3 white defenders (only send 2 defenders over if the red can’t keep possession). When the white win the ball they play to their resting teammates and transition to support. Red now sends three (or two) defenders over to try to win the ball back and play to their teammates. Focus: Offensively- can we keep possession & make the space big. Defensively defend in a triangle. Play to our teammates when we win it. Transition: Quickly move to support, quickly move to defend.Coach should have a supply of balls to keep the game moving. Note: Coach can change the amount of pressure by increasing or reducing the number of defenders. Coach can limit the attackers’ number of touches on the ball.
Transition Game w/Central Goal	20 Minutes
	The Game: 5 red’s are playing vs. 3 white defenders and a goalkeeper, 2 white players are resting. Rule: Teams needs 3 passes before they go to goal (this will allow for transition as the game gets going).When Red either shoots the ball, white wins the ball, or the keeper makes a save, the ball should be played quickly to the resting players. The White players now “transition” from defending to taking up supporting positions for their two teammates that had been resting. Three Red players must immediately transition to defend. Note: Resting players should remain deep in their zone “stretching the field”. In this picture, the goalie is an all-time keeper. If you have 2 keepers designate one per team. They would play as a field player when their team is in possession.
Scrimmage	Focus: Attacking Transition 25 Minutes
Cool Down	Stretch and Recovery 5 Minutes

I typically spend much of my summer recharging the batteries for the coming year and going back through new and old videos, past curriculums, books, etc. in an effort to refine and enhance the product and experience we offer our players.  This summer was the same in many ways, but I also had the opportunity to be coached by a master coach without even being aware of it.  The words that follow aren’t intended to be a promotion of P90x, but to share some of the commentary Tony Horton, P90x creator, uses throughout the program and how we can apply them to our coaching.

“Do your best, forget the rest”.  Very simple philosophy, but isn’t that what we should ask of both ourselves and our players?  No more, no less.  If we, as coaches, come prepared to do a great job and attempt to make each interaction with our players meaningful and productive for all involved, aren’t those the values that sport is supposed to instill?  If we have done this and our practice comes up short of our expectations, it’s not a failure, it’s just an opportunity to re-evaluate our approach, or the plan itself, and learn.  If our players compete to the best of their ability, but the game result doesn’t reflect their effort, does that minimize what they gave?

“It’s not about being perfect”.  Mistakes will be made and we should embrace, not run away from, this reality.  Struggle is part of the learning process.  Getting better at something takes time.  There are no shortcuts.  Things our players struggle with during weeks one or two are often mastered by weeks four and five, it just takes patience and perseverance and perhaps an encouraging word from the coach to guide his/her players through the development process.  Can we replace the “I can’t” attitude with “I presently struggle with…”?  It’s amazing what a positive outlook can accomplish over time.

“Write it down”.  Take a few minutes to keep a log of your practices and games.  Write down what worked for you and what didn’t work.  By keeping a journal, you provide yourself a reference point to chart your progress as a team.

“Keep pushing play”.  Be present.  There will days that will be hard to lead and you may want to be somewhere else, but by being committed to the process and by being present (“pushing play”) you’ll continue to grow.

“Enjoy the Journey”.  No team or experience is ever the same.  New faces are welcomed into the team while others depart.  Former role players become key figures and once quiet voices begin to emerge.

This happens every season.  What an awesome experience coaching can be when we embrace the challenges and opportunities each new season brings.  If we embrace all that the new season brings with it, we can’t help but to enjoy the journey!

“Coaching gives one a chance to be successful as well as significant. The difference between those two is that when you die, your success comes to an end. When you are significant, you continue to help others be successful long after you are gone. Significance lasts many lifetimes. That is why people teach, why people lead, and why people coach.”

A wonderful answer to an important question, but that is coach Holtz’s answer not mine. Every coach will have a different answer and it may evolve over time. An answer I often here from volunteer coaches is, I coach because I love my child and want to participate in their life, or no one else would, so I thought I’d fill the void.  Both legitimate and good reasons to coach, but I ask all coaches to reflect on their own reasons for coaching.

Like many coaches, I have considered this question and have had many varied reasons for coaching over my twenty years in the role. I love the game of soccer, I like the competition athletics provide, it’s fun, but what I have come to understand during my time in Lexington and being a part of such a wonderful community is that I coach because I love the growth that it provides in my life and in the lives of the people that I come across.

Being a father of three boys under the age of five, I’m always awestruck at how quickly they “grow”.  Growth involves struggles and obstacles along the way. Mistakes will be made and set backs will occur, but it’s amazing to watch a child persevere to take their first steps, or draw a sea monster better than before, or write a letter a little more clearly.  The joy they exhibit in this personal growth is one I cherish and get to share with them. Coaching allows me to share these types of moments with so many different people. Their growth inspires me to keep growing in turn.

Watching a young player struggle with the ball at his or her feet, and then spend hours working to master a command of it is a form of growth. Observing a player that is shy come out of her shell and begin to interact with her teammates is a form of growth. Observing a player pick up after himself and help clear the field instead of having a parent do it is a form of growth. Watching a coach go from a tentative novice to one that can take charge and lead a group is a form of growth.  The opportunities for growth are endless, which to me is what makes the game, and life, so special. Not only do the children (and coaches) benefit in these moments, but they begin to progress as people whether it is from the discipline to put in the necessary effort, learning to cooperate with their peers, or to begin to take ownership of a task. It’s awesome to observe and be a part of.

Two of the great motivators for me in my coaching are the children and the volunteer coaches. Can I provide a better practice, a more understanding ear, and a more thoughtful voice? Searching for ways to do this has helped me grow.  I’ve made mistakes along the way, but I’ve learned to embrace them and grow from them. At the end of my practices I’m very fortunate that I often have people say thank you. Those are two wonderful words that often don’t get said enough, but I would be remiss if I didn’t say thank you in return. Thank you for allowing me to coach and continue to grow. Whether it’s taking our first steps, or watching our children do the same, there is always a joy and satisfaction that only growth can provide.

What’s your philosophy on player development?  This question is at core of any coaching course and should be given plenty of consideration by all coaches since developing players is in essence the number one priority of a youth coach.  The answers that follow can vary from coach to coach, but I’m always surprised by how long winded and rambling the answer to this question can be for both candidate and instructor.  That is why it was so refreshing to hear Charlie Cooke explain The Coerver Player Development philosophy at The Coerver Youth Diploma Course I had the pleasure of attending this summer.  Coach Cooke stated that Player Development should be “Serious Fun”.   Serious Fun, Clear and Concise.

What does Serious Fun mean?  Players develop best when they enjoy what they are doing.  Therefore practices should be built around activities that are FUN!  Having said that, we coaches must make a clear distinction between fun and silly.  It is fun to get better and you get better through structured activities which provide a maximum amount of ball contacts and opportunities to make game like decisions in a practice setting.  Coerver Coaching structures each training session with Ball Mastery, Soccer Speed, 1v1 and Small sided games as core components.  This structure is Serious!  There is no winging it when you get to the field.  The activities selected may change from session to session, but they are never done so without serious consideration.

The Coerver Method believes in “stretching” players.  They do this through intense competition in 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 activities where players are constantly transitioning from attack to defense and vice versa.  The small numbers force players to remain engaged at all times, demand technique under pressure and foster a fast paced environment that is ideal for player development.

As coaches, can we take our players outside of their comfort zone and help them grow both on and off the field?  It’s important that we have a plan in place that on one hand doesn’t overwhelm and discourage players, but on the other doesn’t limit development by underestimating what they can accomplish.

“If I were a player would I enjoy participating in this session?”  I believe if all coaches would ask themselves this one question when planning out their practices, we’d go a long way in providing an environment that promotes player development in a real meaningful way.  After all, player development is Serious Fun.

“Ever Tried.  Ever Failed.  No Matter.  Try Again.  Fail Again.  Fail Better”

Samuel Beckett

Fail Better.  What an amazing philosophy for a coach to embrace when dealing with players.  I initially wrote “young players”, but why limit that philosophy to a particular age group?  Isn’t it our responsibility as coaches to place players in an environment that is challenging and stretches them as both people and players?  This doesn’t stop when a player hits a certain age or level, but must always remain present for growth and development to occur.

“Ever Tried, Ever Failed.”  Sadly many players haven’t truly tried because they are afraid to fail or they have tried and were punished for failing and decided it wasn’t worth the struggle.  Too many players fall into the latter category because a coach has placed results over development and stifled their creativity by demanding they “play it safe”.  Players that play it safe at too early an age are the ones that never develop the skill set to “take a player on” in the final third or look for the half chance in the penalty box.  Instead they pass the ball to their teammate because they don’t want to take ownership in case they fail.  I’ve watched countless games where coaches and parents alike shout at kids to shoot the ball, but these are the same people that throw up their hands in disgust when a player misses the target or the ball gets saved and exclaim “Billy was open, why didn’t you pass the ball”.  We can’t have it both ways.

“No Matter.  Try Again.”  As coaches, let’s create an environment where our players don’t play it safe and we welcome mistakes knowing that that is how they learn.  How you respond to your mistakes is the key.  Do you quit when things are hard or do you view it as an opportunity to learn and grow as a player while you practice to correct your mistakes?  Can we create a training environment and culture that stretches our players and demands that they persist and persevere through initial failure?

“Excellence is about striving for what is just out of reach and not quite making it; it is about grappling with tasks beyond current limitations and falling short again and again.  The paradox of excellence is that it is built upon the foundations of necessary failure.”

Matthew Syed, Bounce p. 129

“Fail Again.”  Try something new.  Once we accomplish one goal (e.g. performing a scissors move) can we work toward another (taking a player on)?  This will mean more opportunities to fail, but also more opportunities to grow.  A good coach should serve as his/her teams, and each player within that teams, guide.  Can we create a development plan that allows for the satisfaction of reaching certain benchmarks (short term goals), but always keep them striving for more (long term goals).  No player is a finished product and no team is ever without room to improve.  Let’s not get complacent or static, but continue to move forward.  It’s fun to get better, and you don’t do that without striving for more.

A final word on mistakes, everyone makes them, but how we view them and respond to them can be dramatically different from person to person.  Here is world famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma:

“If you are only worried about making a mistake you will communicate nothing.  You will have missed the point of making music, which is to make people feel something”.  Ma goes even further when speaking of his own performances.  “I will make a mistake on stage.  And you know what?  I welcome that first mistake.  Because then I can shrug it off and keep smiling.  Then I can get on with the performance and turn off that part of the mind that judges everything.  And it’s when I’m least conscious of what I’m doing, when I’m just lost in the emotion of the music, that I’m performing at my best.”

Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer
p.87-89

In music, in sports, in all facets of life no matter how old or young, it’s okay to make mistakes.  Some of the greatest in their field even “welcome” them.  It’s how we respond that matters.  Let’s encourage our players to keep making them, but to “fail better” next time.  It’s a sign of progress.

In, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell shares several observations regarding children’s development in a segment that delves into the creation of the show Blue’s Clues. Blue’s Clues drew upon the most successful elements of Sesame Street, but there was a major difference between the shows.  Sesame Street was intended to appeal to both children and adults, whereas Blue’s Clues had a specific target audience.  Blue’s Clues target audience is pre-school children.  Acknowledging that, many of the steps the show uses can still be applied to both classroom education and on the playing fields for children of all ages, if we apply some minor modifications.  

“If you think about the world of a preschooler, they are surrounded by stuff that they don’t understand-things that are novel.  So the driving force for a preschooler is not a search for novelty, like it is with older kids, it’s a search for understanding and predictability,” says Daniel Anderson (a pioneering television education researcher & Blue’s Clues designer).  “For younger kids, repetition is really valuable.  They demand it.  When they see a show over and over again, they are not only understanding it better, which is a form of power, but just by predicting what is going to happen, I think they feel a real sense of affirmation and self-worth.  And Blue’s Clues doubles that feeling because they also feel like they are participating in something.  They feel like they are helping Steve.” The Tipping Point, p. 126

Each episode of Blue’s Clues follows the same pattern, with the host, Steve, presenting the audience a series of clues (written or drawn on paw prints) that will help lead them to solve a puzzle involving the show’s main character a puppy named Blue.  The clues begin simple and increase in complexity over the course of the episode.  Steve asks questions throughout the show as he engages the audience and guides them to the solutions.  The show concludes with Steve rehashing the clues in a slow and deliberate manner where he uses long extended pauses that adults can find awkward, but are in line with a preschooler’s thought process.  Perhaps, the most interesting dynamic of Blue’s Clues isn’t the episode itself, but in the decision of the programming directors.  The same Blue’s Clues episode that airs on a Monday will play each day throughout the week.

“Blue’s Clues succeeds as a story of discovery only if the clues are in proper order.  The show has to start easy-to give the viewers confidence-and then get progressively harder and harder, challenging the preschoolers more and more, drawing them into the narrative. . . . The layering of the show is what makes it possible for a child to watch the show four or five times: on each successive watching they master more and more, guessing correctly deeper into the program, until, by the end, they can anticipate every answer.” Id, at 129 

How can we apply the lessons of Blue’s Clues to our coaching?  I believe that if coaches can incorporate four major themes from the show to our coaching we’ll be doing our players a great service both from an enjoyment and developmental standpoint.

1.  Construct your practice in the same manner day to day, week to week.  Consistent structure will help the players establish a comfort level on what is expected of them and how the session will flow.  Being consistent is a very important dynamic for a coach at any level, but even more so with the younger age groups.  Once the players gain a familiarity with the practice format, it should also put an end to the question, “when are we going to scrimmage”.  If you always finish each practice with a game, they’ll know that the scrimmage is coming and can remain focused on the exercise at hand.  On a personal note, I would recommend beginning each practice with a street soccer game as an arrival activity. This helps address the same question listed above as well as giving the players an opportunity to express themselves. 
2. Progress Simple to Complex- Allow for early success to establish a baseline and confidence in all the players.  Increase the complexity and difficulty in a manner that is challenging, but not overwhelming.  It’s okay to make mistakes as the practice progresses, this enhances the learning process, but you don’t want to begin the session with an activity that is too difficult and plants the seed of doubt in the players mind from the outset.  Remember, the proper ordering of the clues is vital to the show’s success.
3. Provide Repetition- “An adult considers constant repetition boring, because it requires reliving the same experience over and over again.  But to preschoolers repetition isn’t boring, because each time they watch something they are experiencing it in a completely different way.” Id, at 125. This is not to say that you need to run the same session with your team for 5 straight practices, but often by repeating an exercise or two from one practice to the next brings out a higher performance level since the players now comprehend the rules or objectives of an activity and can now focus on developing within the activity itself.  I caution coaches against changing the activities for their own enjoyment, when by doing so you may be hindering the enjoyment-and development- of your players.
4. Be a Guide- Steve has many characteristics of an ideal coach.  He poses questions, pauses long enough for the children to respond (a good listener) and methodically rehashes what they’ve learned along the journey.  As coaches, we should look to incorporate Steve’s skillfulness in asking questions with our players.  Asking questions engages the player and makes them active participants in the learning process.  Steve doesn’t provide the answers; instead he leads the children to discover the answers themselves.  This concept of Guided Discovery is one all coaches should embrace and seek to improve upon.

Children learn in stages.  With this reality serving as our starting point, it is our duty as coaches to recognize this fact and cater our coaching style to suit their needs.  Although it can be tempting to try to speed up the development process to make the game look like “real soccer” quicker, if we attempt to force the issue we run the risk of overwhelming the child and stifling the development we were all so eager to see in the first place.  Let’s coach like Steve!  Have a plan and a methodical approach that guides the children, through exercises that offer repetition and age appropriate challenges, where we place the children in an environment where they find the solutions to the game.