Coach Smarter, Not Harder

Sourced from http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/

If something isn't working on the training pitch many coaches resort to shouting louder or making their players do a routine over again until they get it right.

Here's an example: Your U11 players give the ball away too easily in matches so you decide to devote a training session to keeping possession of the ball.

The usual way of doing this is to play games where one team has to keep the ball away from the other team for a set number of passes. Sounds like it should work, doesn't it?
Divide your players into teams and tell them to try to make five consecutive passes before losing possession. Easy! But it doesn't work. If you continue to make them try for a long time without success, they will lose interest and you will be frustrated.

What a coach in this situation should do (and we've all been there) is to take a step back and consider why the game or drill isn't working.

In this example the answer is clear: keepaway is boring. Passing the ball around the pitch with no end product – other than the coach shouting at you to try harder – is not soccer. There's no fun in it. A smarter coach would realise this and stop playing this way.
He would think of a different way to achieve his objective. He might, for example, put up a couple of goals and tell his players that they must pass the ball five times before shooting.

You might think that this is just common sense. And you're right - it is! But, as Roy Keane said: "Coaching is common sense. Trouble is, common sense isn't that common." You have to work at it. If you want to be a smarter coach, you have to be flexible.

If something isn't working, stop doing it and do something else instead. Be creative and don't be afraid to take risks. Smarter coaches also know that young soccer players get bored easily and they have two session plans in their back pocket – one that should work and one they can use if the first plan falls flat.

Coach smarter, not harder!