soccer

Improving Practice to Game Retention

I am posting new soccer session plans I am using with my competitive U14 Boys team on

https://soccerpracticebooks.com/free-soccer-session-plans/

You will notice a new training method in some of these sessions. The typical practice plans, which I have used and published for many years, use a sequence of soccer drills or activities. Each session has a theme and the soccer drills are geared to that team working mostly in small groups. Within an activity there is a specific structure and players adhere to certain rules and processes.

The obvious goal of a soccer session is to train players on specific techniques and tactics which they then need to transfer into a competitive game situation.

I have noticed in the last two years that young players have lost some of their ability to retain what they learn and as a result it takes longer and more repeats before you see the results in a game. So I have been thinking of how to train my team so that they retain and apply what they learn faster. After some research and consulting with my Technical Director Carl Horton, a new direction emerged. It may seem obvious but the concept is:

Create a training environment that replicates the competitive game.

Sounds easy, but isn’t, particularly if you don’t have the space of a full field for training. I came up a new concept (to me anyways}. Use the very same drills or activities that are in my soccer practice books and use them in the context of competitive small sided games. The games have to have a field and two goals or at least one goal and an endzone/target to play to to score points. Then let the small groups play games against each other and demonstrate the focus of the game, and only interrupt and correct when the players miss opportunities to do what they need to. In addition this allows you the opportunity of coaching the topic and managing the game, like you would in a real competition. For example:

The technical topic is challenging (trapping) the player with the ball with a first and second defender. Let them play the game. If you see that the team is not getting a first defender to challenge quickly and/or not having the second defender close to the first defender, then stop the game and show what they should have done. Then restart and let them do it correctly. That is the coaching part. Game management relates to regular principles of playing. This could be using space, making runs, covering defenders, etc. Refrain from stopping the game for other technical deficiencies, like shooting technique, passing weight/accuracy, tackling, etc. It sounds easier than it is. The temptation is to want to stop a game and correct everything.

After three months of applying this concept I have seen a noticable improvement of applying what we practice in competitive games, even full field games. So it seems to work. Below are session plans starting January 2023 and I will be adding a month at a time. As I said there is a mix of traditional activities and “game only” sessions.

Free Soccer SESSION PLANS | Soccer Practice Books Free Soccer SESSION PLANS Here I am posting new soccer session plans I am using with my competitive U14 Boys team. You will notice a new training method in some of these sessions. The typical practice plans, which I have used and published for many years, use a sequence of soccer drills or activitie...

We have relaunched our soccer practice books website and are excited to announce that after 20 years of selling our soccer practice plans ..... they are now completely free. We will also update our articles in the coming months and introduce a new concept of running a soccer practice. The goal of this breakthrough development is to increase the efficiency with which the team can bring practice content to the game. In other words, how to get young players to remember what they practiced and apply it to the game....faster. Stay tuned and visit

Soccer Practice Books | Practice Plans For Soccer Coaches Soccer Practice Books Preparing Soccer Coaches Downloadable Soccer Practice Plans Helping fellow coaches with Soccer Practices at no cost. Here are our soccer practice plans with detailed soccer drill pages for each practice. Download to your electronic device or print and try a practice TODAY! Our....

How to save a penalty kick!!!

There are two ways for a goalie to save a PK:

1. Guess where the shooter is shooting and dive into that corner. It's really an educated guess at the pro level since the keeper has all the statistics of the shooter's past PKs.

2. Use principles of soccer. We are taught to point the planting (non-shooting) foot towards the intended target. We are taught to focus on the ball and scan posture of the attacker when defending. Goalkeepers are taught quick reaction and reflexes, and super fast decision making to deduct flight path of the ball after it leaves the foot.

The photos show a successful PK. The photo with arrow 1 shows planting foot pointing to the right of shooter/left of keeper. Photo with arrow 2 shows body opened up to shoot right. It would be difficult and unlikely that this ball would move to shooter's left. Photo with arrow 3 shows keeper moving to his right based on guess, before the foot strikes the ball. He obviously didn't save this one.

But there isn't enough time and react to a hard shot placed right inside post. Somewhat true. A study by physicists has shown that at the pro level there is enough time to stop a hard kick that is in bottom half of net and at least 50cm away from post. Not so hard shots offer time to make saves further away from keeper. This is even more true at the non-pro and younger soccer levels.

You Decide!!!!

www.soccerpracticebooks.com

Pre-Covid I posted actual soccer training sessions on our website for free usage. I am about to resume posting brand new sessions from my U13 Boys competitive team. The material in these sessions is from our soccer practice books, just reformatted in a new program as you will see on the pages.

Here is the link:

https://soccerpracticebooks.com/2020-soccer-sessions/

New Soccer Practice Sessions - Free | Soccer Drills & Practice Plans U15 Girls competitive and U11/12 Boys Goalkeeping soccer practice sessions from Coach Tom's live soccer coaching

Coaching Tip - Youth Mental Skills

I am a fervent advocate of training the seven speeds of soccer:

Perception, Anticipation, Decision Making, Reaction, Movement without Ball, Movement with Ball, Game Action.

I am currently coaching a U13 Boys team in their first competitive season. One of my goals was to engrain the seven speeds into their consciousness, in addition to training them through activities. With this age group it is evident that infusing seven concepts with rather complicated words would not be realistic.

So I developed a simpler model that encapsulates the seven speeds. I told the boys that soccer is a three step process:

Eye (perceives)

Brain (anticipation, decision making, reaction)

Feet (movement, game action)

They quickly memorized these three words. By reinforcing which of the three lead to success or failure in a practice or game situation, it only took a few weeks for them to immediately know cause and effect.

This has helped tremendously in building mental skills to subconsciously apply the seven speeds.

Besides being useful for the seven speeds of soccer, translating difficult concepts into age appropriate terms and application is a great away of developing the critical mental part of the game.

https://soccerpracticebooks.com/seven-speeds-of-soccer-drills/

New Release: Free Youth Soccer Coaching Guide

I am pleased to offer our FREE Youth Soccer Coaching Guide. It provides soccer training guidelines for all ages, skill levels, and goalkeepers. Emphasis on each of our Four Pillars of Soccer (Skill, Tactics, Fitness, Mental) is varied based on your team situation. Examples of soccer drills are provided breaking them down into the Four Pillars and Seven Speeds of Soccer. Download your free guide right from our home page at www.soccerpracticebooks.com

Soccer Drills and Practice Plans | Free Downloads soccer drills and practice plans for all ages and skill levels, goalkeepers. Download, print, practice in two minutes. Free Trials.