These sessions took place during the Easter holidays so were designed to be fun but also to improve the players as individuals, the increased contact time was ideal to work on specific elements of their game.
This made me think;
1. What type of sessions do these players need?
2. What coaching style do I need to adopt to get the best outcomes?
The sessions
Firstly I asked the players..."What would you like to do do today?" The answer (rather predictably) was "Matches" and "Shooting!". So my challenge was to deliver engaging sessions which would develop them but perhaps disguise them as matches or competitive situations with shooting!
In conclusion, after lengthy discussion we decided;
- Semi or fully opposed (Competition)
- Game related - Directional, goals/scoring
- Fun!
Coaching Style
What became really apparent to me was that my role wasn't to tell them what I know, just to remind them what they had already learnt and give them tons of opportunities to put it in to practice. I felt like the information was already in their heads, but at times I'd have to try and pull it out.
Also it was really clear that peer learning would be huge, because there was so much knowledge in the group the players actually learnt a great deal from each other. (see second video)
I found question and answer really worked with this group. The boys had so much energy that they were very eager to tell me what they knew! So the skill for me was not to tell them what I knew or what I liked but to get them to explain and describe what they already knew and how we could build on those foundations.
At times I had to lead the players down a series of question to get the session where I wanted it to be...we couldn't just play matches for 4 days straight. The trick was to ask the right question.
At times I had to lead the players down a series of question to get the session where I wanted it to be...we couldn't just play matches for 4 days straight. The trick was to ask the right question.
The session was based on rotation, the aim was to improve the players understanding of 'How do we find space and get in 'bubbles' to receive the ball?' in coaching terms this could be classed as 'individual transition', 'support' or 'movement' but basically I wanted to explain the principle of finding space, showing and swapping.
I wanted to finish the session with a 6v6 game with a free zone across the pitch. The idea being that the boys would recognise when to rotate in and out of the free zone to pick up possession from the defenders. Having worked with the players before I knew they would like match play but how did I go about explaining rotation? A quite advanced topic to a group of U7 and U8.
With older players this could be explained in various ways, you could talk about angles and distances or creating overloads but I wanted to focus on the rotation of players as in mini-soccer (6v6/7v7) if you can create this it is very difficult to counter.
Now these boys were very able, they would be considered above average for their age. The advantages of this group are;
- They have (for their age) excellent basic techniques and skills
- A decent understanding of how to play the game and tactics to score a goal
- Are used to be asked to try 'new' or 'difficult' things
The disadvantages can be;
- They have limited attention span
- They want to 'play' rather than traditional 'stop - stand still' type sessions
- In possession they concentrate on the ball and lack a clear picture
- Some have excellent ability 1v1 which means they don't always 'need or use' their team mates (awareness)
Part 1: Unopposed - the 'boring' session
To start with I set the area up as above, 2 halves separated with a 3 metre 'Free zone'. Initially I asked the boys to split in to 2 teams with 3 in each half. Each team would have a ball and pass and move from half to half, completely unopposed. After 1 minute I challenged the boys " Can you now try and receive in this central channel? Try and recognise when to 'arrive'".
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It was exactly what I'd asked for, but lacked realism and I knew they weren't enjoying it.
Part 2: Question and Answer
I sat the boys down and asked "What did you think of that?" Here is their response.
You might have to listen to this a few times to hear all the responses; the players told me what they didn't like about the session and how it could be improved (made fun).
- Make it competitive
- Allow tackling
- No tackling in the channel
More importantly listen to the knowledge in the group, especially on the reason why we should keep the 'channel'.
Part 3: Their session
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Their session, was actually my session but I didn't tell them that! As you heard on the video, keep the 3v3 and the channel, try and "pop up" in the middle to receive the ball.
Empowering the group and altering the conditions completely changed the session...all through asking the right question.
- Keep the channel so we can "pop in to get the ball"
- When we swap "We have to communicate"
- When we swap "if someone goes into that one, someone has to go into that one"
- "Keep a 3v3"
Part 3: Their session
Their session, was actually my session but I didn't tell them that! As you heard on the video, keep the 3v3 and the channel, try and "pop up" in the middle to receive the ball.
Empowering the group and altering the conditions completely changed the session...all through asking the right question.
These boys all train with The Elite Training Centre (ETC) who are doing some great work across the south, check out their website here. Also special thanks to Jensen my camera man (Under 10).