Tactical Periodization, or "TP" from here on out, is a method in which we train the team within the four phases of a match (defending, transition from defense to attack, attack, and transition from attack to defense). The types of activities you choose bring along the technical, physical, and psychological development for the ride. I'm combining this with the basic forms of the game outlined in Bert Van Lingen's book Coaching Soccer: The Official Coaching Book of the Dutch Soccer Association. Additionally, I've started monitoring the youngsters work to rest ratio using a stop watch. I find that I actually need a stop watch to monitor the time they are working/resting and a wrist watch to keep track of time in general so I can fit everything in my lesson plan.
The tactical topic on Saturday was Opponents in Possession. Needless to say it was an ambitious day at training, but I think it went very very well. More than in seasons past I think the small group I had understood the idea of pressure-cover. I used the following basic forms throughout the 90-minute session: 1v1 (to goals), 2v1 (to goals), 3v2 (to goals) and 5v2 (to 3 goals). I threw in a 4v2 keepaway ("Dutch game" format) to fill about 10 minutes of time.
When the opponents are in possession our objective, obviously, is to regain possession. But so much goes into this simple act. In 1v1 I had to temper our approach: "Not too aggressive.", "Curve your run.", "Time your tackle.", "Don't get too close." It's always much easier to focus your coaching on one side of the ball than trying to fix everything. When we went to two defenders, we worked on our communication and sorting out who is the first defender, letting the first defender know they have a covering defender, and when the first defender should try to win the ball. We went over how once an attacker tries to push the ball past to pivot and step in between them and the ball. We covered spacing and angles between the two defenders.
The other thing I dipped my toe into was managing their work to rest ratios. I'll be honest and say that I was muddling through it with my new, bright yellow stop watch. Hey, at least the parents think I'm doing some high end training even though I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing. But it's a start. Like my players, I need to challenge myself to grow for their benefit. Although I may not be entirely accurate with what I was doing, the simple act of observing how long they'd be playing allowed me to ensure that they were always playing at a high level. The rest periods felt abnormally long at times, but it gave me a good segue into teaching moments.
Next training session, we begin our next tactical phase: Transitioning from defense to attack.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Initial post: Bringing Order to Chaos
I'm just going to start. Not much of an intro as I've been doing this for several years and establishing the back story would just take too long. . .
My U12 girls travel soccer team is playing indoor soccer these days and when time permits I head to the arena early to watch the preceding match. Usually it's not the same age group as mine, so I get a little bit different perspective on the game in general and where my team stands. I watch the game, I watch the parents watching the game and I listen to the things they say. I'm trying to glean something about their experience in order to coach better.
The game that preceded mine looked to be the same age and level but all I can say is that it was just pure chaos. Which to me immediately meant that as coaches, we're trying to bring order into an otherwise chaotic situation. Goals and chances, in this game, weren't created from some thought process—it was from a single moment of order out of minutes of chaos preceding it. Unfortunately, this seems to be indicative of much of youth soccer.
Being that not much soccer was being played, I started to count ideas—a play where a purposeful thought was evident in the actions. Sad to say in the ten minutes I was counting, I got up to three ideas from both teams combined. Most of the action was just a slapdash attempt to get foot to ball.
It may seem like bragging, but it made me happy to watch my team play. For a change, I let my assistants manage the game (lineup, substitutions) and I just watched. The match ended 4-4 but we were unlucky not to net a winner at some point. But what I was most pleased about was that we were playing soccer. Ideas were abundant and my players combined nicely in many sequences throughout the game.
When I started coaching, the talk in coaching circles was that American players lacked good technique (which they do) and now the talk has evolved to Soccer IQ and a lack thereof. As a player, I remember the days when (and there are still those days depending on the competition) I couldn't think straight. The game was exerting so much pressure on me that I couldn't think straight (Coach V in the Soccer U DVD series appropriately calls this phenomenon "lights out"). Every action was just an act of survival, just slightly better than laying down and curling into a ball until I was subbed out. Good technique slows the game down enough so players can think. But when they can think about the game (as skill and age allow), do we teach them what to think about?
Well this is the first post of many in my attempt bring order to the chaos.
My U12 girls travel soccer team is playing indoor soccer these days and when time permits I head to the arena early to watch the preceding match. Usually it's not the same age group as mine, so I get a little bit different perspective on the game in general and where my team stands. I watch the game, I watch the parents watching the game and I listen to the things they say. I'm trying to glean something about their experience in order to coach better.
The game that preceded mine looked to be the same age and level but all I can say is that it was just pure chaos. Which to me immediately meant that as coaches, we're trying to bring order into an otherwise chaotic situation. Goals and chances, in this game, weren't created from some thought process—it was from a single moment of order out of minutes of chaos preceding it. Unfortunately, this seems to be indicative of much of youth soccer.
Being that not much soccer was being played, I started to count ideas—a play where a purposeful thought was evident in the actions. Sad to say in the ten minutes I was counting, I got up to three ideas from both teams combined. Most of the action was just a slapdash attempt to get foot to ball.
It may seem like bragging, but it made me happy to watch my team play. For a change, I let my assistants manage the game (lineup, substitutions) and I just watched. The match ended 4-4 but we were unlucky not to net a winner at some point. But what I was most pleased about was that we were playing soccer. Ideas were abundant and my players combined nicely in many sequences throughout the game.
When I started coaching, the talk in coaching circles was that American players lacked good technique (which they do) and now the talk has evolved to Soccer IQ and a lack thereof. As a player, I remember the days when (and there are still those days depending on the competition) I couldn't think straight. The game was exerting so much pressure on me that I couldn't think straight (Coach V in the Soccer U DVD series appropriately calls this phenomenon "lights out"). Every action was just an act of survival, just slightly better than laying down and curling into a ball until I was subbed out. Good technique slows the game down enough so players can think. But when they can think about the game (as skill and age allow), do we teach them what to think about?
Well this is the first post of many in my attempt bring order to the chaos.
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