Key Phrase for Teaching the Little Players How to Win the Ball

Below is an old message I found on my hard drive from 4 years ago. I must have sent it to a parent or parents, but I don't really remember. There's some phrasing and things I would say differently now, but the general idea is correct.

I'm sure you've all seen it. When trying to stop an attack and defend their goal, the players either stand and wait for the attacker to come to them. Or the "dive in" and loose all balance. Or they drill the ball right into the attacker shinguards. Or, the most frustrating, they run beside the attacker at the same speed (no matter how fast or slow), and never do anything to stop her; they'll jog along beside the dribbling attacker the entire length of the field and watch her shoot the ball, never attempting to win it. At least she's running.

Four years later, I can attest to the fact that using the phrase "run between the player and the ball" seems to be very effective for teaching the little players how to shoulder tackle. Just for the fun of it, I'll paste my original message below:

Actually, "getting between the girl and the ball" is a way for them to visualize "running through" the steal. In other words, if the defender is coming right at her and she wants to kick the ball away, she has a few choices:

1. Wait for the attacker to get to her and try and kick the ball away; this doesn't work very well.

2. Move toward the attacker, stop, and try to kick the ball; this is better, but the "stop and kick" motion throws her off balance. If she misses the ball, its an easy score for the other team.

3. Move toward the attacker and get between her and the ball. If the defender's feet incidentally kick the ball away from the attacker in the process, great; this will happen 90% of the time. If the ball gets trapped between the girls, the attack has still been stopped temporarily. If the ball gets past the defender, but she is between the attacker and the ball, the defender will still probably get to the ball first and kick it away.

The idea is too keep our defender on her toes and with good balance as opposed to off balance and on her heels trying to reach for the ball with her toe. It should also prevent the error where the defender does a hard kick right into the attacker's shinguards where it rebounds into our own goal.

I hope you can see what I'm trying to say, because I really believe it will work. The thing you'll have to overcome is the reluctance of many or our girls to physically contact someone else on purpose. It seems like kids with older siblings don't have this issue, but the oldest sibling has always tried to avoid physical contact with their younger siblings. I've actually practiced in the backyard with [my daughter] letting her knock me over with her shoulders as she steals the ball from me just to get her used to initiating physical contact. (She had a blast doing it too.)

It's fun to find your old emails.

-Bill

Notes from the North Texas Soccer AGM

I have met some fantastic people and viewed some top-notch coaching demonstrations at the North Texas Soccer Association's Annual General Meeting.

Before my aging brain forgets, I'm jotting down some notes:

• The U12 ODP girls were just fantastic to watch. Their ball control was unbelievable. They ran a practice that started with the girls (~12 of them) in a square and they did some passing drills requiring the players to observe the direction of the first touch and anticipate the next pass. Watching it happen reminded me of braiding rope. This progressed to a 2 v 2 game with outside players where points were scored with successful give and goes between the players in the middle on the same side. I've seen FC Dallas warm up with a similar game with more players in the middle in very tight space. It looks like a blast and very good training.
• I then saw a practice for some U6 boys that clearly are a step above their peers. Their practice started out with the standard dribble in the square, but the moves the practice were superb. Mostly scissors and a step over move. Then they did these same moves against a cone to learn the space required to make the move. Then they chained different moves together. Then the practiced some 1 v 1 keepaway. Then some 1 v 1 to split goals. Then 2 v 2. The emphasized using all parts of the foot to move the ball with "soft touches and little steps."
• Finally I saw a goal keeper training session that really opened my eyes to some basic skills that will go a long way toward making our keepers effective and safe. He had some good drills to make sure the keeper was in a ready position on her toes when the ball was kicked toward goal. He discussed keeping her shoulders square. Saving through the ball. Spreading the feet to allow her to get down to the level of the ball. How to safely stop a breakaway by getting low early and looking through her hands to the ball. Good stuff.

I may come back and edit this into a more readable format, but for now, I just wanted to brain dump.

-Bill

Referees Need to Protect our Players

In MLS and NCAA soccer, the two most televised leagues in the U.S., I see a lot of dangerous plays that go unpunished. Often, there's not even a foul called when in Europe, they would have received a yellow or red card for the same infraction. Just look at the number of red cards the US Men's team gets in international play; is this an indicator that US players are not used to Referees looking out for player safety?

Our kids (and adults) should be ensured the safest possible environment when playing soccer. Injuries will, of course, occur even with the most cautious referee, but dangerous play should have heavy consequences even when an injury does not occur. Dangerous slide tackles should receive a yellow card at the least whether or not a collision results; red cards should be frequently used too. Referees should not wait for an injury. They should treat every dangerous play as if it had caused the injury it is likely to cause if it is allowed to continue. If the worst punishment a dangerous play receives is a free kick, there is no deterrent. From the players perspective, if they had not made the dangerous play, the other team would still have the ball. If they make the dangerous play and have a foul called, they other team has the ball, but there is a chance they will win the ball without a foul. Which would you choose? The consequence has to exceed letting the other team keep the ball.

The consequence of a dangerous play must result in a yellow or red card with the first occurrence. There is no need for a warning; the players know the rules. We are counting on our referees at the highest levels to set the example for all levels. Please put the safety of the players as the highest priority. Please make the consequences of a dangerous play significant. Don't wait for an injury to occur before you take action.

-Bill

How do you stop Ball Watching?

I see it at even the highest level...ball watching. What is it that causes a player to stop and watch as the other team is crashing the goal to score. Sure, the shot you're watching is likely to go in, but when the keeper makes a great save, the person you should still be marking has continued toward the goal and gets and easy score while you stopped to watch.

I've seen it on my team. I will work on this in practice by giving the ball watchers some empathy for the keeper. If I see ball watching, suddenly that player will be the only member of her team in the scrimmage. 1 v whatever. Now she'll feel what its like to have her teammates quit on her. Maybe this will change the ball watcher into a player that never quits.

-Bill

A Small-sided Soccer Game for Individual Skills And More

I've been bouncing around an idea for a small-sided soccer game that would emphasize some of the basic ball holding and dribbling skills. As a bonus, I think it will help with opening up the paradigm of the back-pass and emphasize the need to cover for the keeper when she comes off her line.

It's a 2 v 2 game on a fairly narrow field with wide goals. Each team has a keeper and a field player. Here's the catch...if the field player makes a back-pass to the keeper, the keeper can shoot or pass the ball, but she cannot dribble nor can she have the ball stolen from her by the other field player. She's kind of like a moving safe zone.

I'm thinking this will work on passing to space from the keeper to the field player. The field player will have to learn to hold the ball and dribble past 1 v 1 pressure (something we need to work on). If she moves the ball well up field, maintains possession, and then back-passes to her keeper for a shot from the center, the defending keeper will have to come out strong (something we need to work on) and the defending field player should cover for her (something we need to work on).

We'll give it a shot.

-Bill