)Hard News2008-04-01 13:44:53
Incredible stamina. No shame. Yellow Fever.
Incredible stamina. No shame. Yellow Fever.
Oh, and, armpit hair-pulling at corners is not a legitimate tactic
When Hibs, went up, to win the Scottish Cup - I wisnae there - furfuxake!
There are a few things you to get going. (sorry it's going to be long winded)
I assuming that you know the kids ability and the position of the field they are familiar with. If not, get that information now!!!
The best thing is to get them in some drill familiar first up. (2v2, 4v4, 8v8 are familiar or should be, but with clear instruction you can still do it)
Try and get the players to pair up, not necessary to the same level ability but to what you expect in the 4-4-2 line-up will be on this Saturday. The positions on the field will be your key to pair them up. So the two centre forwards are working together being familiar with each other for the game ahead. The left midfielder will work with the left back and the right centre back working with the right centre midfielder, etc and etc.
Get them to warm-up as a pair and then have them play 2v2. I assure you that would be very fitness oriented as you like it to be. To further emphaize their positions get them to warm up on that particular area of the half field. Be specific. This will make them familar to the field environment that you will play in the home games and maybe for the very next game. Have grids of the half field where there would be a narrow strip of ground for 2v2 games. You should have across the field width approximately four tight rectangle grids. Select which pair and which girds that they would play the 2v2. So you get them familiar to the field area and to each other for the game ahead.
2v2 would be a good start to work up a sweat and focus on more ball contact and close control.
2v2 variations can include possession with passing number of maybe 6 will be counted as a goal which is a good starter for familiarly. Another variation introduced can be having to control stop a ball on the last line of the rectangle to be counted as a goal, this is were you can show some defence pairing and tidy up on tackling techniques of the kids. You could progress to set up dutch game with 2v2 where there are goals on the last line in each corner. So a pair can attack either the goal on the right or opt for the goal on the left and the other pair defend and counter the other two goals.
Then expand to 4v4 possession with the left fielders v right fielders for the midfielders and backs, down one half side of the field. At the same time, get the 2 forwards + 2 v 4 + GK for some much need 4 v 4 shooting practice.
Then finish up with a 8v8 game with GK on the field. When you select the teams be mindful not to break the training pairs up. Have the field shorten by having both goals (Cones) on the edge of penalty box and play box to box. It would increase plenty of shoots at the goals and create plenty of counterattacks at very high tempo. The width of the game is still the same and so plenty of wing action will occur.
Reinforce the basics like the number of touches, coming towards the ball, keeping jogging and not standing, get the calling going. Provide them with space awareness. (this is were the training partners come in as well, they can tell each other what is happening) Encourage 1-2s, remind them to be mindful and work with the same training partner in this game as well. This way they can provide communicate with each other, giving feedback information for themselves. They would have to be constantly talking to each other, being reponsible for each other. It is a good idea to have this rule about communication in the beginning, That the training pairs can "only" speak and call each other and not to anyone else during the game. If another in the team needs to communicate to them, then he has to use body language, listen to their callings and work themselves in. This way it forms an non-verbal communications for players that is away from the immediate action. If they don't keep to it, then you give a free kick to the other team. It would be a bit of whistle blowing the first couple of times but they will get use to it. If a bad tactic happens and there is no communication from the partner to instruct and assist the player in need, then you ask who the partner is and then tell him to do 10 push-ups before he gets back into the game.
Make sure you have your whistle and remember which players are paired, you may need a pen and paper to make sure of it.
The idea is to link the players to each other and establish solid communication between pairs on the pitch as a building block for the rest of the season. Later on, you should have an active team with lots of quality communication. This way they learn to coach each other on the field and you get to monitor their progress by restricting communication beyond the pair and enhancing non-verbal communications .
At the end, you can do to different things. one is to have the captain gain communication control and allow him to communicate to everyone during the restrictions. So it would allow familiarity to the players of his voice allow him to be in better control during the game and boost his confidence. And then open all communications in the final stages of the game.
There is a lot of work here, but they have to click and get cracking in the linking and the team cohesion at short notice in time for Saturday. If you get this though now and for the rest of the season, you should do very well.
In the next practice before the game do the same 2v2 but sticking with one of the 2v2 variatians (I recommend the 2v2 Dutch game), then organize your free kick practice game where the defenses and attack are divided up in different teams with the attack going against a goal in a half pitch game. The defense team can work on counterattack with small goals to attack either to the right or the left on the half line similar to the 2v2 dutch game. During the game, a couple of times you blow the whistle and reward a free kick, each team would have to organize themselves for the free kick. (tell them before the game that it part of the practice)
Devote a time to do a couple of corners towards the end in preparation for the Saturday game.
Finish with a 8v8 game like last time, to reinforce the communication and pairing.
Lastly, have a penalty kick competition. If you miss you are out. The last one left is the winner and will take the PKs this Saturday only. (not for the rest of the season) the PK competition can be done every week.
I hope that will help you out as a starter, but you have to establish the team culture and team concepts. Unless they are first years, they should be able to settle well because they have played with each other before being in school. (You should have some information about the players by now)
Good Luck for the first game.
After the first game, you should see the strength and weakness of the team and players, it pays to have a note of that. Have prepared papers, with pluses on one side and minuses on the other side. Don't be afraid to write a players name on either side with comments as to why. This will form some data as part of your planning for the coming months of training the team as well as attending the players needs. Be note specific in assessing.
the following week, you should have an idea of what needs to worked on and what can be encouraged. You should have an idea of what formation that the team can perform in. 4-4-2 may not be the best for your team.
But in the first game, it should be assumed as the usual familiar team formation. Only change if there is an general enhancement of the team movements or that you have a specific strategy plan against the next team. It may be a slight alternation to the 4-4-2 or a simple rotation of players.
Also as Smithy had said, take up in watching some of the training practice of the other coaches, they don't get many people coming in at getting advice. They would love to give advice. It sort of depends on the age group you are coaching as to the level and age appropriate training. try and get to see a similar age level coaching. They would give you some feedback for the rest of the season. Capital Football Academy is a nice starter in the running the sessions. the sessions, while they are interesting to pick up ideas, it should be the way you present the information to the kids that you should focus on. These are some of the questions that you should focus on first. How to demonstrate, where to stand, what small games to keep them occupied instead of them standing around. (small sided drills or games) Keep them active and keep them playing the game with you modifying the objective of the games.
Do you have coaching mentors programme in Wellington? Something like that can help you visually pick up on important specific inputs on players assessment that I would not be able to do in this forum. Otherwise ask away on this thread.
Again good luck.
AWB
All I do is make the stuff I would've liked
Reference things I wanna watch, reference girls I wanna bite
Now I'm firefly like a burning kite
And yousa fake fuck like a fleshlight

A dog with a bone :)
Incredible stamina. No shame. Yellow Fever.
AWB that advice is fantastic, i'll hopefully sign up for a coaching course when I can get the time in, which will be great!!!
Thanks again team, i'll let you all know how this afternoon goes shortly ;)
A dog with a bone :)
Incredible stamina. No shame. Yellow Fever.
All I do is make the stuff I would've liked
Reference things I wanna watch, reference girls I wanna bite
Now I'm firefly like a burning kite
And yousa fake fuck like a fleshlight
A dog with a bone :)
Founder

All I do is make the stuff I would've liked
Reference things I wanna watch, reference girls I wanna bite
Now I'm firefly like a burning kite
And yousa fake fuck like a fleshlight
[/quote]
But does paying for it make you an expert?
[quote=nightz]
There's middle ground though isn't there? Between 'all rosy' and 'rubbish'.
If you're giving feedback to them what is in charge then you're doing the right thing, in my opinion. Too much in Tinytown here we like to just bitch and moan.
For the sake of the record I don't think Fed training/coaching/whatever is perfect either. But similarly I know the people involved (and that's not me any more in case anyone's confused) don't set out to do a bad job. Coming on here and just saying "it's all sh*t" is a bit f**king basic for my tastes because there is clearly good and bad in it.
Incredible stamina. No shame. Yellow Fever.

That's Greenie after a big night so no, I don't think he has.
Incredible stamina. No shame. Yellow Fever.

Founder
But does paying for it make you an expert?
Coming on here and just saying "it's all sh*t"
A dog with a bone :)
Waitangirua Mall Carpark, 3pm Sunday - no weapons.
Founder
wish i could still play.
Waitangirua Mall Carpark, 3pm Sunday - no weapons.
A dog with a bone :)
great neighbourhood, great people, great gangs.
May I suggest we create a separate forum with the following sub-forums?
Forum: Football Pitch
Sub-forums:
Equipment and gear
->Shop
Player
->Junior
->Youth
->Senior
Referee
Coaching
Statistics and Analysis
Soccer Videos
Got those ideas off another football forum. It would be a good community resource for fans.
Getting back to coaching, first session was hilarious. My squad size is now 12, 6 were away, 1 was lazy and the other 5 showed up. However I did manage to figure out who my strikers were, a right mid, a centre back and a keeper. Ended up doing a lot of passing and 3 v 3 (with coach trying to keep up) and it was good to watch them talking to each other!
Maybe I should turn this into a blog, confessions of an amateur coach.....
brumbys2008-04-03 16:20:04
Because hardly any Kiwis are going to go there unless they are right up with current world football, which most NZ fans and supporter have less clue about. Whereas on here, everyone knows something about NZ and the different clubs and can help. The other forum is North Amercian oriented and they don't know much about the local stuff to help. They would have no idea of any of the wellington coaches and where to go for an example.AllWhitebelievr2008-04-03 16:43:57
Getting back to coaching, first session was hilarious. My squad size is now 12, 6 were away, 1 was lazy and the other 5 showed up. However I did manage to figure out who my strikers were, a right mid, a centre back and a keeper. Ended up doing a lot of passing and 3 v 3 (with coach trying to keep up) and it was good to watch them talking to each other!
Maybe I should turn this into a blog, confessions of an amateur coach.....
But does paying for it make you an expert?
Coming on here and just saying "it's all sh*t"
Edit : Fixed the quotes - HN
All I do is make the stuff I would've liked
Reference things I wanna watch, reference girls I wanna bite
Now I'm firefly like a burning kite
And yousa fake fuck like a fleshlight
