Category: coaches

  • Eyes in the Back of your Head

    Karl Dewazien (www.fundamentalsoccer.com) recently asked his \”Kontributors and followers what are some of the best attributes for youth coaches. My response to his inquiry was, “Coaches must be goofy and […]

  • January is National Mentor Month

    In honor of National Mentor Month, I’d like to introduce Instepper, an innovative and fun mentoring program that use teenage players to mentor younger players to develop and reinforce the […]

  • Follow-up to the Reporter Article

    The youth reporter program that I wrote about earlier and implemented with my son\’s U12 team has been a big success. I share with you some tips I learned along the way and proudly present the reports that have been written to date.

  • When a Goal is not a Good Goal

    It is important for players to know and coaches to reinforce good scoring habits. The ideal areas of the goal that players should aim for are the two lower corners of the goal. Goal production is sure to go up.

  • Passive Defending

    Passive defending is a great way to have attacking players work on their moves without fear of having the ball taken away. Passive defending is also a great way to eliminate bad defensive habits.

  • Simple Tips that will Significantly Impact Games

    I have written 20 articles for coaches who tend to over-coach, place too much importance on the X\’s and O\’s, and don\’t let their players go out and have fun and make mistakes. Since the articles were written during the first few months of the blog, they don\’t get the visibility they deserve. The articles…

  • Coaches: Practice with your Team

    Even if a coach has never played soccer before, it is very important for coaches to scrimmage with their players, especially when they are young. It is a great way to bond with players and \’instruct without instruction.\”

  • Coaches: Limit Joystick Coaching

    \’Joystick Coaching\’ occurs when coaches dictate and control the movement of players on the field. During games, let players play and have fun. Let them think for themselves and make mistakes. It\’s part of the game.

  • Size Does Not Matter

    In American football, size does matter. In soccer size does not matter. Some of the best players of all time–Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, and Pele–are short. But boy, do and did they play big.

  • Coaches and Parents and Rhetorical Questions

    How does a player respond to the questions, \”What were you thinking or who was that to?\” Players usually won\’t answer the first question and will lie about the second. There is a simple solution addressing the, \”Who was that to?\” rhetorical question that will result in much better play.