Training w/ Limited Numbers of Players

[nvot9]

I'm training kids between 7th grade and freshman in high school, but each session is like 5 to 6 kids max, so what kind of drills and stuff can I go over to keep them entertained but really help them improve at the same time? Training is every day and I feel like I'm running out of things to do. I also feel limited in the drills I can do because I'm not coaching a team of 22 kids, I'm training 5 kids max for an hour.

[rca2]

I would do Coerver training heavy, say 50% of your time. Followed by some 1v1 and end with some 3v3. Fill in as the sixth if you only have five players. In fact doing the Coerver drills with them might help. For a change of pace you could play soccer tennis or some similar game. Its unfortuneate that you don't have a few more.

[nvot9]

Isn't Coever training a type of training? As far as specific drills go what would you do within the Coever training?

[JoseP]

Isn't Coever training a type of training? As far as specific drills go what would you do within the Coever training?

Go to the Coerver Web site - http://www.coerver.com/. You can get a pretty good idea of what they do just by watching their samples. Maybe you could ask your club and coaches if anybody already has the videos for you to borrow. Or maybe even buy them your self. I don't know if they still do it, but i signed up for their emails a couple of seasons ago and I'd get these video of drills sent to me every week. Good stuff.

I think coaching a group of 6 kids for an hour is a dream setup. You can really help improve their skill level. I'd set a goal like - make them better dribblers and then, primarily, focus on that. Coerver is great for that.

[JoseP]

Here is a better link - http://www.playgreatsoccer.com/landing1.html.

[striker2019]

like rca said, coerver is good. You could have all of them with a ball doing different exercises like the foundation work (lots of small touches on the ball in different ways) or just teaching them the coerver moves (which is basically a thesaurus of common 1v1 moves either to beat an opponent or to escape from pressure). One way I've done these are -

For doing foundation work:
Set players in 3's, 2 at one cone, 1 directly opposite the first 2 about 10-15 yards away. The first player in the 2 person line executes a particular skill towards the 1 person line. As they get within a yard or so they stop the ball with the sole and the 1 person comes forward to knock a pass back to the other cone. Player who executed the skill stays and becomes the 1 person line, the player who passes follows his pass and now becomes the 2nd player in the 2 person line, and the player receiving the pass now executes the skill. Repeat for however long you like. Can also vary the pass, like inside right, inside left, driven on ground with laces right/left, chipped ball, etc.

For the 1v1 moves:
I tried this the other day and it worked fairly well. Make a 15x15 or 20x20 box. If you have 6 players put 2 in the box with a ball and 4 on the outside. The players with the ball pass to a random player on the outside and provide some passive pressure. The player receiving the ball comes into the box and executes a 1v1 move against the passive opponent then accelerates away and passes to a new player on the outside. The passive defender goes to the outside once the attacker executes the move and dribbles away. The only issue is making sure defenders don't close down hard or otherwise the attacker will have no space to execute the move.

Outside of that, again, like rca said, you can do 1v1. Maybe set up 3 fields of 1v1 and make it like a ladder competition, if you win your game you move up towards the top field, if you lose you move down. Play 2 minute rounds with whatever rules you want (stop on the line, play to a cone goal, etc.). That way you have competition but you can stop after each round and show a correction. Great for getting 1v1 attacking and defending work in.

Overloads are good as well. You can go 2v1 with yourself standing in goal or something similar. Defender comes off the goal post, two attackers start 25-30 yards away. You can even add a coordination element, like making the two attackers hop through a hoop track or execute some plyo/coordiation skill through cones before attacking. You can make the attackers do the coordination work, then right as they come out of it they are dribbling the ball and going 2v1. Just rotate through all the positions. Gives players work on movement off the ball and 2 man combinations against little pressure. Can build to 3v1, 3v2, or even 2v2 if the attackers are doing very well. Finish with 3v3 to small goals for 20-30 minutes or something. You can really make the kids very good in the small spaces when you have such small numbers to work with.

[nvot9]

Thanks a lot! Some great, helpful stuff. I feel that this is important though and should have been mentioned earlier. The players I'm training or not exactly great players or even good players, and some of the 1v1 moves might be a bit advanced for them.

[striker2019]

It doesn't matter. These are more or less the most basic situations in the game. The coerver stuff is taught to 8 year olds, so while your players might struggle at first, you just have to work through it. Some of the 1v1s might be advanced for you to use tomorrow (something like the stepflick or dragstepover come to mind...if you use the coerver nomenclature), but the scissor is about as basic as they come. Same with the stop turn. Start with maybe 3 basic moves or so and with enough repetition they be comfortable executing them with at least very minimal pressure in a short period of time...maybe 5 training sessions max.

[JoseP]

striker2019 is right. This stuff is basic ball control. The 1v1 exercises are just taking what they learned and putting it into practice. So, I'd say just work on the technique longer then you would with more advanced kids. With 5 or 6 kids you should be able to get everyone to master any specific skill. If one kid isn't getting it have a kid who is getting it to help him out. Once they get the technique try to get them to do it at a faster speed.

[Bass0r]

Smaller numbers of kids are generally easier to handle than larger amounts. Easier to put focus on the whole group and individual players, and let's them improve quicker.


Here's one for a group of five kids:
Four cones in a large-ish square. One player stands at each cone, and one player in the middle. The group passes to one another, as the player in the middle tries to defend and steal the ball. Once the player steals the ball, someone else goes in the middle, and resume. Helps improve passing, and awareness of the player's surrounds. Also improves the middle player's applied pressure and their ability to read movement.


And one for six kids (split in two groups of three):
2v1, two cones at the end as goals (not a huge space, but enough for them to score), two goals at the other end as a starting point (with those two cones in the corners of the space you'll be working in).
Two of the players start at either cone at the corners (one on each), as one passes to the other to start the game. Players start to move around, passing to one another, as they move forward. Another player, starting from the centre of the space, tries to steal the ball, applying pressure to the space and making it difficult to pass. Once the team of two have made five passes (or the amount you choose), they can try to shoot at goal.
Another rotational one; number the players from one to three, so #1 is the first defender, then #2, then #3, then starting over.
If you have nine players, you can assign one extra player to each group, either as defenders, or goalkeepers. Rotate those, as well.
Helps improve passing, making space, communication, and shooting. The defender learns, again, how to apply pressure, and to be aware of space and where he is in relation to the goals.



I hope that second one makes sense. I almost confused myself, when typing it.
They're both pretty simple exercises, but effective in developing some of the technique for that age group.

[ranova]

...The players I'm training or not exactly great players or even good players, and some of the 1v1 moves might be a bit advanced for them.

This will work with beginners or advanced. The difference is in the speed of execution. The Coerver method is like Vince Lombardi coaching US football. It breaks down dribbling into pieces. You learn the peices and then put them together in the game.

[Twenty26Six]

This will work with beginners or advanced. The difference is in the speed of execution. The Coerver method is like Vince Lombardi coaching US football. It breaks down dribbling into pieces. You learn the peices and then put them together in the game.



I really like the Coerver method, but...

[rant]
...since they force people to pay for their product, it is often used incompletely or incorrectly. There's so much more to Coerver than those lame little "ball mastery" exercises which can't be practically applied to a game situation. The problem is that most people don't use any other Coerver methodology but those little exercises. My favorite is when I see a kid try to beat someone 1v1 by tapping it back and forth between their legs really fast and just standing in the same spot. Awesome stuff. :cool:
[/rant over]

:)

[JoseP]

I really like the Coerver method, but...

[rant]
...since they force people to pay for their product, it is often used incompletely or incorrectly. There's so much more to Coerver than those lame little "ball mastery" exercises which can't be practically applied to a game situation. The problem is that most people don't use any other Coerver methodology but those little exercises. My favorite is when I see a kid try to beat someone 1v1 by tapping it back and forth between their legs really fast and just standing in the same spot. Awesome stuff. :cool:
[/rant over]

:)


I think there are a lot of negative views, right or wrong, of Coerver. [rant]Before I get to the point I'll give my negative view. I had a girl on my team who did a ton of Coerver training. She had skill alright. But, she would do a move on a player, then another, and another. She never understood the concept of one move and then explode.[/rant over]

With that said, the Coerver method does teach kids ball control. Sure there are plenty of moves there even the most seasoned professional will never use, but it isn't just about the moves. It's about giving kids confidence with the ball. And I think if you're dealing with the issue the coach is dealing with here it is the most appropriate way to go.

[Twenty26Six]

I think that's a fair enough assessment, and he certainly has the chance to improve their skills with the coach to player ratio being so good.

[striker2019]

My favorite is when I see a kid try to beat someone 1v1 by tapping it back and forth between their legs really fast and just standing in the same spot.


haha, I'd actually like to see that (I really would probably cringe). Yeah the Coerver moves/foundation footwork is good for touches on the ball and showing kids moves. I have the new 5 dvd set which is pretty good on the whole. Outside of the raw skill material it's a lot of 1v1 to 3v3 type games, from limited pressure to full pressure and transition elements included. I think it's pretty good for developing the small group attacking. I think you could do a lot worse then use just the new Coerver material for teaching inexperienced players.

I often wonder, as it seems like the Coerver method is more popular in the US than in most of Europe, how do the Europeans introduce players to these 1v1 moves? Is it just that they see it on tv and try and replicate (I think I learned a lot of moves from watching Champs League games back in the day) or that they have a friend/parent/relative teach them? I think it's an artificial way of introducing moves, but our young players seem to watch so little soccer compared to kids in other countries.

[Twenty26Six]

I often wonder, as it seems like the Coerver method is more popular in the US than in most of Europe, how do the Europeans introduce players to these 1v1 moves? Is it just that they see it on tv and try and replicate (I think I learned a lot of moves from watching Champs League games back in the day) or that they have a friend/parent/relative teach them? I think it's an artificial way of introducing moves, but our young players seem to watch so little soccer compared to kids in other countries.

Everyone should know these moves if they've been around the game long enough. I do a series of 10, and I've never seen the Coerver 1v1 moves list. But, I imagine some of the ones I teach are on there.

* You just show kids how to dribble.
* You show them some moves.
* You let them play 1v1, and encourage them to try the moves.

A good coach might go beyond that, but a travel/house coach doesn't even really have to. Coaching youth soccer 4-12 (travel or recreational level) isn't as complicated as coaches make it out to be.

[ranova]

...I often wonder, as it seems like the Coerver method is more popular in the US than in most of Europe, how do the Europeans introduce players to these 1v1 moves? Is it just that they see it on tv and try and replicate (I think I learned a lot of moves from watching Champs League games back in the day) or that they have a friend/parent/relative teach them?...

In most of Europe and Latin America, its a soccer culture. The kids play unorganized soccer recreationally, which is what is referred to as "street soccer." Not just kids, but families and neighborhoods play together. The kids don't have to watch TV to see soccer. They see street soccer in the neighborhood and attend friends, siblings, and parent's matches. Coaches in those countries don't understand the need that we have in the US to teach kids basic ball skills. When I was growing up in the Midwest, my dad taught me how to play the sports that he played, just like all the other families. But the sport was not soccer. My area was hockey mad. Kids began skating and playing hockey at age 2.

So the Coerver method is not so much meant to introduce players to a move, but rather improve their skills.