What to teach u-8 u-10?

[aloisius]

How old are you and where do you play?

[AvidSinger]

Originally posted by aloisius
How old are you and where do you play? Not sure if you were addressing this to me, but...

I'm 28, and at present I'm a goalkeeper in search of a team. But since I'm moving from this area at the end of the year, may search has become less enthusiastic.

[aloisius]

I gotta tell you, the easiest place to earn money by playing football is China. People have gone crazy about it, the crowds are huge.But because of their lack of tradition they don t have enough home-grown players. Some players from Croatia who went there say they earned there 4 times more than they could earn in western Europe.

[scarshins]

Dribbling. Under 10, teach them first of all dribbling, ball control, then a little striking the ball, sidefoot/drive/chip, and trapping. Don't start in on passing to the under 10s, WAY TOO OFTEN in the past I see coaches telling tiny kids pass the ball; this instills in them a feeling it's not OK to dribble, that they are a "ballhog", and the most necessary skill, ball control at the feet, suffers because of it. When they get good enough, 10 or 11 years old and they're beginning to play 11 on a side, start in with passing, try to get them comfortable with the idea of moving the ball to the open man, someone mentioned "The Ring" or as we called it, 3 v 1 or 5 v 2 or 4v2, played within the center circle.

[bennyf118]

I was on a travel team in 3rd grade (8-9 years old), and so I'll give as much information as I can remember from those practices. The team started out playing relatively poorly, but by the end of the year, we were one of the top teams in the area, and even won the Columbia Invitational.

We practiced for 90 minutes three times a week, and had weekly games and occasional tournaments. One thing that I distinctly remember doing is 100 toe touches and 100 waddles as quickly as possible each practice. (Toe touches meaning you alternate between left and right foot, touching the top of the ball with your toes. The ball is a few inches in front of the player. Waddles were nudging the ball back and forth between your feet, with the instep of your foot, trying to keep as much control as possible.) We also practiced something else where you rolled the ball (by stepping on it) from in front of you to behind you, all while turning in the same motion. The coaches also taught us several basic fakes such as the fake kick and the stepover, and most importantly, the cut. Oh, and we were taught the correct way to strike a ball, etc.

In terms of games/activities, these are what I remember. One thing that we did often was set up a square with cones on the corners, maybe 15m to a side. All the players had a ball and stood inside the square. The goal of the game was to poke other people's balls outside the square while protecting your own ball from everyone else. In retrospect, that was a GREAT exercise. I also remember one practice where the players got into partners, and stood ~10m apart from each other. They would alternate throwin in the ball to their partner, and their partner would have to try to head it back to them. I also remember a lot of 1 on 1 situations. For example, there was a line for defense and a line for attack (all players alternated between both) and the ball was given to the attacker. His objective was to get enough space to get a shot off and score a goal, while the defender obviously tried to stop this. One final thing that I can remember doing is "the ring." 1-2 players are inside the ring, and all the others (3-7) try to pass the ball around without letting the defenders gain control. If the defender did gain control, the person on the outside switched with him.

I wish I could remember more of what we did, because those coaches were absolutely AMAZING, but the only other thing I can think of is that we entered into a tournament that consisted on teams that were one year older than us. I think that helped a fair amount (even though we went 0-2-1). The only lesson I can learn from that is challenge kids, and they will rise to the challenge.

I personally would recommend asking the children to watch at least one professional game a week, but obviously you can't really enforce that.

Lastly, to Kelly Vargas, I absolutely pity your kid for a multitude of reasons. Let him have fun. It's the only way. Look at Brazil. Doesn't it look like they are having fun while they play? They seem to do fine in World Cups (what are those 5 stars for, again?), so obviously having fun is not a problem. A few years ago, the Orioles had a team full of big names that weren't performing well. However, since they were big names, they played in the all-star game. The coach at the time gave them a speech after the all-star break saying that he watched them play, and could see they were having fun, and told them to just have fun while they played no matter what. Lo and behold, they went on a rampage winning something like 32 of 36 games immediately after that, and even getting into a race for a playoff spot. Let the kid have fun, and he'll improve more than if you force him to practice.

[DUTCHVIZ]

You can find some ideas for creating small sided games at www.bettersoccermorefun.com. There's usually a game for every problem.

Good luck.

[striker]

I can't believe that some of you actually take Kelly Vargas' comments seriously!

[Kelly Vargas]

Originally posted by striker
I can't believe that some of you actually take Kelly Vargas' comments seriously!

no sh.it

[Pokeden]

Originally posted by striker
I can't believe that some of you actually take Kelly Vargas' comments seriously!
Past
Present
Future
It can, does, and will happen!
The reality is Kelly Vargas and the like.

[the101er]

I know Coerver has fallen out of fashion to a certain degree, but seriously look into it, especially for youngest age groups.

My Coerver practices were a lot of fun for the kids, because it was a simple structure:

Play a Coerver game using a specific turn.
Scrimmage focusing on using turn we just learned.
Play a game: either reinforcing previous turn or move on.

Teach technique, technique, technique to young players. No one has accused American soccer players of being too technically proficient.

[truthandlife]

Originally posted by Kelly Vargas
youre right, i probably will, but that boy is gonna make me alot of money one day and im gonna enjoy it because ive worked hard to get him where he is and where he will be. think what you will about me, but my point will be made when he is professional at 16..

remember the name: Romando Alvarez de Cruz Vargas, because my boy is gonna be a star!

Kelly your just pulling everybody's leg. Right?

[Kelly Vargas]

i very well could be...

[Kaiser]

Shhesh! Or should I say hashish since that what I smoke with my 7 yr olds after practise! Really folks get a life, Vargas was obviousy being sarcastic.

Some of you other guys seriously scare me. Especially you guys that go into all sorts of detail.

Practise at that age should not be longer than the games. So 45 min. once a week is enough. 3 or 4 games like "shark attack" or a relay race where they dribble past a couple cones is fun. Give them lots of water breaks. Make it fun and don't give them too much, you want them to want more when they leave, this encourages the kids to experiment at home and hopefully gets them to get together with friends for some backyard soccer. That's what important and they'll learn 10X more in the backyard with a couple buddies than they will with you at an organised practise at that age. And travel teams before they're 12? forget it. Coerver = good.

[Alan_V]

I haven't read all of the posts, but having coached the past 6 years, the things I stressed in those age groups are 1) have fun, 2) teamwork, 3 ) have fun, 4) basic skills (how to kick, trap, pass) and lastly HAVE FUN.

I'm older, I never had the level of organized coaching available today. Little league was it. Other than that, we'd just go to the local park, chose up sides and play. As many as 3 games in a day!! It was FUN and I try to remember that.

As far as winning goes, at the younger ages, kids have forgotten about that 30 seconds after the final whistle. Jsut watch them after the handshakes. They sprint back to go thru the 'high five' line or tunnel, sumetimes 2 or three times and every one of them has a huge smile on his face. Their too young for the concept of winning or losing. There is a way to get that across without stressing it. Just convince them that playing their best and trying their hardest produces positive results.

My favorite drill involve getting as many kids moving as possible at the same time. Relay races with or without the ball teaches them comradery and gets across the competitive nature of the game. Football is a big game of keepaway, so play that. Start them out using their hands to throw to each other and move on to kicking. Remind them to use the whole (20x20 to 40x40 depending on age) field. Most kids know how to play keep away anyway, so use it. Stresses teamwork and field awareness.

I coached using the pattern 'skills, drills, and thrills.' Teach a skill, let them practice it, then hold a scrimmage where use of that skill comes into play. Having goals is optional at younger ages.

I gave up coaching this year when my sone graduated to club (competitive, travelling, whatever). I thought I was a decent coach, but when I a watched the various club teams practice, I was honestly amazed that I was pretty much in synch with how they conduct practices. I'm a big proponent of watching people who know what they're doing, do what they know. If you want to better learn how to coach young kids, get in touch with you r local competitive team coach and ask if you can watch. They know that you may end up handing over the next Freddy Adu to them and are more than willing enough to let you watch.

[Sajuan]

Originally posted by Crazy Old Lady
With a father like you my heart bleeds for your son.You are well on the way to having him Hate you if he survives to become an adult.Child Abuse comes in many forms and you have just described one of them. You are a SICK B******D.


and this thread had such good intentions.

[dabes2]

3 vs 1 monkey-in-the-middle is great for 8 year olds. It teaches triangle passing and movement off the ball. These are the most important skills for transitioning from "kick-and-run" to team passing. Don't do 4 vs 1, because that kills the need for movement off the ball. Follow this up w/ 3v3/4v4 small sided game and try to reinforce presenting to your teammates for a pass. You can even require a certain number of passes before a goal can be scored.

The biggest problem with this aproach is that it teaches critical long term skills but isn't that helpful for winning U9 games. If you want to win U9 games, run suicide drills. I'm not going to describe, because it's stupid.

[Red Star]

Originally posted by dabes2
3 vs 1 monkey-in-the-middle is great for 8 year olds. It teaches triangle passing and movement off the ball. These are the most important skills for transitioning from "kick-and-run" to team passing. Don't do 4 vs 1, because that kills the need for movement off the ball. Follow this up w/ 3v3/4v4 small sided game and try to reinforce presenting to your teammates for a pass. You can even require a certain number of passes before a goal can be scored.

The biggest problem with this aproach is that it teaches critical long term skills but isn't that helpful for winning U9 games. If you want to win U9 games, run suicide drills. I'm not going to describe, because it's stupid.

I whole heartedly embrace this theory. Yet, I am so tired of losing to teams that are playing rigid positions (Defenders aren't allowed to cross midfield) and mechanically booting the ball that I don't know what to do. The kids are tired of these losses as well. It would be so much easier to give in to the Dark side.

[Elroy]

Originally posted by Red Star
I whole heartedly embrace this theory. Yet, I am so tired of losing to teams that are playing rigid positions (Defenders aren't allowed to cross midfield) and mechanically booting the ball that I don't know what to do. The kids are tired of these losses as well. It would be so much easier to give in to the Dark side.

Teach your players how to beat teams like that.

[m-chill]

redstar brings up a good topic that many good coaches have to deal with. i think we all deal with this on some level. and i think this should drive what is done at practice. i don't think there's one way to run a practice. each team is different like each player is different and practices need to be different for both. as a coach i want my team and players to be successful; but not just in the short term but in the long term. this outlook has made all the difference for my u-8 team.
each game i look at what skill or tactic might help my team play better against like teams. all the while making sure that the tactic learned is a life long positive tactic. booting the ball up the field or bunching up is not going to garner much success latter in life. so those tactics are not even considered.
i can assure you that skillful play, where players spread the field and and thoughtfully pass the ball will win out against these other styles once your players gain the tools and ideas from practice.
i would only introduce one skill a week and practice that skill for no more than an half an hour in various games and drills. then keep talking about it in practice games and games to remind them. as you build on what they know they will start to win some of those games. and soon they will win almost every game they play and you will be struggling to find them a challenge. but 1st you must take your lumps. make sure you stress to your players that its about playing well and not winning or losing. if your team is getting better they need you to point out the things they did much better this game than last. they love hearing about the good things they did. In fact that’s what i do at half time as well. we talk about all the things we did well and then i bring up 1 or 2 things we should work on in the second half. this is good even when you start beating every team you play. it gives your team a reason to keep improving their game even when they are winning easily.

[Kelly Vargas]

is it a little too early to give footballers of this age group performance enhancing drugs?