I've been listening to a lot of podcasts lately, and researching websites for tricks and tips and coaching materials. I found the 3FOUR3 guys, and am impressed with the way they talk and the style of play they are teaching. I like that they aren't trying to sell books with 1,000 drills, etc. My mind can't wrap around that many drills! Has anyone bought the membership? How was the 1st year stuff? How much did it help you? Were you a newer coach, or a well-experienced one? Rec or club? What age kids did you use it with?
I like it. Have you watched their free stuff already? Helped immensely. I would say I have a lot of experience. Club level. Experience with beginners kicking the ball for the first time (age 4–6) up to mid-teens. What age kids do you use it with? I've used it with age 7 and it goes well*—it's ugly as hell at first but you have to stick with it. It stays "ugly" for a bit because at age 7, you DO need to work other areas. With that age group, we worked with it sporadically from August through December of that year. From January on, I could see flashes of it in matches, but not every match. There would be sequences several times throughout the game where they string together 1-2 touch passes on the ground all the way up the field. But over the years, your goal is to build consistency—so those infrequent sequences of 1-2 touch passes start stitching themselves together into longer passages of play. But more importantly, it's a methodology, a mindset that you get. The guys who started 3four3, found a style they believed in and studied from the master (Bielsa) and developed a way to teach it. Take it, tweak it—apply it to your specific situation. The great thing is that they teach details/fundamentals that are embedded in (Argentine, I believe) soccer culture that isn't really taught widely today; losing your man—is day one stuff for these guys while that isn't taught until say high school in the US. It's (can be pricey) but as far as educational things go you won't get much better. Seriously. You could pay the same amount for a USSF D-License course and not learn a fraction of what their program teaches.
Thanks for the review. Very interesting. I always considered the coaches job to cover the fundamentals during the fundamental stage. I certainly taught players how to play on the ball, but I also taught players how to support off the ball both in possession and out. I was alone at that club. Conventional wisdom was teaching 235 kick and run bunch ball to U10s. I was actually criticized by one of the club coaches in front of the parents for teaching the kids how to play a 433 with zonal marking. I just smiled at him. (By the way, short passes on the ground won't work against bunch ball teams. Got to have a plan B. My players knew how to play keep-away, so they solved the problem easily. I spent a lot of training time on 1-2s, but there was never an opportunity in matches for a 1-2. There is always next year.) I am against instructing players where to go on the field instead of teaching them how to figure it out themselves. To me clearing runs and checking runs are fundamentals and quickly taught. This one point you made about the program greatly impresses me.
It's not as heavy handed as it seems. At the same time, why rely on trial and error? Does it deepen or improve the learning experience? I find the opposite—me, personally, show me that basic thing and I can take it and run with it. I can extrapolate why that concept is better. When we teach technique, let's say push pass, we don't let them trial and error until they learn to lock their ankle heel down, toe up, plant foot here. We provide correction, model the behavior we want to see, and even show it to them before they try it. Team concepts shouldn't be so different. From the Argentine ex-pros I've spoken to, they are taught things we consider "tactical" here. Granted it's a different soccer culture, but still I don't think it's retarding players' soccer intelligence here in the US.
@elessar78 Except teaching technique IS different than tactics. Each aspect is different, and some things in an aspect require different approaches for maximum efficiency. For instance speed training and endurance training are both a form of running but should be trained differently and best scheduled differently. Having said that, I think the common preference is for guided discovery over throwing them in the deep end of the pool to learn to swim by trial and error. Guided discovery is perfect to teaching the principles of play. I guided mostly by the structure of the exercises. I was always fortunate to have some trained players who serve as peer examples for the novices. All I had to do was praise the good moments. Also in the good old days kids still played childhood games in the neighborhood like tag and keep-away. Both are excellent training for soccer. In comparison kids today are seriously retarded in general athletic skills.