Do you do any 1 on 1 or small group (5 or less) training? It seems to be a way that lots of coaches here in So Cal make extra money. My DD has gone to a few and it's been decent. But - the cost seems a bit steep. And the trainer/coach isn't doing anything all that amazing. He runs the exact same session with the group before and the group after my DD's group. I want to offer some options up to my team. For free. I've done a few of these in the past and they've been good. It seems that most coaches that do these types of trainings have a few "go to" activities that they do. What are yours?
Up to you, really. You can run a generic session or one specific to the kid's needs. It's tough because parents always come in and say he needs to work on this and improve on that. But their assessment most often isn't correct. I have a player his main problem is that he makes his cuts too acute an angle and gets the ball tackled away. His parents would never see that. Or a lot of my kids suck at shielding. Or direction of first touch. With that said 90% of kids would benefit from a foot skills/ball mastery session. Parents would say something like "foot skills" or needs to work on speed. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I offered this this past season on Thursday nights to our team. Being the assistant (head coach is meh, its been a rough season so far), I felt that we lacked some fundamentals individually. Aside from 3-4 players, none are very good with a ball at their feet, so that was my focus. Unfortunately, being that the session was optional, only a handful of kids showed up. It ended up being a waste. I'm personally not a fan of individual training, as I think that it lacks competition. Sure you can get plenty of quality touches, but under little to no pressure. It isn't realistic enough for me. I also don't like how that is a source of income for some. Shame that parents can't see through that.
Having trained myself individually in both soccer and tennis, I strongly believe having training partners is preferable. On the other hand without the years of individual training in both sports, I would not have been able to play competitively even at the modest level that I did. There is no doubt that individual training alone is a poor substitute to being coached in a group. Cones and walls don't move.
Was it a waste for the kids who came? Or a waste from a team perspective because such a small percentage came? Done well, I think it can be competitive, but it is a different type of competition. It also can take a player who has the right personal motivation and drive. There is no question that players need to learn how to integrate their moves into their play, so individual practice alone will rarely be enough, but I also think there is no denying the benefit of the individual work. From the coach perspective, it is always a tension between needing to make sure these individual skills are developed but wanting to use the practice time with the team to do the more group-based activities that are beneficial and provide the game simulated competition that you are talking about. Reality is that they need both, and if you can get the individual work done outside of practice, you're one step ahead.... Maybe... Happy holidays.
I don't believe that it is a total waste. Just being that it was optional, the players who need the work the most would never show up. I do agree that the individual needs to be accountable and motivated to improve. I feel that having just 2 players makes them more inclined to work hard. It is an automatic competition whether you design it that way or not (can I beat player X in juggles/touches/whatever you are working on?) The tension that I have is from a team perspective. The head coach wants to play a possession style of soccer (of course I am partial to it, its how I play and coached my teams in the past to play), but the kids as a group lack the fundamentals to do so. If we have a training session (he is pretty organized), a warm up activity lasts 10-15 minutes whether everyone gets the concept or not. He treats the kids like it is a recreational team and it is causing issues (3 already play an age group up to avoid his coaching), especially in a optional training session.
Individual work is very important. Team work won't make a player dangerous. If a player has an aptitude for scoring he should work on it right after regular practice is over maybe for 20 minutes. The striker is a very specific position in soccer. Once you see who has a specific appitude for the striker position then they become part striker part of the practice which comes after the team practice. It is not for everyine on the team. Have to face the real fact that not everyone can be a real striker. It is for the starters and those that can possibly come of the bench at striker and are capable of being dangerous finishers. So during that part of the practice you also need set up players and backs and a keeper. It lasts about 20 minutes at the end of most practices. Practically everything that can happen in a game concerning the striker is practiced. Moving to his left and moving to his right trying to score off a pass and off the dribble with either foot and with his head. Even a part where he must two touch so he can score only on his second touch and not the first. There is nothing that builds player confidence then having to 2 touch in the area while a defender is on you. So you are holding the defender off and then shoot. We all teach the players to two touch at higher levels but once they get into the offensive third that goes out the window and all they do is one touch. Plus going against one and then two players beating them and still being able to beat the keeper. It is risky for the striker but it really helps the player. I got that from the Russions that coach here. Strikers would rather do this then practice with the team, but they have to practice with the team first. There is also some specific finishing like moving to right to left finish with the left foot. Then the same and air the ball with inside spin on the ball to give the ball eyes and just make it inside the far post after the bounce. Defender on your shoulder on the near post push the ball further outside to get seperation and then shoot upper near post. You can do the same on the keeper. he thinks he has the near post covered but do that he finds he doesn;t, but by then it is too late you scored. Repition is boring until you score and win games then it become fun.
My son, dev academy player, has done 2 types of sessions outside of practice. He'll go to a very technical coach every once in a while. These sessions are 1:1 and the coach is working with him on position-specific things for him. Again this is infrequent. More often, he'll go to a coach that works on soccer-specific speed & agility training. With this training, it's usually him and 3-4 others. They do things with bands, shuttle runs, core stuff, etc. Given he's a freshman, this is not only helpful for speed, but also for injury prevention.
One thing I notice is that a lot of players have technical deficiencies. For example, I work individually with a player who has their toes pointed down when using the inside of their foot does not plant their non-kicking foot in the correct position when playing a pass. Keeping an eye out for these technical issues, which may be hard to spot, can certainly aid them in striking the ball a lot more cleanly so that it becomes routine in games. Similarly,working on the awareness of players with activities that involve different colored cones in place, forcing them to check their shoulders and look up again before confirming the decision they are going to make have been very beneficial to the players I have worked with. Not enough players play with their eyes so anything that gets them lifting their head more often and consistently will transfer into their games.
I really like this trainer and have used many of these drills in 1 on 1 training. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5wlBUZsx1r2IsO9-rvON6Q/videos