One v One moves......

Discussion in 'Youth & HS Soccer' started by ppierce34, May 31, 2019.

  1. ppierce34

    ppierce34 Member

    Aug 29, 2016
    Fort Wayne, IN
    My daughter is a U11 and has some pretty nasty moves that she does (when she wants to). It has been an uphill battle with her for almost 3 years to use these moves in games on a consistent basis. When she uses them they work. She beats the defender, crowed goes wild etc etc....Why the hell won't she use them more on a regular basis? I've bribed her, i've talked to her about it but they only show up maybe once every 7-8 games. If i could do what she does I'd be using them several times a game. Any advice?
     
  2. nysoccerdad

    nysoccerdad Member

    Apr 18, 2016
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    First of all, can you give me some advice about how to develop those moves? lol.
     
  3. VolklP19

    VolklP19 Member+

    Jun 23, 2010
    Illinois
    Get her in an open play environment on the side where she may feel more comfortable performing these and mastering them. Then you will see them more often on the club pitch.
     
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  4. SpiceBoy

    SpiceBoy Member

    Barcelona
    United States
    Aug 2, 2017
    Getting the kids to do the moves in practice is the key. years ago Coerver taught skills in isolation, and after much criticism added incentive to use moves in there training games. i.e a small sided game in which a team could score a point by scoring a goal but could additionally score a point when a player tried a move they were focusing upon. In my opinion this made a huge difference in the value of Coerver when they started emphasizing/rewarding moves in game situations.

    Also I believe in emphasizing the basic moves vs complicated moves. Elastico (outside > inside) and the Mathews (inside>outside) are my favorites. Do these at full speed throw in a head or body fake and a player is golden. My least favorite:double scissors - Parents cheer and go wild but the problem is I only see players doing this in wide open space where it accomplishes nothing except getting the players parents to cheer.
     
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  5. ppierce34

    ppierce34 Member

    Aug 29, 2016
    Fort Wayne, IN
    i have incentivized my daughter with mixed results. what i just will never understand is why she only uses them on a limited basis yet every time she does use them they work. i fell like a broken record with her and i must be getting annoying!
     
  6. bigredfutbol

    bigredfutbol Moderator
    Staff Member

    Sep 5, 2000
    Woodbridge, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    My advice is that you should limit yourself to praising her for those moments when she uses one of the most moves to good effect--and that's it. I totally get where you're coming from--my own son took WAY too long to figure out how to use his very good first touch to his advantage in one-on-one situations, and it was mystifying. But hearing about it from me didn't help.

    What you don't want to do is to take the feeling of being creative away from her--to make it something you expect rather than something she did on her own.

    Take the pressure off. Don't make her second-guess herself in game situations. We adults tend to forget that playing in front of other adults, with referees monitoring you and coaches shouting instructions and whatnot--is a very different context. There's MUCH more fear of looking foolish or making a 'mistake' than in practice. Most kids take a while to become comfortable in that environment.

    So, fight the urge to point out what is obvious to you. She's got a whole bunch of adults putting pressure on her even though they don't intend to. Don't pile on!

    Which--one soccer Dad to another--is much easier said than done, I freely admit!
     
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  7. ppierce34

    ppierce34 Member

    Aug 29, 2016
    Fort Wayne, IN
    Thats well said. Maybe saying less is really more in this type of situation. Perspective from a 40 year old adult is a lot diff't than a 10 year old girl and i tend to forget that.
     
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  8. pu.ma

    pu.ma Member

    Feb 8, 2018
    I think this is a good suggestion. Also any informal play time where there is no pressure to perform and the pace is slower.
     
  9. bigredfutbol

    bigredfutbol Moderator
    Staff Member

    Sep 5, 2000
    Woodbridge, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I totally empathize--as I said, my advice was from one soccer Dad to another.
     
  10. sam_gordon

    sam_gordon Member+

    Feb 27, 2017
    Have you ever asked her why she doesn't try moves more often? If she'll give you more than "I don't know", maybe you can figure out what would encourage her to do more.

    That's a question that should be asked away from game time (not after a game, not heading to a game).
     
  11. Cantona's Eyebrow

    Dirty Leeds
    Togo
    Oct 8, 2018
    Clever girl. Your daughter is completely right to use skill moves sparingly.

    Skill moves should be used rarely in order to keep them unpredictable and maintain the speed of play. Football is a team game that relies on moving the ball quickly for success. It is not an individual circus show to entertain wild-eyed, baboon like parents who hysterical cheer every stepover or flik-flak. Control, range of passing and sound decision making will make her a far better player than the elastico ever will.

    You're her parent not her coach. Let her play her own game and STOP INTERFERING :mad:
     
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  12. pu.ma

    pu.ma Member

    Feb 8, 2018
    Agree in general, but for U11, I would like to see players really work on their 1v1 skills. Games are a great time to do it.
     
  13. ChickasawLand

    ChickasawLand New Member

    Leicester City
    Mexico
    Jun 3, 2019
    This post has really made me think. I started another post about my son being called up to the first team. The thing that team does so well is move and pass the ball as a team. Let me share some quotes from his latest evaluation. "......you have probably the best dribbling ability on the team, but remember the goal is not to out-dribble the other team but to outscore them.......the ball moves faster than the player and beating that third and fourth defender isn't necessary."

    That's what his coaches are trying to say to him. It's good to have those skills in your locker, but it is a team game.
     
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  14. Cantona's Eyebrow

    Dirty Leeds
    Togo
    Oct 8, 2018
    That's good advice. Skills moved don't necessarily mean beating your opponent. They can be used effectively to lose a marker, or switch the focus of play and find space. They're not only for 1v1s, much more to it than that.
     
  15. johngonole

    johngonole Member

    Barcelona
    United States
    Feb 15, 2018
    So I have a U14 players that is super good now at using moves and winning 1v1 battles. When he was younger I would say the same thing. Why don't you use these moves. So I'm not sure but for my son it was a combination of things that I believe helped. First in addition to just practicing the moves in isolation I also had him do a drill with five cones. Laid out like you would see on a pair of dice.

    Then you have him dribble or make moves around the five cones for two minutes straight. This forces the kid to become creative with the moves. You don't tell him what moves to use or when. You just do it.

    Another key was teaching him what situations were best to use which move. Some moves work best when a player dives in. Others like the Maradona Spin work best when reaching for a 50-50 ball.

    The biggest key was he played lots of futsal in a non competitive just for fun environment where he got to use moves and 1v1s often. Because it was just for fun there was no punishment for failure.

    1) drill in isolation for muscle memory
    2) freestyle footwork drills
    3) a bit of soccer IQ (when to use what move)
    and
    4) futsol

    Trust me if your girl or boy does this their confidence and ball control will explode. And pretty soon they'll see 1v1s as easy and view 1 v 2 as perfectly reasonable situation to attack. Just have to learn to keep out of 1 v 3 cause at that point even the best run out of space to work with.
     
  16. johngonole

    johngonole Member

    Barcelona
    United States
    Feb 15, 2018
    Just as a follow up I'll say this also. He still doesn't do the scissor's move which was the move I originally wanted him to start using and probably the first one he learned. He simply prefers faster moves than that one. And to be honest like a lot of moves there are very few situations where it makes sense. In most cases the scissors just slows everything down.

    So you might also start by having them learn more practical moves.
     
  17. Cantona's Eyebrow

    Dirty Leeds
    Togo
    Oct 8, 2018
    1v1 drills are pretty much a waste of time to coach if the player is not coached in which scenarios to use them. The key thing here is the body shape and direction of travel from the defensive player.

    Face to face with a square body shape.... your looking at using the fake and take or scissors. If the defender is coming in side by side to the player in possession you would use a different skill, maybe Cruyff turn or a stop start. Receiving with your back to the defender with heavy pressure and pace on the ball you would use the pin and roll. A diagonal defensive run would prompt a twist off or Ronaldo chop. Get my drift? The body position and direction of run of the defender dictates the skill.

    Obviously, as players gain more experience the position on the park is more of a consideration, but at the younger skill hungry years, players should be encouraged to work on these skills often. The main point is how the defender is set to challenge.
     
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  18. ppierce34

    ppierce34 Member

    Aug 29, 2016
    Fort Wayne, IN
    The biggest key, in my opinion, is having a coach who constantly praises you for trying the moves in games. My daughter who is a u12 is pretty much the only girl i've seen on her team and even other teams use moves and whatever the outcome of the move (loses the ball or it works) i can hear the coach singing her praises on the sideline i.e. "you go girl" "yes!" etc etc.

    Everyone can do a move in isolation with no pressure but very few will actually try in games. My daughters team lost a game 5-1 but her footskills and skill were on full display to the point where the ref came over after the game, interrupted our coach's post game talk, to compliment my daughter.
     
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  19. Cantona's Eyebrow

    Dirty Leeds
    Togo
    Oct 8, 2018
    I'm not a fan of empty praise. Encouragement, yes, but cliched generic blabber, no.

    Praising a child for doing something wrong won't aid development. I like asking the questions that allow players to problem solve for themselves. Hopefully, that way I can praise players for making good decisions that allow them to execute skill effectively.

    I've found that a lot of coaches constantly shout praise when they don't really know how else to coach. Granted, it is preferable to the alternative: non-stop hysterical screaming.
     
  20. ppierce34

    ppierce34 Member

    Aug 29, 2016
    Fort Wayne, IN
    Praising a kid for trying 1v1 moves in a game is empty praise? Not sure i see it that way.
     
  21. Cantona's Eyebrow

    Dirty Leeds
    Togo
    Oct 8, 2018
    That's the beauty of football, it's a game of opinions.

    For me, I'd praise them if they tried the correct skill move in relation to the on field scenario, but just blindly praising for trying skills is not for me, I'd rather coach from the side. There has to be positive outcomes for the 4Ws:

    when?
    why?
    where?
    what?

    If they can manage that then they'll get praised.
     
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  22. bigredfutbol

    bigredfutbol Moderator
    Staff Member

    Sep 5, 2000
    Woodbridge, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Indeed. Too many youth coaches are risk-averse way too early.

    My son used to love using the outside of his foot to pass now and then--generally when he was trying to make an acute angle (i.e., not when using the inside of his foot would have been the sensible move). His U9/U10 coach hated that. I never understood why he was so opposed to a kid trying out a skill under pressure that early in his development.

    Just to emphasize--my son wasn't over-complicating a simple pass, he was trying to make a pass he likely couldn't have with the inside of his foot because of the angle. And his coach preferred that he just turn and make a back pass.

    At an older age I get it but that young?

    EDIT: I will say that I'm not sure about "constantly" praising. I don't think this was your intention, but that can easily be read as indiscriminately praising pointless showboating and poor decision-making.
     
  23. Cantona's Eyebrow

    Dirty Leeds
    Togo
    Oct 8, 2018
    After they've mastered that they can move on
    His coach was right.

    Bad habits and muscle memory can be hard to break down. Best getting into good habits early.
     
  24. pu.ma

    pu.ma Member

    Feb 8, 2018
    It's what is communicated I suppose that matters. Praising a kid for trying a move versus praising a kid's move that was not well executed.
     
  25. bigredfutbol

    bigredfutbol Moderator
    Staff Member

    Sep 5, 2000
    Woodbridge, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #25 bigredfutbol, Sep 12, 2019
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2019
    He was 100% wrong. Being able to make difficult passes is one of the skills which have made my son a better player. An inability to make a pass at an unexpected angle makes attacking midfielders much easier to defend against--a player who has to stop to reset his body so he can use his instep is less of a threat. If he had never pushed himself to try new things he'd still be the sort of cookie-cutter player who is unable to create on the fly.

    It's not something you do more than once or twice a game because the vast majority of the time you're going to be making safe, most-likely passes. But having the ability to do the unexpected--to be able to direct a ball at an angle which wouldn't be possible if he'd never learned from watching professional soccer and trying to do things he saw top players do.

    Youth coaches too often just want to win games, and that leads to risk-averse, uncreative, and extremely limited players.
     
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