Not at all. Just pointing out that having those skills as an U7 boy wasn't necessarily an indicator of growing up to be an elite player.
My point was not that passing is bad, it is the backbone of the game! However, at a young age like 7 or 8, I would encourage dribbling and 1 v 1 take ons while they still can. At this age who cares if they win a game because Johnny dribbled it from the back and lost possession There is a limited time for this, when winning becomes the goal vs development, and coaches won't be yelling at you for dribbling it in the back. Learn those moves and develop creativity at an early age, let the tactics and advanced passing come later, imho before the fear takes over.
Just a quick input here. We have published a research review recently on How Speed and Technical skills of young players affect their chances to become a Pro - TLR - how good children sprint and dribble at age of 10-11 years define their success rate at pro level. That being said, passing/ball control should be paid attention to. The question is at what age to begin to focus on them more? I would say it depends on the kids talents but you have to be sure that by the age of 10 or 11 y.o. he/she is good at ball control and dribbling.
My kid and his friend from AYSO joined a club team together. They were at the same level when they left AYSO. The club team was coached by a coach that encouraged dribbling and doesn't teach passing. Fast forward one year later, my kid is the best one one one player on the team. His friend is at the same AYSO level and barely improved. Same club, same team and same coach, why the difference? I think it's because in every recess, my kid played soccer and his friend did other activities. 30 min a day on the ball, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, that's how many touches my kid got more than his friend. This year my kid let the club that doesn't teach passing and went to a flight 1 team where all they do is rondos. A kid who loves soccer and plays a lot will develope technical skills on their own. You don't need the coach teaching it.
Conversely, I will tell you that I can teach any 12 year old to pass, I cannot teach them to become a great dribbler. We tell all the parents in the club that we will kick them out of the game if we hear them yelling pass any time before 9v9, not even kidding, I hate to hear that. I would much rather have a team of individuals working on skill at 8, 9, 10 years old, part of dribbling is awareness, which will make them great passers eventually.
Agreed! 100% Some parent yelling at my boy all the time to pass, he's playing 7 on 7. Had to ask him to please stop. I don't care whether his team wins at 8 years old! Get comfortable on the ball. Get rid of the panic. Only limited time to get that instilled at the younger ages imo. And yes, tactically , that parent was correct. My boy should have passed. It doesn't matter at this age. Nothing worse than the joystick parents running up the sidelines like a linesmen yelling at the kids.
I see both sides. But I think at U9 the defenders should be passing most of the time while the forwards have more leeway and should be encouraged to dribble and go 1v1. The defenders should be trying to play out of the back, which is usually a passing game. Though if they have space then dribble, or if they feel really confident (we had a really fast defender who could dribble past anyone up the flanks). But I don't think we should be letting defenders dribble up the middle past 4 opponents. That is bad soccer even at U9. The advanced kids at that age have a good enough soccer IQ that they can understand some high level concepts. You don't need to treat them like toddlers.
I think it all depends on the level of the team. Very often you get a team with a mixed bag of players. Those who can already dribble and good at one on one are ready for the more advanced stuff (passing). And those who can't dribble all that well should be encouraged to dribble. It's actually not that easy to learn passing. First you need to be comfortable with the ball and hold on to it long enough to create angles for passing.
I think younger kids should definitely have more freedom to dribble and learn to be comfortable with the ball. But I have noticed so many kids at u14 on up who are comfortable with the ball but don’t have the speed of play to find a pass fast enough and those kids have the skills to be on the top teams but they don’t have the speed of play to keep up. So kids need to develop both dribbling and passing, but as they get older the passing becomes more important.
Another skill that, IMO, needs to be taught relatively early (because coaches on older teams won't take the time to teach this basic) is RECEIVING the ball. DD's teams (both school and club) for some reason have a bad time receiving a pass. It will go off shin guards, knees, even boots, and bounce 3-4 yards away. Even if a defender isn't close, it still takes time to recover the ball.
Exactly. Coaches have long lamented the number of players who don't have a good first touch. How can a player develop a first touch without ever receiving the ball?
I'm not a coach, but I have an idea for working on 1st touch... two players stand 10 yards away (or more/less depending on age). BUT, each player is in a hula hoop. Player A passes the ball to Player B. If the ball hits ANYWHERE inside the hoop, A gets 1 pt. If B stops the ball and it stays IN the hoop, B gets 2 points. B then passes back to A with the same point structure (1 to pass into the hoop, 2 if stopped in the hoop). Play for either x number of passes or for time. Helps accurate passing and receiving.
I would think the only issue with that drill would be the raised edge of the hula hoop causing the ball to take some funny hops on players. I agree that receiving the ball and the first touch is critical to a player's ability. Watched way too many balls bounce off kids and go right to the opposing team over the years.
My son and I tried it out yesterday, sans the actual hula hoops. Seems a good drill. The next step is to "catch" the ball and then quickly accelerate to a second spot, because that movement is sorely lacking on my son's team. Too often I've seen the collection of the ball, only to lose the ball as the player winds up to pass it.
Check out this video of some Tottenham players doing a very similar game... They are a whole bunch more videos like that. They're from a little while ago but I thought them pretty funny at the time. We don't all have access to a ball cannon, but probably starting off with one player passing the ball should work
Yes I have seen it done with 4 cones in a square and the player tries to keep the ball in the square on the first touch. You can make the square smaller to make it more challenging.
Yea, I'd love to see it with a ball canon, but most of us don't have that feature. That's why I thought of "weighting" the pass vs the reception. You could even give a bonus point to the passer if the receiver doesn't keep the ball in the area. My thought process is you don't want the passer to just give easy balls. The cones formed in a box would work.
You'll get the passer sending rockets to the reciever in order to rack up points and win the drill. It's a nice warmup maybe at u13/14 when they have some concept of "we're trying to improve everyone, not win the drill" - or if it's a kid & parent playing at home. small sided game with multiple goals that can facilitate development of a "what are my options" mindset. Google Funino....
Honestly, I don't think sending rockets is a bad thing. They're going to get some in a game too. The harder the pass, the further it's going to bounce away if you don't control it. If the speed is really bad, spread them out and make the pass longer.
My kid and I play it at home. Just call it "first touch game" Start with slow balls and gradually build up the speed. Just define an area and try to keep the ball in that area.
NewDada, your impulse is correct, but you can't just choose an age. If the child develops properly, they will be competent ball handlers by 7, at the latest. Then you can start to teach the team sport, passing, positions, and much more. So it's a matter of skill level, not age. There is no point to "teach passing" to a 13 year old that can't dribble and pass consistently. By the way, the notion that you have to teach passing is silly. A competent ball handler will move around with their head up and naturally move the ball to an open teammate when under pressure. It's a simple game. That's what makes it so beautiful.
Yeah, coaches love athletic dribblers at the younger ages because it generally equates to success. Parents love it because it looks cool, players get all sorts of positive reinforcement from it. The problems start to show up once you get a little older and defenses become more organized, athletes more consistent. Teams suddenly aren't successful at that point with a roster that has an abundance of players whose primary skill is dribbling. So now you have a bunch of players who spent a hell of a lot of time honing a skill that emphasizes beating the man in front of them with less emphasis on anything else going on around them. They need to transition their game in a hurry. Obviously, some do and they generally become very good players. Others not so much. Clearly, dribbling is a must have skill to be a complete soccer player but it is one of many. When I look at players in the US at the higher levels now, what does not standout is their lack of dribbling skills. The problems seem to me to focus on tactical issues, lack of spatial awareness of the players around them, not enough nuanced movement with and without the ball, not always having a crisp first touch that is directed in an area that will evade defenders and/or facilitate attack, not weighting passes perfectly so teammates can receive it in stride, etc. There will always be world class dribblers at the highest levels but they are savants, they have lived with a ball at their feet since they could walk. Somebody then had the sense to stick them with a coach that taught them how to play the game of soccer. Nobody here is talking about a kid like that, and encouraging a player not to pass in a U10 game is not going to turn them into that.