Juvenile Coaching

Started by jp2020, November 23, 2015, 06:31:34 PM

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tyroneman

Crazy stuff that. The earlier kids get used to using both feet / hands the better. I would also suggest that there is time given to practicing the basics right up to and including minor / senior football.

We are getting so caught up in creating fancy drills that you end up with senior teams who can barely kick pass a ball more than 5 yards with any accuracy - and that's with their good foot.

jp2020

I suppose what I didn't say was that the other guys are mainly exFootballers whereas I  only played a bit and was average, which is why they look at me as if i don't know what I'm talking about. But I do know the game. I have mentioned the issue discreetly without saying too much to a friend who happens to be the parent of 1 of the better children (but is 1 sided) and he has said he will start asking why his son isn't being encouraged to use his weaker side.

Oh and maybe the reason I why an average footballer was because of the coaching I got. I do remember it being boring at underage level so lost interest. The club is setting up this academy because a top club has done it and they want to be seen to be keeping up. But the reason the other club is at the top is I'm sure as much to do with the way children are coached from they walk through the door, than the coaching they get from 16yrs onwards.

Anyway another mini coaching session this morning, so we'll see how it goes. I will be mentioning both sides until I'm blue in the face. And may try the idea mentioned of tying a ribbon or something like that.

lenny

Quote from: jp2020 on November 28, 2015, 08:55:54 AM
I suppose what I didn't say was that the other guys are mainly exFootballers whereas I  only played a bit and was average, which is why they look at me as if i don't know what I'm talking about. But I do know the game. I have mentioned the issue discreetly without saying too much to a friend who happens to be the parent of 1 of the better children (but is 1 sided) and he has said he will start asking why his son isn't being encouraged to use his weaker side.

Oh and maybe the reason I why an average footballer was because of the coaching I got. I do remember it being boring at underage level so lost interest. The club is setting up this academy because a top club has done it and they want to be seen to be keeping up. But the reason the other club is at the top is I'm sure as much to do with the way children are coached from they walk through the door, than the coaching they get from 16yrs onwards.

Anyway another mini coaching session this morning, so we'll see how it goes. I will be mentioning both sides until I'm blue in the face. And may try the idea mentioned of tying a ribbon or something like that.

The key thing is to stretch your players. There will be a wide range of abilities from u8 to u12 in particular. players who are very comfortable on one side should be encouraged to develop their weaker side. You will also probably have a good number of players there who are still weak enough on their good side and its probably more beneficial for their confidence to keep working to develop their good side. In small sided games you could speak to a few of the more able players and give them a five minute window where they have to use their weaker side exclusively. doing this on a regular basis will encourage them to practice at home.

Zulu

I'd encourage all players to use both sides from the get go. However, you should only ask them to use their non dominant side for short periods and reward its use. There have been some good suggestions already and in addition to those I use some of the following -

Warm ups -

Players move about a square with a ball between two or three players. Coach calls out directions, e.g hand pass, solo, hop, kick etc. To use both sides coach says for the next 20 seconds players can only use non-dominant side. Repeat this a few times using the various skills. So by the end of your warm up your players will have performed a lot of the skills a large number of times and will have used their non-dominant side on a number of occasions. This also gives coaches an opportunity to observe the players perform the skills and judge who needs appropriate work, i.e Sean might be very good on dominant side so he should focus a bit more on the non-dominant whereas Frank is pretty weak on both sides and really struggles with the non-dominant so he should only do a bit on the non-dominant and focus more on just developing his skills more.

Games -

Pick different players who can only use their non-dominant side for 2 minutes during a game.

Teams can only score goals using their non-dominant side.

Points scored with non-dominant are worth double.

If you score a point with your non-dominant you get a free from in front of the goal (distance depends on players ability/age) which you can score with either foot.

A non-dominant score sends the other team back to zero, i.e a team winning 1-4 to 0-1 go back to 0-0 if the other team score with non-dominant side. You could vary this by saying it must be 3 non-dominant scores or 3 non-dominant points if your kids are good enough.

Players can kick with either foot but only hand pass with non-dominant.

Nominate some strong players who can only use non-dominant other players can use any side.

I don't tend to use the ribbon to identify the non-dominant side as you can tell when they kick anyway but it's no harm to do so either.

Basically, I try to think of ways where I both punish players, i.e using your dominant side when you should have used your non-dominant is a free against you and reward them for using their non-dominant side to encourage players to use it. I practice it a bit in drills and then encourage it in small sided games. I do this from U6 onwards as it is vital to stop them thinking they have a 'weak side' and start thinking about how helpful being able to use both sides is. The sooner you start the easier it is to develop and the more time future coaches will be able to work on other things.

manfromdelmonte

using a ball against a wall is the best method to bring on the weaker side in football or hurling

loads of repetitions, and I mean loads
you can spot and fix errors at training sessions

video them kicking and show them back the footage pointing out flaws/mistakes - kids love seeing themselves and they learn 60% by observing
then show them a better example of another player and ask them the difference

jp2020

Here goes Lol! Some if you will love this! At one point in a wee match yesterday my son got a free on the right hand side and was kick able but i told him to try with his left, he was told by another coach to put it over with outside of his right. I insisted he kick it with his left, he did and unsurprisingly put it wide. The other coach gave off to him, who i told I'd speak to after training.
So when all children left the pitch we had a "chat", in summary i explained id be encouraging my son and others to use both sides, he insisted that children at that age weren't developed properly to be able to do it. So on the way out of the pitch 2 parents came to me to say they were disgusted with the coach telling off my son for his left foot attempt and would be raising the issue with the club themselves. When i told them i wasnt allowed to coach the children to use their weaker side they were dumbfounded. So they are away to chat to other parents and other coaches in the club and intend going to main club executive to bring it to a head.
Hope none of them read this board - Lol.
Vive la Revolution! If would be funny if it wasnt that serious. But to be clear i praised my young fella the whole way home for trying it with his left and he was chuffed.

manfromdelmonte

Don't worry about it

some lads will be trying to introduce blanket defences at U8 next

twohands!!!

Quote from: jp2020 on November 28, 2015, 08:55:54 AM
I suppose what I didn't say was that the other guys are mainly exFootballers whereas I  only played a bit and was average, which is why they look at me as if i don't know what I'm talking about. But I do know the game. I have mentioned the issue discreetly without saying too much to a friend who happens to be the parent of 1 of the better children (but is 1 sided) and he has said he will start asking why his son isn't being encouraged to use his weaker side.

Oh and maybe the reason I why an average footballer was because of the coaching I got. I do remember it being boring at underage level so lost interest. The club is setting up this academy because a top club has done it and they want to be seen to be keeping up. But the reason the other club is at the top is I'm sure as much to do with the way children are coached from they walk through the door, than the coaching they get from 16yrs onwards.

Worth remembering that the best players often don't make the best coaches - lads who were naturally gifted and were quick to pick things up often have no/very little patience with kids who don't pick up things instantly.

omagh_gael

Is it my imagination or was there a thread on the go a good while back discussing underage coaching. Posters were sharing different drills/fun activities they deliver at their sessions. This was the closest I could find using the search function but nearly certain there was another out there. Was it AZ or Zulu that posted up lots of great ideas/links? Any help would be much appreciated.

brokencrossbar1

Quote from: manfromdelmonte on November 29, 2015, 11:48:04 AM
Don't worry about it

some lads will be trying to introduce blanket defences at U8 next

Not quite blanket but a sweeper at an u12 blitz the other day,  keeper came out to hit the long free kicks that were deemed scorable but then let the full back hit the kick outs!!!  Ref added 20 seconds per free kick on...I kid you not...showed me the watch after the game!!

manfromdelmonte

Quote from: brokencrossbar1 on June 22, 2017, 04:58:12 PM
Quote from: manfromdelmonte on November 29, 2015, 11:48:04 AM
Don't worry about it

some lads will be trying to introduce blanket defences at U8 next

Not quite blanket but a sweeper at an u12 blitz the other day,  keeper came out to hit the long free kicks that were deemed scorable but then let the full back hit the kick outs!!!  Ref added 20 seconds per free kick on...I kid you not...showed me the watch after the game!!
I always let the player that was fouled take the free
stops one child taking over everything
plus gets the ball moving quicker

blanketattack

It seems to me that left orientated sports people find it much harder to use their weaker side than right orientated.
In fact you regularly find sports people who are naturally right orientated but practice so much with their left that they become left orientated e.g. Ferenc Puskas, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Phil Mickleson. Never really hear of the other way around, except Andreas Brehme who took penalties with his right and free kicks and corners with his left, which makes me think he's naturally left legged.
Anyway all of the above practices loads with weaker side from young age.

brokencrossbar1

Quote from: manfromdelmonte on June 22, 2017, 10:24:52 PM
Quote from: brokencrossbar1 on June 22, 2017, 04:58:12 PM
Quote from: manfromdelmonte on November 29, 2015, 11:48:04 AM
Don't worry about it

some lads will be trying to introduce blanket defences at U8 next

Not quite blanket but a sweeper at an u12 blitz the other day,  keeper came out to hit the long free kicks that were deemed scorable but then let the full back hit the kick outs!!!  Ref added 20 seconds per free kick on...I kid you not...showed me the watch after the game!!
I always let the player that was fouled take the free
stops one child taking over everything
plus gets the ball moving quicker

Would agree with this unless it's a scoring opportunity and the person is not going to score.

Smokin Joe

Quote from: brokencrossbar1 on June 22, 2017, 11:57:20 PM
Quote from: manfromdelmonte on June 22, 2017, 10:24:52 PM
Quote from: brokencrossbar1 on June 22, 2017, 04:58:12 PM
Quote from: manfromdelmonte on November 29, 2015, 11:48:04 AM
Don't worry about it

some lads will be trying to introduce blanket defences at U8 next

Not quite blanket but a sweeper at an u12 blitz the other day,  keeper came out to hit the long free kicks that were deemed scorable but then let the full back hit the kick outs!!!  Ref added 20 seconds per free kick on...I kid you not...showed me the watch after the game!!
I always let the player that was fouled take the free
stops one child taking over everything
plus gets the ball moving quicker

Would agree with this unless it's a scoring opportunity and the person is not going to score.

I coach at U10 level that wouldn't matter BCB.  We're not trying to win an All Ireland at that age, and it'll not do much for the youngster to not be allowed to kick "his" free kick.

brokencrossbar1

Quote from: Smokin Joe on June 23, 2017, 07:03:40 AM
Quote from: brokencrossbar1 on June 22, 2017, 11:57:20 PM
Quote from: manfromdelmonte on June 22, 2017, 10:24:52 PM
Quote from: brokencrossbar1 on June 22, 2017, 04:58:12 PM
Quote from: manfromdelmonte on November 29, 2015, 11:48:04 AM
Don't worry about it

some lads will be trying to introduce blanket defences at U8 next

Not quite blanket but a sweeper at an u12 blitz the other day,  keeper came out to hit the long free kicks that were deemed scorable but then let the full back hit the kick outs!!!  Ref added 20 seconds per free kick on...I kid you not...showed me the watch after the game!!
I always let the player that was fouled take the free
stops one child taking over everything
plus gets the ball moving quicker

Would agree with this unless it's a scoring opportunity and the person is not going to score.

I coach at U10 level that wouldn't matter BCB.  We're not trying to win an All Ireland at that age, and it'll not do much for the youngster to not be allowed to kick "his" free kick.

I agree and most times they do kick their own but there is also a benefit as they hit u12s to have a 'freetaker' as come the next step up it's getting very competitive with Feile etc so if you have a couple who are stronger then let them hit some of the frees for scores.