When I first started coaching, I had my hands full trying to figure out practices, drills, game strategy, equipment, etc. A lot to figure out. I knew nothing about goalies. At one point I noticed Jarred didn't seem to have a problem with throwing himself around and said, 'you're the goalie.' We never gave him any training, just trusted he'd figure it out. And he did a decent job for what he had to work with. Funny story: at one point in a playoff game he flagged down the referee and they appeared to be looking for something. He lost a contact. We couldn't find it. He took off his gloves in order to have his fingers to poke around, and there, on his finger in the glove was his contact. How his contact got into his glove will be one of life's great mysteries!
In the years after that I was able to find someone with some goalie experience and would send them off to work at the next at the other end of the field. That worked good, but always felt that we needed something more comprehensive, something more complete. I'm not coaching this year, but guess what? My son is a goalie! Eager to learn about goalie training, I'd ask him how things went in practice. At one practice a former goalie provided coaching. A good thing. At another practice a former player with no goalie experience and one year of soccer provided the coaching. Huh? At another practice an adult with good field experience provided coaching on field position. Good stuff. Another practice the goalies were left to themselves. I sent my son to a goalie coach for a couple sessions to at least get some basics. Of course all this was disjointed and sometimes contradictory. I saw the frustration this created in my son. It's the problem I faced: a large team with a lot of moving parts and little experience with goalies. It's a numbers game: do I invest in 8-10 players or 2? Obviously we focus on the 8-10 players and do what we can with the goalie.
So I've been digging in this fall, researching goalie training. My research has brought me to the following areas that need to be covered. These are broken down into two broad categories: general skills and specific situations.
General Skills:
1. Goalie Rules
It seems obvious, but a new goalie doesn't know the rules. When and where can they pick up the ball? Who can take a goalie kick? When they pick up the ball, how long can they take to punt/throw it? What equipment can they have/not have? What are the rules around free kicks - particularly important when it's near their goal.
2. Conditioning
While there is some overlap with what field players do, goalie movements are very different. They have to get into awkward positions and move quickly, they jump, they use their hands, etc. This conditioning is also important for injury prevention. Field players don't throw themselves on the ground!
3. Basic Skills
How to catch the ball in three different positions. Basic body position and movement. Cover the three types of dives. This is foundational skills for the specific situations.
4. Regular Play
During the regular play of a game, what should the goalie be doing, how far out should they come and how can they be part of defense? Too often I see goalies standing on the goal line throughout the game. Good goalies can read the field and are more dynamic in their positioning and movement. Discuss angles and how they manage space. Cover helping the team transitioning from defense to attack.
Specific Situations:
The following are specific situations a goalie needs to be familiar with. Each has a similar pattern of (1) what are the rules for the situation, (2) recognizing the situation and where should the goalie be, (3) specific action to be performed, and (4) transition of play.
1. Breakaway 1v1
When the opposing team has one player breakaway with the ball and it become a one on one situation, what is the goalie supposed to do.
2. Corner Kicks
When the goalies team is defending a corner kick, what is the role of the goalie? What will the opposing team try and do to the goalie?
3. Free Kick
When the goalies team commits a foul that results in a free kick, the goalie is responsible for helping to setup the defense. Need to review the rules around a free kick, from a goalie perspective.
4. Throw In
While scoring on a throw in doesn't happen very often, it does happen. Teaching the goalie to watch the game to see who has a strong throw in, how will the opponent move to try and score on a throw in, etc.
5. Penalty Kick
What kinds of situations go to a penalty kick, what are the rules for the goalie, how to read the kicker, and what can happen once the kick is taken. This also includes a shoot out in a tie game.
Given these categories, I've been able to identify specific skills and drills for each of these categories and I'll cover this later. Some key points:
- This looks complex, but doesn't have to be. You can go as deep as you want into any of these areas. Pick three things to work on each each area and over the course of the season, you'll cover a lot of ground.
- Define a pattern for every practice - have a set of conditioning drills and ball handling drills that are done every practice. Do a couple times and the goalies will be able to do the drills themselves.
- For specific situations, it's good to review with just the goalies first, then integrate in with the rest of the team.
- Get materials for the goalies to read out side of practice. Have them take responsibility for this. For example, copy the pages out of the rule book and have them read.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Friday, March 18, 2016
Kindness & Character
Saw two things over the past couple weeks. First, I attended my son's basketball banquet. I love these banquets! Everyone is jazzed, a sense of completing something important, and just good fellowship. One of the coaches described each player and identified one specific positive character trait, then charged the player with a bible verse. What a great, encouraging thing to do! For example, a player might be told they have focus or courage. What an encouragement that is. In management consulting, they say to focus on your strengths and that was what this coach was doing.
Secondly, I attended a girls volleyball game and watched to coach. Always a smile on his face, no yelling or intensity. No drama. You know what those girls did during the game? They smiled a lot, kept things positive when they were down, and stayed focused. Sometimes I think we as coaches are so focused on winning or the importance of winning that we 'will' our players to play better and that comes out in body language, tone of voice and what we say. But is that really the goal of a coach? The coach's job is to equip their players so they can win. The girls team lost - it was close - but the coach was still smiling and encouraging. I've said before that one of the problems that players need to overcome is the video that plays in their head. We love soccer because we see Lionel Messi dribble through four other players and score. It's exciting! Since our players don't have that level of skill, they need to focus on other things like effective passing, dropping the ball, etc. Maybe coaches have the same problem. They see Jim Boeheim from the Syracuse Orange pacing up and down, intense and yelling a lot. Drama. And we as coaches have that tape playing in our heads. Time to turn off that tape.
Secondly, I attended a girls volleyball game and watched to coach. Always a smile on his face, no yelling or intensity. No drama. You know what those girls did during the game? They smiled a lot, kept things positive when they were down, and stayed focused. Sometimes I think we as coaches are so focused on winning or the importance of winning that we 'will' our players to play better and that comes out in body language, tone of voice and what we say. But is that really the goal of a coach? The coach's job is to equip their players so they can win. The girls team lost - it was close - but the coach was still smiling and encouraging. I've said before that one of the problems that players need to overcome is the video that plays in their head. We love soccer because we see Lionel Messi dribble through four other players and score. It's exciting! Since our players don't have that level of skill, they need to focus on other things like effective passing, dropping the ball, etc. Maybe coaches have the same problem. They see Jim Boeheim from the Syracuse Orange pacing up and down, intense and yelling a lot. Drama. And we as coaches have that tape playing in our heads. Time to turn off that tape.
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Kudos Time
My son got home from volleyball practice and we got talking about it. Volleyball is a new thing for him and new things can sometimes be a little intimidating. Sports come fraught with social complications for kids. Lay the competitiveness of sports on top of already complex social situations with youth and physical development, and it can be messy. Boys are the worst at this. Go into the locker room after a game, especially a losing game, and you'll see what I mean.
So I was pleasantly surprised when I heard about the practice of 'kudos time' at the end of volleyball practice. The team huddles up and players exchange kudos - who did what well. Simple, but brilliant. Anything that we as coaches can do to encourage behavior that builds up one another is important. It's important for team performance and for the development of Godly young men and women.
So I was pleasantly surprised when I heard about the practice of 'kudos time' at the end of volleyball practice. The team huddles up and players exchange kudos - who did what well. Simple, but brilliant. Anything that we as coaches can do to encourage behavior that builds up one another is important. It's important for team performance and for the development of Godly young men and women.
Friday, January 8, 2016
Mid Season Get Together
In the middle of my son's basketball season. The coach invited the JV team over for pizza and game video reviews. Lessons learned:
A mid season get together is so simple to do (just show up with pizza) and very effective. Get the kids together just to talk and hang out.
Often kids develop a kind of social hierarchy during practices and games. A mid season get together helps to break that down.
Reviewing game videos together is really valuable. I always posted them to youtube with links on FB, but getting together to review really focuses attention.
Getting critical feedback while watching game videos in front of peers is hard for kids. The coach just wants to point out areas for improvement. The players hear criticism. It's hard, but important.
Rant: people don't handle feedback well. Almost never. Too many complicated rules: don't give me feedback on that, your tone was wrong, you've given me too much, how are you qualified, etc. It's bad. Ask people if they want feedback and they'll gush and say 'oh yes please'. In reality, not so much. We suck at getting feedback. Doing this review with kids helps to equip them for taking feedback better as they get older.
Time is tight for all of this, but this is low hanging fruit and easy to do!
A mid season get together is so simple to do (just show up with pizza) and very effective. Get the kids together just to talk and hang out.
Often kids develop a kind of social hierarchy during practices and games. A mid season get together helps to break that down.
Reviewing game videos together is really valuable. I always posted them to youtube with links on FB, but getting together to review really focuses attention.
Getting critical feedback while watching game videos in front of peers is hard for kids. The coach just wants to point out areas for improvement. The players hear criticism. It's hard, but important.
Rant: people don't handle feedback well. Almost never. Too many complicated rules: don't give me feedback on that, your tone was wrong, you've given me too much, how are you qualified, etc. It's bad. Ask people if they want feedback and they'll gush and say 'oh yes please'. In reality, not so much. We suck at getting feedback. Doing this review with kids helps to equip them for taking feedback better as they get older.
Time is tight for all of this, but this is low hanging fruit and easy to do!
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Discouraged Player
I saw an impressive thing today: a player who is discouraged and doesn't want to come back, parents who are concerned reach out to the coach. Coach shows up the next day and talks with player. Player is nervous about the discussion, but coach makes him feel comfortable.
It seems simple. But it's more than the game, it's about ministry, helping a boy to grow to be a man. That conversation on the back porch may have significant pay back in the future. Fruit we may never see.
It seems simple. But it's more than the game, it's about ministry, helping a boy to grow to be a man. That conversation on the back porch may have significant pay back in the future. Fruit we may never see.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Summer Conditioning
I was reading an article about the women's US team with the following:
"The Americans have outscored opponents 7-0 in the second half. That sort of late domination only has one explanation: The Americans, from the top of the roster to the bottom, have simply been fitter than every team they have faced, and as everyone knows, there are no shortcuts when it comes to being fit."
This is true for a World Cup team and it's true for a home school team. The problem is that once the soccer season starts in the fall, there's not enough time for the coach to get them in shape. Time is very limited, so the coach relies on players working on their conditioning over the summer. A coach needs to focus on high end speed work once the season starts, but that's not effective if the player can't handle that level of work. The summer is about getting the strength and endurance needed to start effective speed and skill work in the fall. So here are some guidelines:
Motivation to do conditioning over the summer is hard to come by. I've found that out of a group of 25 guys, maybe 5 will put in solid work. Once summer hits, so do summer jobs, vacations, hanging out. Who has time to run with that? :-) But summers become a good character building time, challenging a player to take responsibility over a long time period.
Buddy system: getting guys to be accountable to each other is critical. There's a lot of web resources that can be used to track workouts and share with friends, like Map My Run or Run Keeper.
Coaches Can't do everything. I don't think I've been effective in summer conditioning because I just can't do everything. My summers get jammed too and I know the amount of work that's coming in the fall, so I got work I got to get done now. Hopefully you can do better than me by delegating and getting someone to help you organize the guys over the summer.
Anything is better than nothing. If a player can get out and bike or swim on some regular basis, that's better than nothing. It helps to keep some perspective.
More time is better, but be realistic. Obviously if a player can have a block of 2hrs per day to work out, that's awesome, but usually not realistic. Life happens. So we need some basic principles
Distance training vs. soccer training. Some guys train like their distance runners. I had one guy that was doing 3-5 miles a day. While that's impressive, it's the wrong kind of work out and actually hurts performance during the season. During the season we could keep him on the field all day, but he had no speed. Players shouldn't be doing more than 3 miles
Mix it up, keep it interesting. Face it, running can be boring. So mix it up, such as road biking, mountain biking, swimming, roller blading, etc. These kinds of activities keep things interesting, are a treat, and also work different groups of muscles. The key is to do it deliberately. Going for a bike ride should be putting in 30-45min, not just riding the bike down the street to a friends house.
Interval work: If you do nothing else, do this. This is the core of what players should be doing over the summer. You want to be a great player, do this. Can't emphasize this enough. A great workout is phone poles: put in 80% effort for 3 phone poles, then very slow jog for 3. Repeat this for 20-30 minutes. It's a killer but does two things, first it keeps the fast twitch muscles in shape for speed, and second, doing this for 20-30 minutes gets the right amount of cardio. We can get the same effect by running around a soccer field - work hard half way up the field, jog the rest of the way, work hard across the field, and repeat up the side. Recovery is KEY. Work HARD on the speed, super slow on the recovery. Can't emphasize that enough.
Strength training: if players can make 15-20 minutes a day as part of their wake up or evening routine, that's great. Keep it basic: pushups, crunches, squats, planks, super mans, etc. If weights can be added, that's a bonus. So do 10-30 push ups, 10-30 bicycle crunches, 10-20 squats, 10 pointers, repeat.
Some workout programs, such as the CXC cross country ski program or different training camps do agility training over the summer. I've found that this is only effective if they are repeated several times per week all summer. Great if the player has time, if not, focus on something else that will give more benefit.
Distance: players should throw in an easy 1-2 mile run once per week. The change from the phone poles is good. Don't train like a distance runner, but do get some easy distance in.
Soccer Ball: players need to get time on the ball. A lot can be said about what to do over the summer. There's a continuum of what a particular player has time for, on the light end, the player should be working their weak foot. This can be done by simply kicking a ball against a wall while alternating feet. This takes lots of time and the summer is the best time to work it. Once the season hits, the coach is going to focus elsewhere. And go play soccer! Small sided pick up scrimmages with friends is fun and teaches a lot.
Bottom line: Focus on how to make players accountable for their summer work, train for long interval work outs, get lots of basic strength training in.
"The Americans have outscored opponents 7-0 in the second half. That sort of late domination only has one explanation: The Americans, from the top of the roster to the bottom, have simply been fitter than every team they have faced, and as everyone knows, there are no shortcuts when it comes to being fit."
This is true for a World Cup team and it's true for a home school team. The problem is that once the soccer season starts in the fall, there's not enough time for the coach to get them in shape. Time is very limited, so the coach relies on players working on their conditioning over the summer. A coach needs to focus on high end speed work once the season starts, but that's not effective if the player can't handle that level of work. The summer is about getting the strength and endurance needed to start effective speed and skill work in the fall. So here are some guidelines:
Motivation to do conditioning over the summer is hard to come by. I've found that out of a group of 25 guys, maybe 5 will put in solid work. Once summer hits, so do summer jobs, vacations, hanging out. Who has time to run with that? :-) But summers become a good character building time, challenging a player to take responsibility over a long time period.
Buddy system: getting guys to be accountable to each other is critical. There's a lot of web resources that can be used to track workouts and share with friends, like Map My Run or Run Keeper.
Coaches Can't do everything. I don't think I've been effective in summer conditioning because I just can't do everything. My summers get jammed too and I know the amount of work that's coming in the fall, so I got work I got to get done now. Hopefully you can do better than me by delegating and getting someone to help you organize the guys over the summer.
Anything is better than nothing. If a player can get out and bike or swim on some regular basis, that's better than nothing. It helps to keep some perspective.
More time is better, but be realistic. Obviously if a player can have a block of 2hrs per day to work out, that's awesome, but usually not realistic. Life happens. So we need some basic principles
Distance training vs. soccer training. Some guys train like their distance runners. I had one guy that was doing 3-5 miles a day. While that's impressive, it's the wrong kind of work out and actually hurts performance during the season. During the season we could keep him on the field all day, but he had no speed. Players shouldn't be doing more than 3 miles
Mix it up, keep it interesting. Face it, running can be boring. So mix it up, such as road biking, mountain biking, swimming, roller blading, etc. These kinds of activities keep things interesting, are a treat, and also work different groups of muscles. The key is to do it deliberately. Going for a bike ride should be putting in 30-45min, not just riding the bike down the street to a friends house.
Interval work: If you do nothing else, do this. This is the core of what players should be doing over the summer. You want to be a great player, do this. Can't emphasize this enough. A great workout is phone poles: put in 80% effort for 3 phone poles, then very slow jog for 3. Repeat this for 20-30 minutes. It's a killer but does two things, first it keeps the fast twitch muscles in shape for speed, and second, doing this for 20-30 minutes gets the right amount of cardio. We can get the same effect by running around a soccer field - work hard half way up the field, jog the rest of the way, work hard across the field, and repeat up the side. Recovery is KEY. Work HARD on the speed, super slow on the recovery. Can't emphasize that enough.
Strength training: if players can make 15-20 minutes a day as part of their wake up or evening routine, that's great. Keep it basic: pushups, crunches, squats, planks, super mans, etc. If weights can be added, that's a bonus. So do 10-30 push ups, 10-30 bicycle crunches, 10-20 squats, 10 pointers, repeat.
Some workout programs, such as the CXC cross country ski program or different training camps do agility training over the summer. I've found that this is only effective if they are repeated several times per week all summer. Great if the player has time, if not, focus on something else that will give more benefit.
Distance: players should throw in an easy 1-2 mile run once per week. The change from the phone poles is good. Don't train like a distance runner, but do get some easy distance in.
Soccer Ball: players need to get time on the ball. A lot can be said about what to do over the summer. There's a continuum of what a particular player has time for, on the light end, the player should be working their weak foot. This can be done by simply kicking a ball against a wall while alternating feet. This takes lots of time and the summer is the best time to work it. Once the season hits, the coach is going to focus elsewhere. And go play soccer! Small sided pick up scrimmages with friends is fun and teaches a lot.
Bottom line: Focus on how to make players accountable for their summer work, train for long interval work outs, get lots of basic strength training in.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Position: Chairman
I was at a basketball board meeting the other day and asked about the structure of their board. They separate their boy's and girl's programs, so the boy's have 2 coaches (varsity, JV), treasurer, secretary, athletic director, and volunteer coordinator. The athletic director serves as the lead of the board. This is different from what soccer did, where we had a chairman. It's interesting to see the differences - got me thinking. I was the chairman of the soccer board for several years, so here are what those responsibilities were:
On the soccer, the chairman focuses on the policy direction of the board and the program. This is opposed to the details of what the coaches focus on.
Schedule/Facilitate Board Meetings: The chairman will pick a recommended schedule of meetings for the season. They come up with the proposed agenda for each meeting. When meetings are in session, they actively facilitate the meeting, making sure that everyone gets their input in.
Parents Meeting: The chairman will run the parents meeting, reviewing the goals of the program, introducing the coaches and letting the coaches explain the program.
League Meetings: The chairman will attend all the league meetings, take notes, and be a conduit for questions/concerns from the program to the league. The chairman needs to develop relationships with other coaches and teams. This is really important because when problems happen, and they will, those relationships will smooth the way to solutions.
Parents: The chairman should make an effort to meet and talk with as many parents as possible. Again, when problems happen, and they will, those relationships will be key.
Problem Point of Contact: If a family has a problem with the program, they should go to the coach if it has to do with coaching things, like game time, work outs, player relationships, etc. Issues with the program go to the chairman, like cost, schedule, policy, etc. If the family doesn't feel like they can go to the coach, they go to the chairman. Sometimes the problems are on the board and the chairman needs to help mediate the discussion. This can be tricky since the chairman may have their own opinions. They need to be fair.
Coach Selection: Every year the board should make a deliberate decision on who the coach will be for that season. The chairman should manage that process. If the coach from last year was good and available this season, then it's an easy discussion. If there are issues with the coach from last season or there are better options for the new season, then the chairman needs to guide that process with a graceful hand.
Policy: The chairman needs to be thinking about how the program is run and how it can be improved. Any policy needs to be written down for future boards. That write up sometimes needs to be clarified or modified. It's up to the chairman to coordinate that.
General Point of Contact: There are always questions that come up and the chairman needs to help guide those questions to the right people.
On the soccer, the chairman focuses on the policy direction of the board and the program. This is opposed to the details of what the coaches focus on.
Schedule/Facilitate Board Meetings: The chairman will pick a recommended schedule of meetings for the season. They come up with the proposed agenda for each meeting. When meetings are in session, they actively facilitate the meeting, making sure that everyone gets their input in.
Parents Meeting: The chairman will run the parents meeting, reviewing the goals of the program, introducing the coaches and letting the coaches explain the program.
League Meetings: The chairman will attend all the league meetings, take notes, and be a conduit for questions/concerns from the program to the league. The chairman needs to develop relationships with other coaches and teams. This is really important because when problems happen, and they will, those relationships will smooth the way to solutions.
Parents: The chairman should make an effort to meet and talk with as many parents as possible. Again, when problems happen, and they will, those relationships will be key.
Problem Point of Contact: If a family has a problem with the program, they should go to the coach if it has to do with coaching things, like game time, work outs, player relationships, etc. Issues with the program go to the chairman, like cost, schedule, policy, etc. If the family doesn't feel like they can go to the coach, they go to the chairman. Sometimes the problems are on the board and the chairman needs to help mediate the discussion. This can be tricky since the chairman may have their own opinions. They need to be fair.
Coach Selection: Every year the board should make a deliberate decision on who the coach will be for that season. The chairman should manage that process. If the coach from last year was good and available this season, then it's an easy discussion. If there are issues with the coach from last season or there are better options for the new season, then the chairman needs to guide that process with a graceful hand.
Policy: The chairman needs to be thinking about how the program is run and how it can be improved. Any policy needs to be written down for future boards. That write up sometimes needs to be clarified or modified. It's up to the chairman to coordinate that.
General Point of Contact: There are always questions that come up and the chairman needs to help guide those questions to the right people.
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