COACH-SMARTER BLOG MOVED TO NEW SITE!

Please go to coach-smart.com/soccerblog to access our new and improved blog.
As we grow as a resource for soccer coaches, we want to provide the best coaching advice available.
Our new blog will continue to post helpful information, videos, articles, and interviews to help soccer coaches of all levels. We will help beginner coaches run productive and [...]

DURING GAMES, LESS IS MORE

Why and How Coaches Should Leave Games to the Players

Over-coaching, or over-instruction, plagues American Youth Soccer, not to mention many other sports. The intense atmosphere of games often causes coaches to try to control their players’ every movement.
“I see a lot of over-coaching on the sidelines, a lot of instructions from coaches play to play,” [...]

COACHING YOUR FIRST FUTSAL TOURNAMENT

Some Tips For The Beginner Futsal Coach
For many soccer coaches, both veterans and novices, coaching a futsal tournament is a new concept. Although the sport shares the same DNA as soccer, coaches should be aware of the unique benefits that the sport provides and the unique approach to coaching it allows.

Why Coach Futsal?
Futsal is increasingly [...]

THE IMPORTANCE OF “DOWN TIME” AT TOURNAMENTS

We often think of tournaments as one riveting game after another. But the truth is that, no matter how many games your team plays in one day, players will spend the majority of time not playing.
“Down time,” or the off time that occurs between and after games, serves as a crucial period for players to [...]

POSITIVE INSTRUCTION

A Beginner’s Guide to Coaching Youth Soccer Gives Useful Tips on Staying Positive At Practice
Today, Coach-Smart.com published a handy Beginner’s Guide to Coaching Youth Soccer. The guide aims to serve as a concise and informative instruction manual to help a new coach have a positive first-time experience. The guide gives useful tips on organizing practices, [...]

WARM UP BETTER

Why And How Proper Warm-Ups Can Help Your Team
Improper warm-ups plague youth soccer, and youth sports in general. A disturbing number of coaches do nothing to fix this, even at elite levels.
“I can’t believe how many teams I’ve seen here that don’t run proper warm-ups,” an Eclipse Select coach said at the US Youth National [...]

WHY DO WE STILL ALLOW U10 TEAMS TO PLAY FULL-FIELD SOCCER?

I recently watched two U10 middle school teams play an 11-a-side game on a full field – that’s about 120 yards long by 80 yards wide. It was foolish.
The two goalkeepers should have brought their homework into their goals. They could have finished it between the occasional goal kick. Unfortunately, one of the poor keepers [...]

CRITICISM SHOULD COMMUNICATE, NOT CRUSH

What Every Coach Should Know About Criticizing Players
Coaches take vastly different approaches to criticizing their players. Some coaches nit-pick constantly during practices, some not at all. During games, some coaches “instruct” their players to tears from the sidelines. Some coaches go entire games without saying anything.
Coaches have different styles, and they maintain different theories on [...]

INTERVIEW WITH TRAVIS KIKUGAWA ON TEAM AND PLAYER MENTALITY

Travis Kikugawa, Head Coach of the National Finalist U16 Real So. Cal Boys Team, On Team and Player Mentality, Mental Preparation, Communication, and Setting Goals
Q – How to you prepare your teams mentally for tournament play?
A – I stress singleness of purpose and commitment. Team building activities, like trust exercises, can be really helpful. We [...]