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,” said Adrian Cox, the current coach of the U-12 Lower Merion Lighting. “I like to do most of my coaching after the game and during half time. If you’re coaching every roll of the ball then the kids will be worrying too much about what the coaches think and what they’re supposed to be doing.”

During halftime and after games, coaches have the players’ collective attention. Players can reflect on their performance and on what they can improve. Even during these breaks, however, coaches shouldn’t overload the players with instruction and criticism.

“At halftime I want to limit the amount of information I give my players,” said Ellis Pierre, the Director of Coaching for the Bethesda Soccer Club in Maryland. “Instead of talking about all the things they’re doing incorrectly, I talk about a few things – and I try to limit it to three – that we need to do. It might be something that we need to continue to do, or something that we need to do to come back and win.”

Dave Green, also of Bethesda Soccer Club, suggests addressing halftime criticisms to the entire team, instead of individuals, whenever possible. “If there’s two or three players that need to be criticized,” said Green, “then I’ll mention the criticism to the entire group, hoping that the players that it applies to will think, ‘I’m pretty sure he’s talking about me.’”

Although coaches should try to save the majority of instructions until after games, sometimes players need instruction and criticism during the heat of competition, and not just if they’re going the wrong way.

Darren Marshall, the Director of Coaching for Eastern Massachusetts FC, says that the amount of instruction that a coach gives often depends on the circumstance of the game. Important, or extremely competitive, tournament games can require more instruction as less margin for error exists.

If the errors on the field require shouting or instruction, coaches of top clubs recommend waiting for “coachable moments,” or moments when instruction can benefit the player and the team.

As Pierre suggests, “a ‘coachable moment’ in a practice and a game is different. In a game you don’t have the luxury of stopping and restarting so that the instruction gets engrained in a kid’s head. In a game, a ‘coachable moment’ is when you see a player do something incorrectly that you have worked on a lot in the past.”

Treating your players like CPU drones won't help them develop or think for themselves.

Green also says that coaches should focus their instruction on topics that they covered recently in practice, on concepts that should lie fresh in players’ minds.

“Especially with younger players, it’s important to concentrate on the things we just went over in practice, or in the last few weeks, instead of criticizing them for something that I might not have gone over or something that we’d gone over months ago,” Green said.

Coaches should also stay aware that boys and girls might interpret instruction or criticism differently. Travis Kikugawa, who currently coaches in the Real So. Cal youth system and has coached both genders in many different sports, says that the difference between coaching boys and girls hinges on the ways the two genders react to criticism:

“With boys, you can be a little more direct, with both what you say and when you say it. With girls, you tend to have to think before you speak, because girls are a bit more sensitive when it comes to getting called out or criticized by their coaches or peers. Girls tend to internalize it and take it personally, while the boys tend to want to prove you wrong … One of my good friends, and an exceptional coach, might have said it best. He said, ‘Girls need to feel good to play good, and boys need to play good to feel good.’”

“Girls take criticism personally,” Green said. “In talking to them, it helps to phrase your criticism in a way that shows that you care about them and think they’re a good player.”

Above all else, however, coaches should remember that practices serve as the best place for instruction. Games are for playing, practices are for coaching. “During games I want kids to make decisions, even if they make incorrect decisions,” Ellis Pierre said. “I can correct them after the game or at the next practice.”

For some great info (from the kids themselves) on the negative impact of over-coaching, check out Emily Cohen’s recent post on Youth Soccer Insider, entitled, “From the Babe’s Mouth.”

BOUNDARIES ON BOUNDARIES?

Why Coaches Should Think About The Way Boundaries Affect Player Development

New coaches of young teams (U6 to U10) might be frustrated with their players’ obliviousness to field boundaries, or grid lines. Players might run with the ball until they hit an immovable object.

While this is a minor issue that gets resolved naturally as players grow more self aware, coaches should think about how to effectively promote awareness of boundaries and, more importantly, how different grid sizes can change the effectiveness of games.

Recognizing Boundaries

Coaches of U6 and U8 teams should understand that young players might not recognize boundaries.

“The younger the players are, the less they pay attention to boundaries,” Darren Marshall, the Director of Coaching for the Eastern Massachusetts FC, said.

Marshall suggests that coaches remember this when setting up grids for games. Younger teams need more cones to help them recognize lines.

“For the youngest kids, to make a box 10 by 10 yards, then I might need nine cones to do that, three cones on every side.” he said.

The most engaging youth coaches often suggest using imaginative rules, or metaphor, to help kids pay attention to boundaries. For example, coaches can pretend that the playing area is an island, while outside the lines lurk “shark-infested waters” or “lava.” Good youth games often include some degree of imagination to engage the kids.

“With the young ones, it helps to foster their imagination, so they can really get into the game,” Marshall said.

A number of Directors of Coaching suggest that coaches of the youngest ages groups should encourage kids to be aware of the boundaries. For example, coaches can call out-of-bounds players back into the playing area, but they shouldn’t stop the momentum or fun of the game to enforce the boundaries.

“I don’t want to stop the game, and stop the kids from having fun,” Ellis Pierre, the Director of Coaching for the Bethesda Soccer Club said of enforcing boundaries with young players.

“If you do want to enforce boundaries,” Marshall said, “then you should do it in a way that keeps the kid active. Like have them do jumping jacks or toe touches. Being away from the game is punishment enough.”

Grid Size

More importantly, coaches of any age group should pay attention to the size of the grid, which has a crucial impact on the way players develop skills and concepts.

Although the US Youth Soccer Association recommends specific field sizes for small sided games (see below), no golden rules exist for determining grid size. Coaches need to pay attention, and react, to the way the grid size affects players and games. Grid size should depend on players’ age, ability, and the technical or tactical focus of the exercise.

If a game fails to engage players, coaches should first consider changing the grid size. The game might not be the problem.

You don’t need a protractor and a degree to determine the appropriate grid size. Generally, if players struggle to keep the ball in bounds, or loose the ball too frequently for a game to run smoothly, then you should consider expanding the grid. Doing so will give players more space and more room for error. If a game is easy for players, or if it is too easy for attacking players at the expense of tired defensive players, then you should consider shrinking the grid. Doing so will give players less time to make decisions, and force them to play faster. It can make an easy game hard, and very different.

You can also change the size of the grid depending on the skill you want players to practice. For example, if you want to teach dribbling and one vs. one skills, then you should consider playing with a large grid to give the players space to run and be creative.

For most U6 and U8 games, the recommended grid size is about 20 by 20 yards. But this can change, depending on numbers and the nature of the game.

For older players, ages 14 and above, some coaches rely on adding a 10 by 10 yard space for every player on the field. For example, a 4 vs. 4 game would mean using a grid of 40 by 40 yards. Of course, the grid size can widen or narrow depending on the focus of the game.

Jason Dewhurst, the Director of Coaching for the FC Stars of Massachusetts, suggests that restricting space serves as a crucial way to develop players’ technique and awareness at every age level.

“For younger players, we ‘ll do a 1 vs. 1 game in a 10 by 10 area,” Dewhurst said. “Each player has a ball and it is a game of tag. One player dribbles the ball trying to tag his/her partner, with a waist high tag, while in control of the ball. The other player who is being tagged has to get away from the tagger while in control of their own ball, and if they dribble out of area they also become the tagger. Once tagged, the roles reverse. If the player tags his/her partner but is not in control of their own ball, then it doesn’t count.”

Dewhurst says that coaches can use this sort of game for players of any age group. For older players, he suggests expanding the grid size so the exercise includes some fitness training.

Do any coaches out there have a good way of determining grid size? What are the main clues you look for to determine how to change the grid size? How important is it to enforce boundaries at young ages?

Note: US Youth Soccer makes the following recommendations about field size for Small Sided Games:

• 3v3 U6: 15 – 20 yards wide by 20 – 30 yards long
• 4v4 U8: 20 – 30 yards wide by 25 – 35 yards long
• 6v6 U10: 35 – 45 yards wide by 45 – 60 yards long
• 8v8 U12 45 – 55 yards wide by 70 – 80 yards long