HEADS UP!

October 2011

E Coaching

Magazine

Contents

1. Simply to start off with, how about a great video clip guaranteed to make you

chuckle:

2. 50 Ways to Enhance Your Coaching Performance in High Performance Sport.

3. US Soccer National Residential Winter Course Offerings

4. How to coach girls

5. Indiana Soccer Olympic Development Program Training Began in September

6. Goal Keeping: The Set Position

7. A Look at the FIFA Training Plan, including:

8. Liverpool Training Methods: Dynamic Football Warm up

9. The Agility Ladder

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Simply to start off with, how about a great video clip guaranteed to make you chuckle:

http://vimeo.com/1570252

50 Ways to Enhance your Coaching Performance in High Performance Sport

Recently I got an email from someone saying, “Hi Wayne. You seem to have a lot to say about what

people are doing wrong in high performance sport. How about you “put your money where your

mouth is” and post a list of things people can do to enhance the performance of their athletes, teams

and programs.” ……………………OK. I did.

1. Train harder; 2. Train smarter; 3. Train harder and smarter; 4. Improve your leadership skills; 5. Consistently out-prepare everyone in your competition; 6. Dream bigger; 7. Believe in yourself; 8. Back yourself; 9. Get up faster when you are knocked down or face adversity; 10. Get tougher mentally; 11. Never accept the first “no” from a sports administrator or bureaucrat - just fight harder; 12. Become outstanding at finding and retaining talented athletes; 13. Develop the most creative thinking skills in your sport: the best ideas win; 14. Be more passionate about success than anyone else in your sport; 15. Never become complacent: success is a moving target; 16. Enthusiasm, passion, desire and attitude are contagious diseases: are yours worth catching? 17. Use sports science intelligently, effectively and with intent; 18. Get to know your athletes better than they know themselves; 19. Collaborate with your athletes - don’t coach at them; 20. Listen; 21. Take care of your own health – physical, mental and spiritual; 22. Be committed to intelligent change and continuous improvement; 23. Make friends far more often than you make enemies; 24. Develop a network of coaches in other sports and speak with them regularly; 25. Leave your ego at the door - ego kills progress and limits creativity; 26. Read books by great leaders, great thinkers and great philosophers: there are lessons to be

learnt everywhere; 27. Go back and read Number 1 on this list again – you have to work harder than anyone else; 28. There are no short cuts: anything promising double figure improvement (e.g. 10% or more) in

high performance sport is more fictitious than Lord of the Rings and you aren’t a hobbit; 29. Develop a group of close friends outside of your sport and don’t talk to them about sport; 30. Sleep and eat well every day;

31. Find a sports science network group who respect you, want to collaborate with you and will grow with you;

32. Adopt an integrated approach to identifying and developing talent: physical, mental, technical, tactical, cultural and genetic;

33. Teach one new lesson to every athlete every day; 34. Give and seek feedback often; 35. Hate losing – but learn from it, grow from it and improve as a consequence; 36. Take smart risks with your program, your ideas and your coaching; 37. See an athlete’s parents as partners in performance not as adversaries or just paying clients; 38. Create the culture you want to coach in: start with your own attitude then “infect” everyone

around you; 39. Accelerate your learning faster than your opposition: from learning comes change, from

change comes improvement, from improvement comes winning; 40. Take up another passion - i.e. other than your sport – to focus your mind and intelligence on; 41. Get to know the techniques, skills, rules and regulations of your sport better than anyone in the

world; 42. Learn from the legend coaches of your sport - to see further than giants, you must stand upon

their shoulders; 43. Keep records, refer back to them often and learn from them: those who do not learn from the

mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them; 44. Find a mentor - someone whose skills, knowledge, experience, attitudes and philosophies are

complimentary (i.e. different) to your own; 45. Find someone to mentor: nothing teaches like teaching; 46. Become a master of the Internet, social networking and all current forms of communication:

communicate the way your athletes want to be communicated with; 47. Don’t think, speak or act in absolutes.…there is no such things as “always, “never”, “must” and

“only” in high performance sport: challenge everything! 48. Learn enough about sports science, sports medicine, technology and strength and conditioning

to look your staff in the eye and challenge them with a level of credibility and understanding; 49. Hire intelligently: hire on attitude and passion, then train the skills you need; 50. And number 50………an oldie but a goodie….never, ever give up. Persistence and

perseverance usually beat talent, money, facilities and potential. There you go. What are your top 50? Let me know – let’s see if we can add another 500 to my list! Wayne Goldsmith © 2011, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

National Coaching Course Winter Schedule is Released.

For more information on the national residential coaching schools offered during

the winter months, click on the following website: http://www.ussoccer.com/Coaches/National-

Coaching-Schools/National-Course-Schedule.aspx

How to coach girls

Coaches who have girls and boys in their team often wonder about the implications of coaching the "fairer sex".

They want to know:

Do I have to treat girls and boys differently? Do I need to plan coaching sessions for girls in a special way? Do girls want to win as much as boys? Will they work as hard?

This article will help you answer these questions. But before we look at the differences between girls and boys and the

implications these differences have for youth soccer coaches, let's see what girls and boys have in common.

Firstly, boys and girls want to play soccer for largely the same reasons.

Almost 900 children playing soccer in a tournament in the USA children were asked a series of questions relating to their

attitude to soccer.[1]

Their responses to the statement: "I play soccer because I want to... " were summarized as:

girls boys

Have fun 99% 94%

Improve at my sport 98% 94%

Learn new skills 95% 89%

Be competitive 94% 94%

Get in shape 92% 88%

Be with friends 92% 87%

The same survey asked questions relating to winning. And that's where a significant gender difference emerged.

In answer to the question: "How important is winning when playing soccer?" 80% of the boys said that winning was

"important" or "very important" compared to just 61% of the girls.

A similar gender difference emerged when they were asked how important playing fairly was to them. 72% of the girls said

that playing fairly was "important" or "very important" while only 48% of the boys tried not to break the rules.

Of course, we don't know how much the attitude of the players' coaches influenced these responses. Could it be that the

coaches of the girls' teams placed less emphasis on winning than the boys' coaches?

Interestingly for those of you who have been following the playing time debate on footy4kids, 78% of boys – but only 54%

of the girls – agreed with the statement that it is more important for key players to play in order to win than for everyone to

get equal playing time.

Similarly, 53% of girls agreed it was important "that everyone gets a chance to play" compared to 34% of the boys.

These results back up my own experience of coaching boys and girls teams over the years.

I have learned – often the hard way – that:

1. Girls are more analytical than boys and will not accept what a coach says at face value. They will want to know why

they should do something a particular way more than boys will. If you try to be dictatorial, girls will simply switch off

whereas boys may accept what you say because you're "the boss".

2. Team unity is more important to girls than boys. So if you coach girls you have to make sure that you give more or less

equal playing time to everyone in the squad, regardless of their ability, even in the most important games. If you don't, the

girls won't thank you if they win but they will remember that you were "unfair" to their friends.

Also, a girls' coach has to be constantly on the lookout for the emergence of little cliques. Small groups within teams are

always damaging whether you coach boys or girls but they can permanently split a girls' team in a matter of days. If you

coach girls, listen carefully to their conversations and watch how they interact with each other

Girls usually place more emphasis on "fair play" than boys who are more likely to bend the rules. So girls' matches are

often more pleasant, stress-free event... as long as you can keep their parents under control.

Boys are more likely than girls to blame outside factors (the referee, the weather, the coach) if they lose whereas

individual female players will often blame themselves for a poor team performance, even if it is unjustified. So you need to

spend a lot of time with girls reinforcing the notion that it's effort that counts, not results.

As far as their capacity for physical work is concerned, there is no difference between boys and girls until they reach

puberty.

From the age of about 10 the anaerobic capacity of boys – their ability to work hard in short bursts – quickly outstrips girls

and coaches who have both boys and girls in their team should be careful to plan their coaching activities accordingly.

To sum it all up.

If you're coaching girls you have to be:

People oriented and democratic. Very aware of the relationships between players. Give lots of positive encouragement. Get player input, ask for suggestions and never lecture. Treat every player in the squad exactly the same. Plan relatively low intensity training sessions that include lots of games and several rest breaks.

To be honest, this is a good way to coach boys too. But you can often get away with telling boys what to do and not

paying much attention to their relationships.

Try doing that with girls and you won't last very long, I assure you.

Indiana Soccer Olympic Development Program Training Began in September

Indiana Soccer Olympic Development Program would like to inform all of the soccer players in our state

that district training is about to begin. District Training is held in 8 different regions in the state and is open to

all soccer players in our state that plays for Indiana Soccer through one of their over 140 clubs.

Development is the act or process of developing; unfolding; a gradual growth or advancement through

progressive changes. The top players want to be challenged in competitive, positive, developmental

environments against players of equal or better ability. If we refer to the above definition of “Development,”

The Indiana Olympic Development Program goals are to provide for the unfolding of ideas about the

game of soccer, to provide the players confidence and ideas to solve problems the game presents them, and

to provide opportunities for the gradual growth and advancement through challenging, creative, and positive

training and playing environments.

This process starts with District Training for providing an environment to challenge the players in their

local areas who want additional training. The district training program is first and foremost for the continuing

development of all soccer players in the state. Secondly, it is an opportunity for Indiana Soccer ODP staff to

see players from various areas of the state and possibly recommend them to the Olympic Development

Program state pool for said players’ age group.

ODP welcomes players that are not in high school to this program. Players born in 2000, 1999, 1998,

and 1997 (not in high school) are welcome to attend any and/or all of the district training sessions that are

scheduled. Each individual district has its own coaching staff and most of them have an administrator that

helps to oversee the program for that area.

The district training schedule for each district is set by each group of coaches and administrators that

run their particular sites. Dates, times, and locations will be put up as Indiana Soccer receives them. If you

have questions about a particular district, please contact the administrator for that district. If there is not an

administrator listed, then please contact the coach.

To find out more about the district training program please go to the Indiana Soccer website,

www.soccerindiana.org and click on the word district under the ODP tab. You may choose to sign up for any

session by clicking on the link for that session. Please note that when the GotSoccer log-in form comes up,

you must use your individual player’s information by entering it on the right hand side of the form. PLEASE,

DO NOT SET UP A NEW ACCOUNT FOR YOUR PLAYER. IF YOU PLAYER IS ON AN INDIANA SOCCER

AFFILIATED TEAM OR PLAYS IN AN AFFILIATED PROGRAM, THEY ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT.

YOU WILL NEED TO CONTACT YOUR LOCAL REGISTRAR FOR YOUR USERNAME AND PASSWORD

TO LOGIN AND SIGN UP.

District training sessions run for 1.5 hours and the cost is $20 if you pre-register online and $25 if you

walk-up at the site without registering online. Online registration is vital to the program so that we will have

enough coaches available for training. Goalkeeper training is not guaranteed at these sessions, but, GK’s are

welcome to attend.

If you have further questions, please contact Joy Carter, ODP administrator for Indiana Soccer.

joy@soccerindiana.org or 800-347-4972. You may also contact the Director of ODP, John Carter.

john@soccerindiana.org

Goal Keeping: The Set Position

The “Set Position” is an act of optimally preparing the body for the many dynamic actions performed by

goalkeepers. “Setting” or “Getting Set” is fundamentally one of the most critical aspects of goalkeeper

education as the quality of the set position can affect virtually every save or movement a goalkeeper may

be required to make. A proper set can make common saves seem routine and difficult saves can become

attainable. Conversely, an improper set can turn common saves into adventures while difficult saves can

become nearly impossible. Because of its importance, the set position, and all its details, must be learned,

adopted, and applied consistently in order for goalkeepers to perform to the best of their ability.

It is amazing to see, at all levels of play, how poor setting of the body can create a multitude of

complications in front of the goal. Most positions in most sports have an optimal starting position. Tennis

players, baseball/softball players, volleyball players, football players, table tennis players, basketball

players, wrestlers, and runners all have optimal ways of preparing the body for performance and

goalkeepers are no different. Once players buy into the value of setting their body, and the effort becomes

habitual, their play in goal will become much more fluent, consistent, and technically proficient.

• While following the game and tracking the ball the goalkeeper’s body should exhibit a sense of urgency and readiness. As the ball moves in front of the goal, so should the keeper with light steps on the balls of the feet and with knees bent. This urgent state should be kept throughout the game to prepare the body and mind for action.

• The setting of the body should take place at each moment in the game when the keeper anticipates

the need to react to a threatening situation. Some of these moments may include shots on goal,

free kicks, and crosses from the run of play, corner kicks, and long balls or through balls. The act of

setting should occur in relation to visual cues which indicate the goalkeeper may be called upon to

move. For instance, when the opponent with the ball plants one foot next to the ball, puts his head

down, and draws back the other foot, a shot or service is likely to follow. Based on the visual cues

offered by the shooter the goalkeeper should begin setting the body by hopping just before the ball

is struck so that his feet have landed by the time the ball is struck.

• The goalkeeper must hop so as to land with the body weight on the balls of the feet with the heels

OFF the ground. To achieve dynamic balance, both feet must touch the ground simultaneously and

should be about shoulder width apart. The hop doesn’t need to be higher than the grass, but needs

to be a definite hop to lift the body and create tension (energy) in the knees, which should be

slightly bent when landing. Rule of thumb: Hop as high as the grass is long without allowing the

heels to touch the ground in the process. Failure to hop and land properly prevents the body from

responding with explosiveness and anchors it to the ground.

• The hands may move freely while the goalkeeper is following the play and positioning himself. At the

time of the landing however, the hands must be collected in front of the stomach, about 6-8 inches

away from the body. The hands should be somewhere within the width of the hips and should not

be wider than the hips. The palms should face each other, as opposed to the finger tips or knuckles

facing each other. The hands and arms should not be rigid but should be supple and relaxed.

Failure to collect the hands in this manner can lead to a multitude of saving complications.

Rule of thumb: The elbows should be in front of the body so that the hands are clearly far enough

from the body. Failure to set the hands leads to dropped balls, rebounds, and can be the difference

between catching and tipping, saves and goals. THE PLACEMENT OF THE HANDS IS CRITICAL.

• The posture of the goalkeeper should be slouched over, so as to keep the weight of the goalkeeper

forward on the balls of the feet and not on the ankles and heels. Rule of thumb: When slouching

over, the shoulders should be above the toes, not the ankles. Failure to achieve proper posture

prohibits dynamic and explosive movements and makes many low shots impossible to save.

Keys to Proper Technique

Assuming correct posture Collecting the arms and hands Landing & placement of the feet

Timing of the hop

A Look at the FIFA Training Plan, including:

The annual training plan for the team, b) The competition Microcycle, c)

The training session, d) Getting the emphasis right in training and finally,

Recovery and regeneration. Click on the following link to find out more:

FIFA TRAINING PLAN

Training activities from the Scottish FA Youth Football

These ages are the skill hungry years. Motivationally, children are

geared to learn skills at this time; therefore, this is an ideal

opportunity for focusing on building the skills of the game onto the

movement skills of the children.

Competition opportunities should reflecting developmental

principles (e.g. equal playing time for all) through small-sided

games (Developmental 4's, Soccer 7's):

Key physical qualities to develop in every training session are

speed and agility.

Coaches should focus on developing confidence, through fostering

and reinforcing success in achieving basic goals for each player.

Parents and players need to be educated on the lifestyle factors

(nutrition, hydration, recovery, support) that underpin player development.

The basis of commitment to future training is formed at this stage. Coaches should encourage 'homework' and

independent practice, as well as participation in a wide range of sports.

You can access a number of training activities for the Scottish FA by clicking on the website and scrolling down to the list of activities. Click and Pick your favorite one

http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/developingtalent/resources9-12.cfm

Liverpool Training Methods: Dynamic Football Warm up

Organization •Players organized at a series of mannequins with balls starting at either end of the practice. •The ball is transferred counter clockwise around the area. •Size of area 30ydsx 20yds. •Players move from station to station. •Progressions •Players begin by dribbling with the ball from mannequin to mannequin; •Pass and follow; •Players do a 1-2 with the person they pass to; •Players play a 1-2 with the next ball being passed to the next station; •Go in the opposite direction; •Players decide when to take it themselves and when to play a 1-2; •The first touch of the receiving player must take them around the mannequin either in front or behind; •One touch only. Further Progressions:

Add a second ball at the opposite end.

See if the players can catch up with the opposite ball.

AGILITY LADDER

For those of you looking for ways to increase agility and fast footwork during your current training or when starting off season conditioning for your players, an agility (speed) ladder is a great piece of equipment. If you do not have one, you can always use chalk on a sidewalk, or get creative and make one out of some clothes line. The key when using the Agility Ladder is to minimize the ground time with each foot contact. The quicker the athlete’s feet are off from the ground, the better the reaction time and ability to change direction.

THE DRILLS (Listed from easiest to most difficult) A. RUNS

1. RUNNING STRAIGHT FORWARD

Run through the ladder using a good knee drive and quick feet. Try to keep up on your toes and have the feet spring off the ground

Remember to pump your arms 2. 2. SIDE / LATERAL RUN

This drill is similar to doing a lateral run drill over bags or cones. The feet should not cross and the hips and shoulders should face to the side throughout the ladder.

3. CROSSOVER RUN

Run down one side of the ladder crossing the feet over the edge of the ladder. The left foot should always land on the right side of the ladder while the right foot should always land on the left side of the ladder. See diagram #1 on page 3 for details.

4. RUN OUT – QUICK FEET THROUGH LADDER & SPRINT OUT 20 YARDS

This drill combines the first drill in this section with an added spring at the end. Run through the ladder as described in item 1 above. At the end of the ladder, sprint out another 20 yards.

B. SKIPS

1. QUICK SKIP WITH HIGH KNEE DRIVE

Skip through the ladder driving the knee up so that the foot is level with the opposite knee. The skipping action is the same that kids perform on the playground.

2. QUICK SKIPS FOR SPEED, LITTLE KNEE DRIVE

Skip through the ladder using only enough knee drive to clear the next slat on the ladder. Emphasize the speed of the drill.

C. JUMPS

1. TWO FOOT FRONT

Hop on both feet straight through the ladder. There should be foot contact in each hole. Try to minimize the ground time of each contact.

2. TWO FOOT SIDE

Hop on both feet sideways through the ladder. Keep the hips and shoulders at 90 degrees from the direction of movement. Perform one set moving to the left and one set moving to the right.

3. SINGLE FOOT FRONT

Hop on one foot straight through the ladder. There should be a foot contact in each hole. Try to minimize the ground time of each contact. Do one set with the left leg and one with the right.

4. SINGLE FOOT SIDE

Hop on one foot sideways through the ladder. Keep the hips and shouldesr at 90 degrees from the driections of movement. Perform one set moving to the left and one set moving to the right.

5. SLALOM

This is a zigzag hop down on one side of the ladder using both feet. See diagram #2 on page 3. Advanced athletes may perform this drill using on foot for added difficulty.

6. TWIST JUMPS

A Great drill that forces the athlete to rotate the hips. See diagram #3 on page 3 for description.

D. SHUFFLES

See diagram on pages 4 to 8 for an explanation of the following drills: 1. Cariocca 2. Front-Back 3. In-Out 4. Zig-Zag Shuffle 5. Agility Shuffle

E. COMBINATION DRILLS The Agility Ladder can be folded at 90-degree angles to form a variety of patterns. This allows for an unlimited number of drills that can be performed using a combination of the drills listed in this booklet. A few examples are listed below. Design your own drills making them as sport specific as possible.

1. Run straight forward through every section making a quick cut between sections 2. Run straight forward followed by a lateral run 3. Run forward followed by a carioca run. 4. Slalom jumps followed by side jumps 5. Front jumps followed by a lateral run

CROSSOVER

1. Begin at one end of the ladder as pictured 2. Step with the right foot intro the first hole, and run down one side of the ladder crossing the feet

with each step. SLALOM JUMP

1. Begin at one end of the ladder as pictured 2. Keeping both feet together, jump down one side of the ladder (in zigzag pattern) 3. The drill can also be performed using one leg.

TWIST JUMP 1. Begin at one end of the ladder as pictured. 2. Keeping both feet together, perform a series of jumps as shown in the diagram above. The

direction of the feet for each jump is as follows: straight ahead, right, straight ahead, left, straight ahead, and so forth.

3. This drill forces you to rotate the hips with each jump.

1. Begin standing sideways at one end of the ladder. Step with the right foot into the first hole. 2. Cross the left foot over into the second hole. The left foot should cross in front of the right foot. 3. Step with the right foot into the third hole. The right foot should cross behind the left foot. 4. Once again, the left foot will cross over in front of the right foot into the next hole. 5. Repeat this sequence throughout the ladder. 6. Emphasize a high knee step when crossing over in front.

Begin standing sideways at one end of the ladder. Step forward with your right foot above the ladder. NOTE: Always lead with the foot in the direction you are going (moving right, lead with right foot) 1. Step to the side with the left foot into the second hole. 2. Step back with the right foot so that both feet are in the second hole. 3. Step back with the left foot below the ladder. 4. Step to the side with the right foot into the third hole. 5. Step forward with the left foot so that both feet are in the third hole 6. You are now back at the beginning steps in the sequence. Repeat the entire sequence throughout

the ladder.

1. Begin standing sideways to the ladder 2. Step with the left foot straight ahead into the first hole 3. Follow with the right foot 4. Step back with the left foot to the next hole 5. Follow with the right foot 6. Repeat this sequence throughout the ladder 7. The step sequence can be summarized

1) in left 2) in right 3) out left 4) out right 5) repeat steps.

1. Begin to the side at the end of the ladder 2. Step forward at an angle with the left foot into the first hole 3. Follow with the right foot. 4. Step forward at an angle with the left foot to the left side of the second rung of the ladder 5. Step straight forward with the right foot into the second hole 6. Step forward at an angle with the left foot in the second hole 7. Step forward at an angle with the right foot to the right side of the third rung of the ladder. 8. Step straight forward with the left foot into the third hole 9. Repeat this sequence throughout the ladder beginning with step #2.

1. Begin standing sideways at one end of the ladder. Step forward with the left (outside) foot into the first hole.

2. Step sideways with the right (inside) foot into the first hole. 3. Step back with the left foot so that both feet are outside of he first rung of the ladder 4. Step forward with the right foot into the second hole 5. Step sideways with the left foot to outside of the second rung of the ladder 6. Step back with the right foot so that both feet are outside of eh second rung of the ladder 7. Step forward with the left foot into the third hole. Repeat the above sequence throughout the

ladder 8. The sequence of steps can be summarized:

1) left forward 2) right sideways 3) left back 4) right forward 5) left sideways 6) right back 7) repeat steps