Q: I help coach a U10 girl’s select team in Northern Kentucky. We are a fairly successful premier level team with ambitious, competitive girls.  We are considering asking the girls to attend a speed camp. What are your thoughts on speed camps in general?

Keith, Northern KY

A: Trying to find the perfect balance is not always easy to work out. There seems to be an assembly of soccer experts saying that we are doing to much with our youth soccer players and yet in the other breath we turn to explain how we are not developing our players to become more soccer savvy. I am a big believer in challenging our players and helping them get to the next level, but not every player want’s to be the next Abby Wambach.  Some players are extremely happy and content with being part of the team for developmental and social reasons.

Pushing players in physical aspects of the game earlier than what we should be doing, could lead to them burning out sooner. There are a lot of organizations out there offering speed training to earn a quick dollar and do not have the best interest of the player in mind. At 9 and 10 years old, players are physically growing the lasting effects could be worse than trying to help them become technically or tactically better. I would recommend that you have them do foot skills work, juggling exercises, play 1 v 1 or 2 v 2 competitions to help them develop and grow as a player. During my time in Buffalo we had no options but to do a lot of work inside but we would play a lot of 4 v 4 games without any coaching.

Eventually speed training can become helpful part of a soccer player’s game, but it is more important at this younger age that they keep developing their technical game more than physical aspects.

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Q: How can I get my players to communicate better in a game?

Sarah, Frankfort KY

A: I think as coach’s we spend to much time focusing on trying to get our players to talk with each other during games and practice sessions. During the games, players hear parents and coaches telling them to pass here or dribble there and we don’t allow them to make their own decisions.

Therefore in practice sessions put them into activities where they have to make decisions. When coaching, have your players try to add more Guided Discovery Questions.  For example if you were working with the defenders in a 2 v 2 activity and the covering defender is not verbalizing what he or she wants you could use the following method.

1. What are the different ways you can help your team-mate position their body so they know you are in support.
2. Show me how you can help your team-mate force the attacker towards you
3. If you say “Show inside”  would the first defender have a better position (this is an open ended question so players only have one answer, Yes or No)

If players don’t provide you with the correct answer first time, don’t tell or show them try and guide them some more as seen above. More importantly don’t stand there in your coaching sessions and say talk, say something because players don’t know what to say or do without some guidance

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Q: I coach a U14 select team that is pretty good but could be so much better if I could teach the girls to be aggressive! Do you have any ideas on how I can get them to win more 50/50 balls?

Jack, Louisville KY  

Using small-sided games is the best way to teach aggressiveness. Games of 1v1, 2v1, 2v2, 3v2, 3v3, make players an active part of the action. The simple fact is you cannot hide in a small sided game. Players have to get involved. Small sided games provide repetitions and countless opportunities to be a part of the action. The more opportunities they have to tackle, challenge, shield, and compete, the more confidence they will have.

A coach can help the players achieve success by manipulating different aspects of the game, you can add rules in games like players must continuously mark the same player and if their team-mate scores then they have a forfeit such as 10 push up but the game continues. Not to knock officiating but I do believe that sometimes referees need to let the game flow a little bit more if a player does apply a little physical presence to the game. Within you training sessions you can add this with your coaching voice and change the manner of it depending on your demands.