Archive for October, 2009

Soccer – How Often You Should Perform Soccer Conditioning

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

Insane street soccer

In Sweden there’s been kind of a trend to do a lot of long distance running during the first part of the pre-season, and then as you progress towards the regular season you start to decrease the distance the players are running.

When you first think about it, it looks like a pretty decent idea, right?

Well, it isn’t. I am so tired of hearing coaches talk about “creating a conditioning foundation for the players so they have base to stand on” when the season starts. But here’s where it gets weird in my opinion.

I’ve always had a relatively high success rate against penalties, certainly managing to predict the right way even if the pace beat me, and again I fancied my chances. As a goalkeeper I was a natural loner and this situation always suited me to a tee…….me against them. I eyeballed the striker and watched his body language; I was diving to my right. At what height he hit the ball was then down to pure chance but I knew that I was playing the percentages in my favour and all I had to do was get in the way. With the eyes of my new teammates piercing the tension, not to mention the sub keeper in the dugout who’s place I’d pinched upon my arrival at the club; I knew I was under pressure. The striker placed the ball after I’d eventually given it back to him and started to pace out his run up. I was in no doubt which side he was shooting and as he struck the ball I took my initial step into the dive. BOOM! The ball cannoned off my knee, in fact the same knee as earlier, and rebounded to the relative safety of their full back on the touchline where he was dispossessed by our striker with a well timed sliding tackle. It is always a buzz when your team mates crowd round for the obligatory high fives and pats on the back, but even more so when you’ve just clawed yourself out the hole in which you dropped yourself in the first place. We subsequently went on to win the game 2-0 and as a direct result topped the table of which we would eventually finish second after a long arduous season.

I have been the head coach of my current team for about 1,5 years now, and during that period, we have done a total of 3 sessions (!) where we exclusively focused on conditioning, not related to regular soccer training. Those 3 sessions where done as a Plan B because our training field was covered in snow.

Our philosophy on conditioning for soccer players is that everything can (and should) be performed on the soccer field, during regular soccer training. And most of those sessions can be done with the soccer ball.

I was simply a trainer back then as I had little knowledge of either how to coach or indeed what to coach so we simply did drills that I had seen in books or on the television. It was all ‘old skool’ stuff but very effective for the level we were performing at, and it served me well for my future career. I was fastidious about being able to catch the ball and this was possibly the strongest forte of my game. I attempted to catch absolutely everything possible in training, there are always the inevitable shots that require a palm or a tip away but anything in my proximity I would strive to get hold of, again this is something that I have taken into my coaching – I want to see an attempt to catch the ball in the first instance. It doesn’t overly worry me if you drop it in training as long as you react to the fumble, but if you didn’t try to catch then how would you know what was possible in a game? There are many mantras that I adopt for each and every session and the goalkeepers that I work with quickly become aware of the levels expected of them, I find that by setting not just targets but achievable targets, motivates the goalkeeper into upping their performance and development quicker than a simple pat on the back and a “well done”.

Over-and-Under. This is the most advanced move on this list, and can take weeks to learn, even if you’ve mastered the more basic moves presented here. First, kick the ball into play from a toe stall. Then twirl the kicking foot around your other leg and catch the ball in an inside stall. Then toss it back into play and keep going

Resource Author Francisco R. Higueras
Encontrar un Trabajo – Empleo es fácil si sabe dónde buscar
Trabajar desde casa es fácil si sabes como
Todo sobre Juegos Mario para gente que le gusta jugar

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Meaningful 65th birthday present gives voice to a winning soccer team

Monday, October 26th, 2009

When varsity soccer coach Mark Reed bid farewell to his seniors at his team’s annual award celebration, it also happened to be his 65th birthday. On that memorable day, he received a special 65th birthday group gift that was far more personal than any soccer trophy his players or fellow coaches could ever give him. He received a special CD filled with the voices of his colleagues, his graduating players, and their parents, expressing their thanks and warm wishes. The recordings ranged from funny to sentimental, and showed him how much he had meant to the Wildcats.

“I go out there and urge my players to make me proud every day. I’ve always focused on the team, and when they gave me this gift I saw how much my philosophy meant to them personally”.

The players and their parents wanted to give the coach a surprise present that was very personal. However, with frantic schedules, the players and their parents knew that the group gift would have to be simple for everyone to contribute to.

The gift the coach received is called LifeOnRecord.

Team mom, Pauline Gorski, got the idea when her husband gave her a LifeOnRecord CD as a sentimental birthday gift.

The process is simple: friends and family call a toll-free number and are directed to record a favorite memory, story or wish. There’s no limit on the number of callers that can phone-in or on the total number of recordings you receive. The recordings can be downloaded for free using iTunes so that you can make your own compact disc, or LifeOnRecord can create a keepsake CD with a personalized label and metal case. An unlimited plan with free download capability into iTunes costs $49.99, or an unlimited plan with a keepsake CD costs $74.98.

It is a unique, affordable service that allows you to create a highly personal gift with ease.

“These young men mean a lot to me, and this is the perfect way for me to remember them and their impact after my coaching days are over. The mom who organized and put this together is my hero”.

If you’d like to be a hero to your loved one, you can purchase LifeOnRecord and give them a meaningful birthday.

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Do you know what are the top 20 sports in America?

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Now i know you probably won’t disagree with the top 5 of these, but what would you do about the rest?

  1. American Football – of course, been around since the 1800’s.
  2. Baseball – one of the largest sports in America, if not the largest ranging from little leagues to, Umm, the big ones.
  3. Basketball – Most famous in America but played all over the world by almost half a billion people.
  4. Hockey – A great Sport in America, but bigger in other countries, it is still huge.
  5. Golf – Always considered a posh mans sport, and it is, except Tiger Woods really set it off for everyone.
  6. Wrestling – Well it gets massive views every weekend, loved by Americans.
  7. Tennis – Not really an American Past Time, but definitely a well respected sport.
  8. Skateboarding – Definitely one of the fastest growing sports in the world, with the help of America.
  9. Surfing – The one true sport that America air lifted into greatness.
  10. Ice Skating – A Bigger sport in America than you may have originally thought.
  11. Boxing – Loved by the Americans and loved by the world, needs to be more frequent.
  12. Soccer – Growing to become a large sport and especially for the Americans, although not as big as others.
  13. Archery – Well when you have the likes of Geena Davis, your guaranteed to get a medal.
  14. Volleyball – What a great sport, all you need to do is watch and your happy.
  15. Cycling – Has been in the sport world for a while now, and has taken off, but not as much as others.
  16. Track and Field – Up until recently the Americans have completely dominated Track and Field events at the Olympics.
  17. Horse Racing – Will be a great sport for all, and could actually come higher in this list.
  18. Rock Climbing – This hasn’t lifted as much as other Sports, but is still popular.
  19. Extreme Sports – The Americans love this, especially when things go wrong, not sure why though.
  20. Auto Racing – This should come high, but doesn’t because of the category, Monster Truck and Rally are very high though.

Which of these sports doesn’t deserve to be here? What do you think of the top 5? What a great way to find out – try Las Vegas holidays or New York holidays to really find out

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Who Else Needs Better Soccer Formations, Tactics & Positions?

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Youth Soccer Coaching Tips

When teaching soccer formations and youth soccer drills make sure you test a variety of soccer practice drills to help the kids develop all the skills they need to work on. During these drills you need to observe them closely to assess them.

Your players should keep their heads up to ensure that they see a partner to pass the ball avoid bumping up against each other. In these situations, they must also watch out to see that the ball is not being passed back to someone who is already in possession of a ball.

Your players will know how to act and react when practicing drills and what to do when it comes to pass and control the ball. Because they use various parts of the body, their options increase and they can use their creativity in the course of the game to use the right skill at the right time. Soccer Positions are also important.

How To Juggle a Soccer Ball

The kids usually love to do this because is something everybody likes to do. Controling the ball well is extremely important.. Here’s a great way to develop the footwork, speed and ability of your players. When your players juggle a soccer ball let them know that you don’t want them to practice just with their feet. Chest, head and thighs must be used too. All players have a foot thet performs better. They tend to do everything with that foot and the other one is left only for ’support’. Make sure they practice with both feet. 

All players that practice juggling also increase the levels of concentration. If he doesn?t, his touches will go awry. Ball control is always a technique that a player must master. Some touches will be bad and the player will lose the ball. But he must try get the ball back as fast as possible.

The body position is also important. Teach your players thr right bosy posture so that they can maximize their changes to succeed. Make no mistakes about it. This will take time. All great players practice a lot until they achieve the top. You can encourage the players to train in a static position. As they become better, they can start to move slowly in one direction. Make it even harder by placing players in the way trying to steal the ball of just limit the time.

Let your players know that if they practive juggking just about 15 minutes a day, they can become very good at it in no time. When teaching soccer tactics strategies, always remember that nothing replaces persistance and repetition. The word is practice, practice… and then practice some more..

To learn how you can improve the soccer skills of your players in record time and also make training more fun and enjoyable for the kids visit SoccerDrillsTips .com

About The Author:

Andre Botelho is the #1 worldwide expert in youth soccer coaching. He’s the creator of the “Ultimate Soccer Drills System” and influences well over 15,000 youth soccer coaches each year with his unique coaching advice. Download your free youth soccer coaching guide right now at: http://www.SoccerDrillsTips.com .

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Coaching Youth Soccer: 8 Aspects Coaches Miss

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Youth Soccer Coaching Tips

Coaching Youth Soccer can be exciting and fun but there are important aspects every coach needs to take into consideration. Most of these are based in common sense and as a result, are pretty easy to remember:

1. Don’t make speeches. Especially if you’re coaching young kids, making them sit through long lectures is a great way to bore them out of their minds and disinterested in soccer really fast. The age of your players is nor important. What is important is that you keep your speeches short, sweet and right to the point.

2. Don’t complicate things. When coaching a soccer exercise you should try to keep it as simple as possible. People have problems in implementing complecated things. You can test this by showing the kids a complicated soccer diagram of a drill with fancy arrows and dozens of instructions, you’ll lose their interest.

3. Don’t be a ball boy- this is essential. If you want to keep your players’ respect, don’t run after balls. Make your players go run and get the balls that they shoot out of the field. You can even make it a rule that if they score they don’t have to catch it anymore for that day.

4. Do you have kids helping with getting the balls? If that’s the case, don’t let them join the training session. This simply signals a laxity in discipline- ball boys are just there to get the ball. If they want to join in the practice, they have to join the team like everyone else.

5. Never, ever criticize the player. One of your players missed a goal? or a decisive pass? Don’t blame them. Point out the flaws in their technique or skill and do that calmly. Screaming at a player for being ’stupid’ is a great way to make them want to leave your team.

6. While Coaching Youth Soccer, explain it clearly and as briefly as possible. Then demonstrate it- your players will pick it up quickly if they see how it’s done. Conversely, don’t try and demonstrate something that you can’t do.

7. Health and safety should always be foremost in a coach’s mind. This means making sure that the ground and the equipment are in good shape before your soccer training session starts. Remember that if a kid sprains his ankle because the ground was slippery, then it’s technically your fault.

8. Don’t leave the parents out in the dark. It’s important that you interact with your player’s parents in a way that they feel integrated and well informed of what it’s happening. Always remember that your player’s parents can be your best ally.

When Coaching Youth Soccer, these are important aspects that every coach should consider. If you’re a youth soccer coach and you’d like to learn how to dramatically improve your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time visit us right now at SoccerDrillsTips . com.

About The Author:

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching. If you want to learn how to explode your players’ skills and make practice more fun and interesting, get your free Soccer Coaching guide at http://www.soccerdrillstips.com – Coaching Youth Soccer Drills

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