Coaching Soccer Weekly: Methods, Trends, Techniques and Tactics from WORLD CLASS COACHING

Last week I talked about what you should and sometimes shouldn’t say during your team talks. Planning that episode made me realize that most of my effective pregame, halftime and postgame team talks followed a similar pattern. If you didn’t have a chance to listen to the show last week I’d suggest that you go...

We had great feedback to last week’s episode on checking your shoulder. The combination of the description, diagrams and actual training video really helped to paint the picture and show how the exercises are organized. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to that one or see the videos in the show notes I...

Technical Training for our club started this week. Once a week all of the teams, U12 and below, complete the same training session. It’s focused on a particular technical topic. I talked about how we structure our technical training back in episode 18 – Creating a Technical Training Plan. It’s a great way to make...

This week is the two years anniversary of the podcast! It’s hard to believe I’ve produced 93 different episodes in that time. I really appreciate everyone that listens to the show each week. If this is the first episode you’ve hear, WELCOME! If you’ve been here from the start then THANKS! This week my teams...

Last weekend the US Youth Futsal Nationals marked the end of the Futsal season. This week we’ve started our spring outdoor training sessions. Then we go right into an outdoor tournament on the weekend. This makes for a quick transition between seasons but starting any season with a tournament helps to knock the rust off...

This is the last week of Futsal. We start back outdoor next week. This weekend the US Youth Futsal Nationals are taking place here in the Kansas City area. Teams from all over the country are coming here to compete. Boys and girls teams from U9 to U19 will face off to determine the champion...

I really enjoyed the conversation with George about the coach / player relationships last week. It made me much more aware of all the interactions I have with my players. I’m paying more attention to what I say and how I say it. For example, after one of my teams gave up a goal last weekend I...

I noticed a big improvement in my player’s shooting balance and technique during our games last weekend. I talked about the session I did with them in Episode 88 – Balanced Shooting. We talked about the key points before the game so that they were fresh in the minds of the players. I think it’s...

Last week’s episode on the qualities and habits of the world’s best coaches was the most popular episode we’ve had in a few months. If you missed it, I’d suggest that you go back and listen because there’s some great food for thought there. We can all incorporate these qualities into our coaching and become...

I received some great feedback about last week’s episode on developing your own style of play. Some coaches asked for show notes to be included. I usually don’t include show notes on episode where there aren’t any diagrams or training sessions to describe. But for this episode I’ve added show notes that include a worksheet...

It’s great to be back in the swing of things again after the holiday break. Watching the games last weekend it was great to see the players really understanding what it was that we were trying to do when attacking and defending. That doesn’t mean that the players always executed perfectly but the intent was...

I hope everyone enjoyed a great holiday season. It was a welcome break as our club always takes off the weeks of Christmas and New Years to give players and their families time to enjoy the holidays, spend time with their family and recharge for the second halve of the soccer year. I like the...

With the indoor season in full swing it was a very busy week. I coach five different teams that are divided into eight Futsal teams. The smaller teams give the players a lot of playing time but it makes for a lot of games to coach. They’ve made great progress since the start of the...

Last week I talked about the different options for playing soccer indoors during the winter. My teams played their first Futsal games last weekend. The beginning of the Futsal season is always a challenge because the players haven’t adjusted to the speed of the game. They usually try to play too fast and think too...

It was great to have a week off from coaching for the Thanksgiving Holiday here in the U.S. It’s always fun to catch-up with family and friends, eat WAY too much foot and watch WAY too much (American) football. But as always, I looked forward to getting back on the field and preparing my players...