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Rotating positions

Andrew McPhillips

I'm hoping somebody can help me understand if/when it is the right time to give players fixed positions. As a parent, I couldn't understand why we didn't have set positions but after moving into coaching and reading lots about the foundation phase I now understand how we need to avoid pigeonholing players at an early age and allow them to develop all around.

We have 9 players in the squad for our under 9s 7-a-side team and if you ask them their preferred positions we've got 1 goalkeeper, 1 defender and 7 wingers/strikers. The struggle I have is twofold:

- Some players are our "rocks" in defence but want to have opportunities to play further upfield and to be fair have played really well in more advanced attacking positions.
- To accommodate this then means dropping some other players into more defensive positions than they'd like and, despite explaining to them why they need to do it for their own development, to let other players have a chance in different positions etc, they inevitably sulk and just look disinterested for that part of the game.

It's very clear that the majority of teams we're facing have adopted set positions and the other three teams in our age group at our club have done so and they are seeing the benefits in terms of results. I'm very much on board with the development rather than results approach but I'm aware of parents grumbling (so will need to have a discussion with them) and want to make sure the kids keep enjoying the game. 

So, do we need to start giving the players set positions based on what we think their strengths are as we obviously can't let them all play in their favourite positions all the time?

I'm probably feeling a bit more aware of it today as we narrowly lost a game when we switched things up after being ahead going into the final quarter (we don't tell the kids the score but we all know that they keep track of it themselves).

Oh, and did anybody else question their own decisions all the time as a new coach?!

Parents

  • At the start of this season I (rather arbitrarily and not based on ability) divided my U11 9v9 squad of 12 into 3 groups of 4 players and randomly assigned each group to be either the Defensive, Midfield or Attacking units.  For 4 weeks, the groups play in - and crucially train for - those units.  The players in each group are fixed but every 4 weeks the groups change unit. We have to flex it around a bit for shifts as GK and for absences, but by Xmas every player will have been given a roughly equal opportunity in each unit.  A few players have been clearly uncomfortable in their allotted positions and TBH this has affected scorelines a bit.  There were a few moans at first but not for long.  Pros:  Each player has a decent amount of time to understand the responsibilities of each unit, reflect on their performances and to try to improve over 4 games.  Training sessions can be more focused.  Coaches and other players all get to learn who is in which group / unit and thus in a game we can more easily spot players who are out of position (moving players around a lot one week to the next and even within a match may be "fair" but gets confusing to all).  No one is pigeonholed.  Forcing some players (who would otherwise have sulked) to play defense has shown some to be very well suited in that role, which is important as I am trying to get the team to play out from the back patiently.  Cons:  Needs a bit of planning.  Needs players to buy into the fairness.  Needs to be stuck to even when results might go against you.  Over the Xmas break I'll ask each player to reflect on where they think their own best position with a view to assigning "permanent" positions to some of the team for the remainder of the season.

Reply

  • At the start of this season I (rather arbitrarily and not based on ability) divided my U11 9v9 squad of 12 into 3 groups of 4 players and randomly assigned each group to be either the Defensive, Midfield or Attacking units.  For 4 weeks, the groups play in - and crucially train for - those units.  The players in each group are fixed but every 4 weeks the groups change unit. We have to flex it around a bit for shifts as GK and for absences, but by Xmas every player will have been given a roughly equal opportunity in each unit.  A few players have been clearly uncomfortable in their allotted positions and TBH this has affected scorelines a bit.  There were a few moans at first but not for long.  Pros:  Each player has a decent amount of time to understand the responsibilities of each unit, reflect on their performances and to try to improve over 4 games.  Training sessions can be more focused.  Coaches and other players all get to learn who is in which group / unit and thus in a game we can more easily spot players who are out of position (moving players around a lot one week to the next and even within a match may be "fair" but gets confusing to all).  No one is pigeonholed.  Forcing some players (who would otherwise have sulked) to play defense has shown some to be very well suited in that role, which is important as I am trying to get the team to play out from the back patiently.  Cons:  Needs a bit of planning.  Needs players to buy into the fairness.  Needs to be stuck to even when results might go against you.  Over the Xmas break I'll ask each player to reflect on where they think their own best position with a view to assigning "permanent" positions to some of the team for the remainder of the season.

Children
  • in reply to Gareth Moors

    Thanks Gareth. Before I started helping to coach the team already had a pattern of rotating positions within games which I agree can lead to confusion.

    From your and Loyd's responses, it looks like we need to view rotation over a longer period of time to allow them to get used to each position. 

    The difficult bit will be getting them on board with that but I think if we get the parents to buy into it too it should be achievable.