Jamie:
Hello and welcome to Coachcast by England Football Learning, The brand new coaching podcast designed to give you expert insight, session ideas and a platform to discuss your coaching questions and challenges. I'm Jamie...
Louise:
And I'm Louise. In each episode of this series, one of our experts will dissect a specific topic and then speak to a grassroots coach with the aim of helping them and you develop more skilful players. In this episode, we're going to be talking in detail about 'turning' and how you can work on this skill with your players.
Jamie:
And the expert taking us through this topic joins us in the studio right now. It's James Richards. Hi James, how are you?
James:
I'm good, thanks. Thank you for having me.
Louise:
Thanks for your time today. Before we start, do you want to tell the listeners a little bit about yourself and your role at the FA?
James:
Yeah, so I've been at the FA now for 14 years. I started initially as an FA skills coach and I worked my way through and I joined the FA PE team three years ago, So I'm now part of the grassroots delivery team and my role is to support coaches and teachers up and down the country delivering physical education.
Louise:
it's quite a varied role that you've had so far.
James:
Yeah, it is.
Jamie:
And plenty of experience for us to tap into, as well.
Louise:
Okay, well if we kick start our discussion by asking, what do we mean by 'turning'?
James:
So I kind of see turning as, it's obviously like a change of direction, but more so than just a dodge or a side step like you might do in your dribbling. So you're kind of maybe a 180 degree or a 360 degree complete turn trying to get away from somebody or trying to exploit some kind of a space to help us get towards the goal.
Louise:
And why is turning so important?
James:
Well, I think if you look at moments in the game where you might be under pressure from a defender and you need to either protect the ball, maintain possession for your team, get away from them or you might have identified a pocket of space that you want to kind of get in to, so you need to turn quickly to get into there, or it might be that you're under no pressure at all, but there is space for you to drive in to, but you haven't received the ball yet, so you need to adjust your body and get there quickly. So I think if you're more efficient in turning, you can exploit space better, catch out the opposition and, you know, hopefully create some more chances.
Jamie:
Do you have a maybe a player in mind as a good example who can carry out turning quite well that players might be able to look at and learn from at all?
James:
There are obviously a lot of players. I mean, I'm a little bit older now, so there are a lot of players in my past that I used to look up to. So, you'll all know like, the Cruyff turn, there's also obviously the Maradona turn. Children nowadays, they have their own idols, so I don't like to pick any particular player. I will say, "Well, look at the player that you respect and you kind of look up to and watch them and see how they do things." So, I remember when, and I was at this game, Newcastle playing Arsenal and Dennis Bergkamp did one of the most unbelievable turns in the world. Like, just one touch, he was closed down by Andy O'Brien, one touch around him, span the other way and then slide the goal in and I just couldn't believe it. I was in awe of the turn, but gutted that my team has just conceded. They were getting beaten anyway, so...
Jamie:
You mentioned there, obviously a few real big hitters there, some of the icons of the game, and they've all got different techniques, but can you name a few different turning techniques maybe players can use?
James:
I think rather than naming the technique, what I've found is people name the player that's done it. But what you're probably looking for is how players execute. So, for example, if you're going to try and do a drag back turn, you might use the sole of the foot and rig it back and then turn 180°, or you might use the inside of the foot towards the big toe where you're trying to scoop it back between your legs or the outside of the foot depending on where the defenders are coming from. So there's a wide variation of how you can execute the turn but it's based around what's happening within the game and where the space is and where the pressure's coming from. So, yeah, that's probably what I would say, and that probably links to why players really need to explore turning a lot more.
Louise:
Where and when does turning take place on the pitch?
James:
I think if you're in central midfield it's going to happen, well, I think across the pitch it's going to happen in different ways. So if you're in the centre of the pitch, and then the ball's at say, your goalkeeper, you're going to have your back potentially to the goal you're scoring in. So you're going to have a lot of things going around you, which might lead to you turning a lot of different ways. Whereas if you're out on the side, on the wing or as a full-back it might lead to you for example having to open your body out so that you can play forward quite quickly. Or if you're a striker, again, you might be trying to spin off the centre-back that's holding you there when you receive the ball. So yeah, I think it's going to happen everywhere and I just think what's key is that it's slightly different potentially in the different areas of the pitch. [Louise] And does that relate to the time that it happens, as well?
James:
I think what you probably want to look at, there are two aspects of are you receiving the ball and turning as you're receiving? Or do you already have the ball and you're traveling with it, but then for some reason, for example, a defender closes you down and you need to make the turn? So you might say that your wingers and your strikers or your attacking midfielders will be picking up and dribbling and traveling with the ball a lot more, so their turns might be when they're on it. Whereas maybe your full-backs, your centre-backs will be receiving the ball a lot more from the goalkeeper for example, so they'll be turning as they receive.
Louise:
And would you say that turning is a key skill that players need to be capable of?
James:
Oh, definitely. I think if you feel like you can't turn or you're not confident in turning, you're just going to panic. I think you're then not going to be able to do the things that you want to do with the ball; if you want to travel with it, if you want to make a first-time pass or whatever, you can't do that if you're panicking, or you don't feel comfortable. So, it's not just turning, I think it's most of the skills. So traveling with the ball, receiving the ball, passing the ball, you need to be confident in your abilities to do it. Because then, like I said, then you don't panic, and the ball doesn't just bounce off you or something like that.
Jamie:
Is that part of ball mastery, turning? Is that quite a key part of that?
James:
Yeah, definitely. I think, particularly towards the younger age groups, we want to be advocating that they get on the ball as much as possible and they're traveling with it, but being presented with opportunities to turn and change direction and then allowing them to explore kind of, that skill, because like I said, the more opportunities they get and the more confident they feel then they're more likely to try it in games. So that's what we're aiming for.
Jamie:
When in particular would you perhaps introduced turning to players? would it be at the same time as obviously teaching them to hopefully love the ball and want the ball?
James:
Oh yeah, definitely, definitely. I think as soon as they're coming through, say, four or five years old, they'll want to be on the ball and I just want to provide opportunities for them to explore how they move and manipulate the ball, which will naturally include turning. Whether that's with just interference or whether that's with direct opposition, it depends on the ability that you've got in front of you. But yeah, I want to be encouraging that straight away because I do think it's important.
Louise:
With people who are new to football, will they naturally be able to turn with the ball?
James:
I mean, obviously, kids have been developing their walking and their turning in everyday life. So they know obviously how to turn, it's just how you then do that when there's an object coming at you or when you've got an object. They need to explore that.
Louise:
Is there specific guidance you would give them to help them be more skilful at turning?
James:
If they did it naturally and it was successful?
Louise:
If it's not so successful.
James:
I would observe more than jump in. I would probably see what's going on and see how many times they do it and then I wouldn't necessarily go in and say, "No, do it like this." I would probably say, "Have you tried this solution? Have you tried that, maybe?" give them a few ideas. The trouble is, when it fails, the situation where they failed in is probably never going to happen again. Something similar might happen, but it's never going to happen identically. So, the solutions I start giving might not be relevant for the next time or the next time, so that's why I'd rather just go back to repetition and exploration. Lots of opportunities to experience players around them and lots of opportunities to travel and turn, receive and turn, just so that, you know, they're building up that bank of adaptability.
Jamie:
With primary-aged kids is there any like, terminology that you might use to encourage them to turn at all?
James:
Not specifically. I think it's just literally, you might just say, "Try and change direction." or "Try and go the other way." You know, you're talking with really young kids here, you're trying to simplify as much as possible. Some of the kids will be playing FIFA like every night, so they might have some understanding of some of the terminology, they might know some of the terms that I've talked about like Cruyff or Maradona. To be honest, kids make up their own names now, you know, so, I have to keep up with their kind of...
Louise:
Their lingo.
James:
Yeah, their lingo, which is quite tough to do.
Jamie:
How would you then tailor your approach from working with primary-aged kids, but through the different age groups?
James:
So I think it would be, like I said, I think, initially I might be trying to provide a level of interference for younger kids where they're not going to necessarily be tackled or someone's coming to get them. I might do a bit of that, or slowly build up to that, but provide a lot of opportunities where they just have to avoid people. But, you know, there's turning involved in that, so maybe going through gates and if that gate's blocked, turn away. As I start to build up to the age groups will probably start, you know, including it a lot more in small-sided games, issuing challenges, building up to like, phases of play where you're using two thirds of a pitch and you might set specific challenges for different players in different positions. You can try and maybe add different tasks, for example, can you turn on a one-touch? Can you open out before you receive the ball? Can you drag the ball back between your legs or something? So that's probably where I start going with it as I progress through the age groups,
Louise:
What skills do players need to be able to turn successfully? What are we looking out for?
James:
So I'd probably say like, scanning or being aware of what's around you, particularly if you're receiving it, but even if you already have it and you're traveling with it, you kind of need to just be aware of what's going on, where the little spaces are, where the defenders are coming from and kind of, obviously where your teammates are because you might be trying to turn towards them to give them the ball or you might be trying to turn to go towards the goal. So scanning is probably one of the biggest ones I'd probably try and encourage and I think it's a hard one to do because, you know, that links back to ball mastery and if you're not confident with the ball, you're going to start looking at the ball. The more we can get that, the more that they're naturally going to start lifting their head and start looking around so they can see the pictures that they want to see. So hopefully that will then encourage them or provide them with the opportunity to turn or execute the skills they need to. I'd also then say, an exploration of using different parts of the feet. I would never be so restrictive to say, "This is how you do it." I'd be more like, give them lots of opportunities to explore using different parts of the feet so that they can like, when they're presented with those situations they're quite adaptable in the moment. But then, I suppose the last bit is linking to what they do after they get the ball or after they've made the turn, I'll be saying, "Okay, right, maybe, you know, do you have the ability to travel with the ball? Do you have the ability to pass the ball? Do you have the ability to shoot?" So I'm trying to link everything together. It's not just turn and do nothing, turn and do something, because that's the whole point.
Louise:
What kind of methods would you think coaches should use to actually develop those skills and kind of be able to be quick on their feet and kind of turn more?
James:
So, I go back to like providing a lot of repetition. So, smaller-sided numbers, particularly for the younger age groups, you know? But even like 14, 15, 16, lots of small-sided numbers where they're going to get the opportunities to do the skill. There are too many times where I see larger numbers of practice where there are like, five, six kids sharing one ball. Well that's one kid doing one turn at a time. So you kind of want to say, actually, no, let's have smaller numbers, let's have lots of opportunities to explore and practice the turning. Have that level of interference, now, you can manipulate the space and stuff so it's easier or harder, but have some kind of level of interference, or the defenders there, because that's what they're looking out for. All that interference and those defenders will create the spaces and pockets that they'll want to turn in to. So, try and have that present within your sessions so that, you know, the players are encouraged to look. They might not look straight away, but if you keep building that into your sessions and then they will have to start looking. And like I said, an end product. So, if you've got a ball each and it's, all right, once you've turned, travel somewhere, maybe. Or if you're wanting them to maybe learn how to pass or shoot or have goals in or have teammates that they can pass to, so maybe work in pairs, or maybe work, like I said, in maybe a small-sided game, like a 2v2 with goals. That's probably what I'd try and advocate.
Jamie:
To help with repetition, then, how important is it that your sessions, your little games that you're playing actually replicate the game or the scenario that the player is probably going to be in in maybe in a certain position or a certain area of the pitch?
Jamie:
I think what's key to me is the information that they're looking for. So this is why I go back to maybe having people there that are getting in their way or defending directly because without that information, if you just, say, have a look around and there's nothing there to look around, well, nothing's going to guide your decision making, so... Or if you want to turn in a specific way, but there's nothing there, well, there's no reason for you to turn in that specific way. So it could lead to kids developing solutions that maybe aren't effective. Whereas if you have people there, then the practicing things will actually get them away from people or get them past people. So yeah, I think that's what I'll probably go with.
Jamie:
We mentioned earlier about where maybe turning might take place or we might have brushed on it a little bit, but is it important for goalkeepers to work on turning, as well? And also, if so, how can coaches maybe specifically help them do that?
James:
I think it's, you probably want to look at, what age are we talking about? So if it's the younger age group, primary age, I probably want them involved in the outfield turning sessions anyway, because we don't know if they're going to be goalkeepers or not. I mean, my son likes to play in goal, he wants to be in goal quite often, but he changes his mind every day. So, for all I know he might want to play up front. So if he's not getting those skills he's going to struggle. So, I'd probably say, if you've got the primary age, then get them participating in the ball mastery sessions, the turning sessions anyway, because they're going to need that stuff. We've probably seen in the past on TV in the Premier League, you know, goalkeepers playing a little bit risky and, you know, they're being closed down, maybe it's because there's been a bad pass back to them or something, they're closed down quickly, they're going to have to maybe turn their way out of that. Some of them have just done it in silly situations, but they may be presented with times where they're going to have to turn and do what, you know, the outfield players do. So I would try and encourage them to explore that in their sessions, but then maybe I'd also try and place them in the goal, for example. So rather than them being in a specific turning session, you might design it where there are goals. So you may be playing like a 3v3 outfield with your two goalkeepers at either end, and they may be challenged to, say, try and pass back to your goalkeeper, for example, someone closes him down, but challenge him to, say, you're not allowed to pass the ball until you've had five touches. Then just see if he can wriggle his way out of it and then make the pass, just try and put a little bit of a challenge on. We're not necessarily encouraging the goalkeepers to take those kind of risks, but it's just presenting them with the opportunity to explore it and see what happens.
Jamie:
You can see it in the modern game now. It's important for goalkeepers to have the skills on the ball just as equally as it is for an outfield player with the amount of times that they are going to touch the ball or open up and pass out to the full-back. So those are really interesting tips there.
Louise:
So what are your top tips for coaches wanting to work on turning?
James:
Don't jump in and say, "This is how you do it." There's nothing wrong with guiding and showing types of turns as a coach, there's nothing wrong with that at all, but allow the children then to take that and go and explore it themselves. Obviously, when I have the players in my sessions, I only have an hour, so I want to try and create the situations where there's interference for the defenders, maybe it's game-related, but encourage them to the turns that they've explored, the turns that they've seen, go and practice them on their own, go and practice them in the street, in the back garden, wherever they can, just so that they can continue that repetition. But, yeah, don't jump in and try and say, "No, this is how you do it." because like I said, the situations are always going to be changing and you want them to be adaptable as opposed to, "Well, I know this turn only because that's what the coaches showed me or told me to do." and it doesn't work in X, Y and Z situation. Small-sided numbers, particularly with the younger age groups to increase that repetition. So don't expect them to get lots of turns in if it's 11v11 or anything like that. I'd then say kind of, encourage them to look, don't necessarily fall, don't, you know, keep going faster, but just encourage them to look around. Don't forget that part because that's what's going to guide what they do.
Jamie:
Now this is the part of the show where we're joined by a grassroots coach. We'll hear about their experiences so far and find out what coaching challenge they're currently facing. Our expert will then hopefully be able to provide them with any guidance they need. Today, we'redelighted to be joined online by Jordan from Leeds. Hi, Jordan. Welcome to the show.
Jordan:
Hello.
Louise:
Hi, Jordan. Thanks for joining us. Can you tell us a little bit about your coaching journey so far?
Jordan:
Yeah, I've been coaching for the last 10 years and I'm currently working with a grassroots team called Bradford Park Avenue and I'm coaching their under-12s and under-17s. I just recently completed my FA Level 2, so looking to progress and develop as much as possible.
Louise:
Can you tell us what your coaching challenge currently is?
Jordan:
I like to try and make sure that the sessions are enjoyable and realistic for the game environment. So, with turning, there are technical aspects, so I want to try and avoid the session becoming too repetitive and too unrealistic. So my challenge is how can I avoid that?
James:
A good question. I mean, the sessions that you might have seen in the past where they're unopposed and like you said, repetitive and potentially, yeah, boring or not engaging, I would never say there's anything wrong with them, I just think in our football coaching sessions it's the best use of our time and their time when they can do that stuff in a playful environment away at home and stuff. So to make things a little bit more kind of realistic and engaging, like you said, maybe more game-related. One: I mean, we've already talked on the podcast a bit more about trying to provide a level of interference or opposition. So I think, like you said, under-12s and under-17s, I'd probably be looking at getting defenders in there and maybe having either a kind of a multi-directional practice going on or maybe like a small-sided game going on where there are specific challenges directed at the players to do different types of turns when they're on the ball. So if they're receiving out, maybe a no-touch turn or if they've already got the ball and they're traveling with it, can they see how many times they can do like, a drag back or a Cruyff or whatever it is, you know, how you want to describe it to them. So it might be like that. I think I find multi-directional games where you're going towards multiple targets or multiple goals, you might get some more turns in there. There may be just a directional practice, just because obviously there are more directions that they're trying to aim for. What makes it engaging, or at least I find it with players is that there are defenders. If there are no defenders, I think you don't get the level of intensity that you probably want and then I think the turns and maybe other aspects of those skills that you want kind of drop a bit. So I would say consider multi-directional and directional practices, I would include opposition, maybe overloaded, so there are maybe only three or four defenders so players then can kind of choose when and how they are going to turn in that particular environment. So yeah, I think that would be my advice because the information that they're picking up from those defenders is really important.
Jordan:
Like you said with the under-12s, there's probably more of the technical aspects, so to introduce, you mentioned some of the terms, drag backs and Cruyff turns and the kids love to practice all those different kinds of terms, especially at younger age groups. So what would be the best way to sort of maybe do some unopposed to introduce them to some of those terms? And how long would you recommend spending on that? In an hour's session, how long would you recommend spending on those unopposed technical aspects before going into the game-related and introducing the congestion?
James:
I probably wouldn't go completely unopposed, to be honest. I'd probably say, make their area size bigger so that there are still people in their way but there are there is basically more space available and then you as the coach can introduce different types of turns that they may want to explore. But then you can set challenges to say, can you maybe go between? Can you turn and go between two players? And every time you do that you get X amount of points and you maybe time the session, so that you're adding that level of intensity as well, but those players aren't under direct pressure where maybe if they're learning to turn, they're not getting tackled every five seconds. So, it's unopposed. In a sense, there's still a level of interference, the spaces are bigger, you're adding the intensity through maybe some kind of a timed challenge and they're getting to explore those different types of turns as you would.
Jamie:
While you're here, Jordan, is there anything else that you would like to ask James?
Jordan:
Obviously, there's lots of different types of up turns, like, you know, you mentioned like the Cruyff turns and drag backs and things like that, but then also, you know, technically you could turn with your chest, you could turn with your head, so I guess for me it's kind of like, you know, how would you sort of create a session where you could sort of make the players aware of those different types of turns, you know? And it's sort of been a game-related and just to encourage that, it's not just, you know, I guess it's to promote creativity and to get them to explore different ways of turning and practice those techniques.
James:
Okay, so I think, like you said, if you're trying to turn, for example, basically, you're receiving the ball on the chest, for example, what you'd probably want to be doing there is challenging those who are sending the ball to send in different ways. So can you chip the ball when you're passing it? Because that will then provide the opportunities them to receive and turn in that way. Now, depending on the age, you may not want them to be like, basically launching the ball at their players and their teammates. So it might be, you play, there used to be a game called 'Hot Potato', we used to do a throw-ahead catch, now we're trying to avoid kind of maybe the heading aspect now, but what I would say is you can maybe encourage them to throw towards the body and see if they can chest the ball and you know, kind of twist their body to take the ball in a different direction or perhaps on their knee to start with it. It really depends on the age. I wouldn't do that with maybe, really young kids, but I would start doing that, maybe explore that with, you know, your under-14s and upwards, just so that they get to see it and, you know, explore it. Like you said, I think, you know, you're going to be presented with that in a game, so.. And then like you said, if you add the directions in, so they're going towards somewhere, maybe there's multiple goals or maybe there's just one goal, but that gives them the reason to go there, if that makes sense?
Jordan:
It does. And like you said, I mean, growing up playing football I don't think I ever was involved in a session which involved turning that didn't include your feet. But, you know, in a game scenario, like you said, a ball could be chipped in and there's an opportunity for you to turn using a different body part. So I think it's kind of, how can you replicate that, but without making it into a repetitive session that kind of actually sort of is game-related? I guess, on the sessions, in terms of, you mentioned about having game-related, so different directions and small-sided games, how would you reward the players or help the players to be aware of when they're doing turns and from a coach to understand which players are performing that the turns? So I guess the question is how to record the success within the session and praise players when they are using good turning skills?
James:
Okay, so what you could potentially do there is, if you have a whiteboard, for example, you can ask players to maybe list the turns they know, or demonstrate turns and you show them, you write them on the whiteboard like a noughts and crosses kind of game. When you're playing the game, if one of the players does that type of turn, they can come over and mark off on the board that they did that turn. Your role is to obviously observe and just see, "Was it? Yeah, was it? Yeah. Okay, that was a turn. Yeah, that was." You know, you're not necessarily going to say, "No, that was wrong. That wasn't that type of turn." you're going to just see how they're progressing. But they're recognizing then that they're doing types of turns. That's more important. They're recognizing that they're trying and doing different types of turns. So you could do something like that, you could just have a tally chart if you don't want to write down all the turns, you could just say, if you do a turn, come and mark it on the board, like a little cross or, you know, maybe place a cone on somewhere else and they can rack up how many turns they think the players did. All I'd say for a coach is just step back and watch, you know, just watch your players more and just see what they're doing rather than feeling like you have to go in and do stuff.
Jordan:
I mean, I like the idea with the whiteboard because I think when you introduce a game and you're trying to focus on turning, naturally they forget about that practice and they just start focusing on where the goals are and what they need to do. So I like the idea with the whiteboard because it keeps the players focused on the sessions about turning, however there is a wider game going on, so I think that would help to keep the practice focused on the topic.
James:
Yeah, definitely, definitely.
Jamie:
How's that for advice, Jordan? You happy with everything?
Jordan:
Yes, it was really helpful and I can't wait to put that into practice.
Jamie:
Thank you very much for your time. Hopefully we can catch up and see if you've been able to put it into use. We're coming up to the end of the episode now, but before we blow the full-time whistle, we're going to try a little feature we like to call 'Swiss Session'. This is where we challenge our guests to come up with a session idea that relates to the theme of the episode.
Louise:
We're looking for something that's based on turning, is fun, engaging, and gives players a chance to be skilful. So it can involve any number of activities, but, you'll only have 30 seconds to explain your ideas. Are you up for the task?
James:
I'll give it a go.
Louise:
Okay, let me just set the timer up. Your time starts... now.
James:
Okay, so this would be aimed at primary-age kids, it's called 'Knights, Castles & Dragons', you'd place a number of squares in your area, and you'd have defenders in each of those squares, maybe more defenders if you wanted to challenge the players. They travel around between the squares with a ball each, when they feel that they can they go into the square, do a turn, try and break out of the other side whilst avoiding the defenders.
Louise:
Wow, that was done almost perfectly on time. How did you feel that went?
James:
Yeah, there's more I could have said, where kind of you're thinking, "Oh, I could've said this or that." That's the problem. That's so basic, so, so basic, but yeah.
Louise:
Are there any key bits that you want to add in or are you happy with that? Just leave it like that? Good. Okay. Okay, before we finish the show, do you have any last key messages for coaches to take away?
James:
Let the players explore, you know? Provide them with an environment where they can try things out. There are players around them that are going to help them make decisions, and then, just like I said, they can explore the wide range of turns and changes of direction that you know, they're going to be able to do in a game.
Jamie:
Very well. Great stuff. Thanks, James. Thank you very much for joining us on Coachcast today. It's been a pleasure to have you in the studio and to hear all your great insight.
James:
It's been good fun.
Louise:
Thanks, James.
James:
Thank you.
Jamie:
Right, that's all we have time for today. If you want to find out more about what we've discussed in this episode, head over to thebootroom. thefa. com and check out how using the sole of the foot can benefit players. It's certainly a good technique to use to turn away from pressure or to quickly change direction. You can also head over to our YouTube channel, England Football learning to watch Seven Ways to Master the Ball, a session which features turning by FA coach development officer, Sam Griffiths.
Louise:
And when you load up our YouTube channel, make sure you hit that subscribe button, and also follow us on Twitter where our handle is @EnglandLearning. That way, you can keep in touch with all of our content. And finally, if you want to chat about today's episode or just want to jump into a coaching conversation, you can do so by swinging over to the FA community. We'll be back soon with another episode of Coachcast, so keep an eye on our social media channels and wherever you get your podcasts from. All that's left to say is, from all of us at England Football Learning, thanks for listening.