Good question. For me, working with an age range from about 4 to 9, our emphasis is almost exclusively on being in possession, i.e. individually keeping the ball close. Then during certain exercises, kids will simply lose possession because they cannot…
Hi Chris - I don't personally think a template is needed as much as maybe a slide on powerpoint to support the things that you want to reinforce as your philosophy. Ironically I think this can be overly philosophical .. where a simple clean perspective…
While a historic post, I'll give my two cents because we are in the exact same position right now re the 4-9 age group. We have two training nights, so we have the 'reception' kids on one night and the rest on the other. The younger kids are actually…
Hi Paul, thank you for taking the time to interact with the blog post and for the great question.
The first question we’d always pose would be, what age group are your players? Their current lack of accuracy or power suggests they are quite early on…
The other thing to remember - they're 11 and 12. There is a lot going on in their lives and a fair few of them live on xbox/phones etc. So for some it may be the only chance to ping balls at each other, try tricks etc? One of the things I found really…
The FA’s Pete Sturgess adds to his first blog series which is designed to help people who are taking their first steps as a coach with players aged 5-11. Here he encourages the use of small-sided games.
Hi coaches, in the first blog I asked you to think…
Aligning training to reflect matchday experiences is worthwhile for developing players who can manage the scenarios they’re likely to face between the first and last whistle.
Football is unpredictable, so developing decision-makers who can cope in all…
Agree Paul, amazing the difference pitch sizings make. Last season we tried something different and setup three rondos side by side of different sizes. Small size is more technical, big size focussed more on movement, we then rotated the players through…
I've just started assisting with the coaching of my son's under-9 team. One particular child has been causing issues with his behaviour which I've tried to address via various methods, with little success.
However, I think the biggest issue is that…
Sarah Lowden, FA coach development officer (diversity and inclusion), suggests a creative way to introduce challenges so you can keep your players engaged in training.
We all love a challenge and trying something new - your players are just the same…
