Coaching High School Soccer

Tell me the last time you explained to your team various soccer formations by using a soccer field diagram? If you answered “Never” or “Long time back”, chances are that your team knows very little about formations or positions.

Most of the coaches make the mistake of assuming that kids tend to follow everything by simply giving them the required instructions verbally. Since formations are an important topic, you must always chat about it with the players before the match.

The soccer positions of the players in every area from the defensive line are depicted in these by way of strategic choices made generally in terms of numbers. As a coach, you should go on interchanging the players during every single game so that the formations are not strict. Make sure that you finalize the formations only after keeping in mind the strengths and weaknesses of every player as it’s very significant.

Following are some of the common formations used in soccer:

Soccer Formations

4-4-2: This one is used most frequently. The series 4-4-2 is derived from the idea that it comprises of 4 defending players, 4 mid fielders, and two attacking players excluding a goalkeeper.

In this formation, midfielders play the most important role in form of supporting the forwarders through defense. In case of an attack, they must draw near the goal line and help out the defenders.

4-5-1: This formation has five mid fielders and one forward player and is a defensive formation. The greatest advantage with this formation is the inability of the opposition to attack simply because the midfielders are at the center.

Also, because there is only 1 forward, it requires the midfielders to push forward which in turn makes the opposition craving to get the possession of the ball.

3-5-2: This comprises of three defenders, five midfielders, and two forwards. This formation has the attacking as well as defending advantage since 2 wingmen get to attack and the center midfielder disallows counter attacking.

3-4-3: The most forceful form of formation on the soccer field diagram that is brought into play when the opposition is defensive. With three defenders, four midfielders and three forwards, the strategy is to mainly attack using the forwards and use the defenders in case the opponents break the defensive line.

There is no particular strategy that can be employed for the entire match. It must change according to the changes in the overall situation of the game. So a coach must be smart enough to rotate the players as per the situations in the game. Even though, any formation can be in an offensive or defensive form.

Good soccer tactics on formations are very important since a team’s victory or defeat depends on it. As the game progresses towards action, the formation should change accordingly.

Now use the soccer field diagram to teach the players in the field. If you would like more information on formations, look no further than our youth soccer coaching community that has tons of information on coaching youth soccer.

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. Learn  how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun by downloading your free ebook at: Soccer Drills.

Let it be known that a soccer conditioning program is the very basis on which the success of any team depends. It is because of soccer exercises which build strength, agility, and endurance that players manage to stay in shape and thus dream to become match winners for their team.

However, there may be situations when you and your team do not get enough days to train before a tournament. This does not suggest you to cut back on your conditioning exercises. You would not want to see your players down with injuries either previous to the match or in the match.

Any well laid down soccer fitness training plan can lead to training players completely in just 3 days time. All you need to do is be honest in carrying out the plan based on some good homework. Here are a few tips to work with short but effective conditioning programs.

Warming up: Guide the players to open with any of these; high knees, jumping, or heel flicks or a five minute jog. Take adequate rest for a few seconds in between. This should be followed by some stretching of muscles for about 5 minutes to tone them up. Be sure to include all the major muscle groups in these soccer workouts.

Soccer Fitness

Running: Some coaches tend to make their players do continuous running. Even though its fine but I’d say that it would be better if players do just soccer specific running. It means that for 20 to 30 minutes, they do a mix of running, jogging, walking, and sprinting in no set order.

This running at varying speeds builds stamina and also helps players control their body. Also, they do not get fatigued since a walk after a sprint balances things out.

Leave it to the individual players to decide what they want to do and when. If they wish to do sprints more than light jogging, there is no harm in it. As the players get fitter and their stamina increases, you can increase the duration of your soccer conditioning program by another 5 to 10 minutes.

Stretching: Impress upon the kids to do stretching after the match as well as a training session. Concentrate on including the whole body but emphasize on hamstrings, groins, quads, calves and lower back. Ensure that the stretching postures are longer than the warm-up sessions. In general, 20 to 30 seconds is recommended.

Instruct the players to take adequate rest a day before the match. This will allow the muscles to recover and also prevent the possibility of an injury. It is also a time to discuss the strategy with them along with boosting their confidence.

Crack jokes so that they get relieved of tension.

Trust me! Once these techniques are applied, your players shall start playing dramatically well. To know more about soccer conditioning, subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community which will leave you richer with resources on youth soccer.

Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn  how to explode your players’ skills and make coaching sessions fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Soccer Drills For Kids.

Soccer conditioning helps the players learn the skill being in command of their body as the game requires them to do so due to its high speed. Steadiness and control should always make to the first few agendas in training as they are a requirement to almost every phase of the game.

Regardless of the position that the players play in, it’s necessary that they experience a constant improvement in their movements. Soccer fitness is based on balance training in the very same way it is based on flexibility training. Balance training starts with learning to control body movements which further helps in building core strength and solidity.

Still balance training is eventually aimed at providing players with a dynamic steadiness. The players get to learn to use their muscles competently and swiftly with the help of balance training. This can also be understood as that balance training has a dual benefit of permitting the players to put up a strong and well synchronized base with the support of fast body moves.

Soccer workouts must include balance training in one form or the other since it connects the creation and dropping the movements. The processing systems in the brain preserve a state of stability which helps the body to be in charge of the bodily moves and reactions. Team’s performance can be improved by teaching these methods or helping them get better for improving their performance on field.

Soccer Fitness

The players will be able to adjust more efficiently to different situations on field once they practice regularly. There are some soccer players who have a limited training experience. This is due the fact that players were not familiarized with these balance training mechanisms. Still their knowledge of the game skills is exemplary.

As such, soccer exercises which consciously include training control and balance for them means introducing a sudden improvement in their performance. A so-so player can also get advantage from the soccer conditioning drills that give more attention to balancing.

That said, balance training need not be too diversified. When all the training material is present, training the players on awkward situations is of no use. Teaching a few things in each exercise set is enough; for example; either in warm up set, weight set, or agility exercise.

You will feel constructive effects if you daily spare just 5 to 10 minutes for the balance training. Ankle and knee joints can be muscled if you keep training yourself on balance. It also helps prevent injuries.

A number of players tend towards the balance training as soon as they suffer body damages. It then becomes more of a rehabilitation process. Again, incorporating balance training in your practice sessions does not guarantee that chances of injury in players will be eliminated. You need to make your joints balance responsive.

So, the players will get alerted to a disturbed emotional setting. It will help them tolerate the rash obligations in the exciting circumstances in contest.

When the essential groundwork of soccer conditioning is done you need to make sure that the exercises must go on as a part of the safeguarding stage. For lots of stuff on youth soccer and information on training plans, come be a part of our youth soccer coaching community.

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make practice sessions fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Soccer Practice.

It breaks my heart to see that soccer conditioning is not given its due importance by the coaches in the game. The kids must be taught this from the very beginning. Not only this, but they must also continue to practice these soccer exercises to advance in the game.

Let us view it from a different outlook. You team members could not practice for a while because of some unforeseen circumstances. They’ve lost touch with even the basic workouts like walking, slow jogging, and running etc for a few weeks.

Now is the day when they are required to get back into the mode of playing again. Isn’t it a terrible thought to start from the very beginning? It will become pretty hard for the players to reach that level of physical work that they were used to since muscles become rigid.

Still, there are a few soccer workouts which do not require the players to again start from where they had left. When in the field, soccer tends to draw from all energy systems of players all the way through the game.

Soccer Fitness

There is this fast acting anaerobic system for high intensity work. And the aerobic system works for a balanced source of energy for longer duration of play. Consequently, the soccer conditioning drills allow the players to again build their resilience without stating form scratch again.

It’s your duty as a coach to create an arrangement which offers a combination of both the energy systems. The plan must be growth oriented which moves from one stage to the next in a predetermined order. This will aid you in working out the entire conditioning part of your program.

The anaerobic energy system utilizes the energy stored in the muscles along with lactic acid, which is the energy metabolism by-product. It aids a ready supply of energy for a limited amount of time. The quantity of anaerobic energy spent by the player is determined by the player’s position on the field as well as the playing pattern of the team.

As an example, the goalie does not move a lot in the field. This gives him an opportunity to sustain his energy for a longer duration.

As long as the body has the energy it requires, the remaining is sustained. When there isn’t sufficient energy, the player feels exhausted. This is the reason that when exercise or training progresses beyond a given pint, players need oxygen to continue the session.

In this soccer fitness routine, the aerobic system combines with the anaerobic system. Their ability to march ahead with great speed and agility will work wonders at the end of the match when opposition is weak.

Don’t take it as a joke. It must be understood that fitness through soccer conditioning is the only way to a winning team. As a coach, it must be at the top of your mind while training young players. You can benefit a lot from our youth soccer coaching community that offers ton of resources targeted at youth soccer. Register now.

Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide visit: Soccer conditioning.