The Golden Years of Youth Soccer Technical Training

One might think this information is for the “little kids” or “inexperienced coaches”, but I hope to drive home a point that all will learn from, soccer technical training often ends too early.

Let me start by going to the “top” so I don’t lose many of you that think technical training doesn’t apply to advanced players.  I will start with two examples, one with a professional player and the second a college bound player.

It goes all the way to the top.

Last year, while working on Blast The Ball and SoccerU, I was fortunate enough to spend time working with several professional players from all over the world. I will use Mac as an example. Mac is now a professional player with the MLS. I spent a couple of afternoons with him and we covered several topics, mainly striking and kicking a soccer ball.  Mac played in college, went to the USL and now is playing in the MLS.  I read a recent interview with him and it was a breath of fresh air. He was humble and grateful for his opportunities. When asked about his transition from the USL to the MLS he stated that play at the USL level was more physical and the MLS was more technical. He was thrilled to be around great teachers and coaches that could work with him to refine many of his skills.

My point? There are many creative, aggressive and physical soccer players, but when you take a look at the very best in the world, you will see very refined technical skills combined with all their other attributes. Only those that continually refine, develop and learn technical skills continue to progress.

The high school and college soccer player.

This past year I worked with many college players and older high school players. Many of the college players played at Division 1 schools and some even had a stint with some pro teams. They were mixed of male and female players. One of the high school players I worked with for over 30 hours had a great comment about the technical training we covered. “If I had this training 4 years ago, I would be going to a different (better) school right now.”  Amazingly this kid was a fantastic player; fast, tall, great creativity, top goal scorer, and more. However, he was humble enough to realize that he has so much more to learn or at least refine.

The same applied to many of the college players. When taken through some of the technical skills many admitted that they never received a “true” technical training session on many skills, even the basics. They simply had to figure it out on their own. Once I showed them the true form and took them back to the basic steps and learning, they all had the same reaction. “I wish I had this training years ago.”

Unfortunately once we get to the higher competitive levels players are focused on conditioning, physical play and tactical work.  Failing to constantly return to basic core technical training is a problem that many upper level players have to deal with.   

Technical training should be the core of youth soccer development.

Unfortunately, especially in the US, we start “playing for the team” or trying to “achieve results” too early. Nothing like the coach of a 10 year old team pacing on the sidelines screaming at his players that they “stink and are playing like a bunch of losers”.  (Yes, an actual quote I heard last year.)  This coach had one problem. He wanted to win like we all do, but he placed that trait of human nature above the needs of his players.

These kids desperately needed general ball handling, dribbling and passing skills work, but you just know that the coach was spending all the practice time on conditioning, set plays and tactical work. I guess his next intended step was to coach with the “premiere leagues”.

Understanding that we are developing “future competitors” is the first step in youth development.  The best training development clubs in the world strictly limit competitive matches and focus on the player’s overall development.  It is pretty widely accepted that once a player hits the age of 16, it is hard to return and teach the skills. 

There are two key factors in developing youth players.

First, is a love for the game. Street soccer, pick up games and non-adult structured soccer games help kids be creative and develop a love for the game. This environment unfortunately no longer exists in the US.  We have to keep in mind that ending all “work sessions” with fun small sided games is critical to kids walking away from all practices thinking, “I want to come back next week.”

This also applies to older players. Just because a player is “advanced” you have to remember that they really are still just a “kid at heart”. 17 year olds love to “play” and have fun too.

Second, is constantly returning to repetitive exposure of all the core skills. Instead of running laps and conditioning for 20 minutes to begin our practices, we should have players touching the ball with basic skills. Dribbling, passing, moves, chesting, heading and all the skills they actually use in a game.

I can’t tell you the number of advancing soccer players I see that struggle to perform basic moves such as pull backs, cuts and feints. They learned them a long time ago, but never practice them. Start EVERY practice the same way. Core movement drills, repeating the basic and essential ball control skills. End every practice the same way; fun, small sided games where the coach is not controlling every move.

Our teachers (coaches) are often not players.

One critical point to training young soccer players is first making sure the “teacher” understands how to teach.  When you combine recreational soccer in with the academy programs the number of coaches that never really played competitive soccer is very high. Some of our surveys had the number at 70%.  (Dad got involved because his son decided to play and the club or program needed “volunteers”.)  However, I will tell you that some of the best youth coaches I have met were not “great players”. They became great coaches because they focused on youth development and core technical training. Their focus was on “what is best for my players” and not “how do I become winning and successful coach”.  It is critical that coaches not only learn how to be a better coach, but also how to teach each individual technical skill the RIGHT way. Forget about the “winning” and focus on the “development”.    

Understand the difference between Immediate and Residual training.

Immediate training includes things that we can control rather quickly but often do not last a long time. For example, at any time a soccer player can get in condition. Working out for about 4 – 6 weeks will get us into playing shape. However, once that stops or the season ends, the conditioning level goes away and we have to return to build it back up.

Technical skills however, are slowly built and refined over several years. Once they are learned, they will continue to stay with us.

A great quote from former U.S. Men’s National Team captain Claudio Reyna, “It’s possible at any time during a player’s career to get into top physical shape or to try to win every game! But you can’t teach skills to an old player. Youth coaches should keep in mind that individual skills need to be nurtured at an early age. Players who haven’t mastered the fundamental skills become frustrated because the game gets too difficult for them as they move into higher levels.”