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spurs warm up and drills/coaching advice

Waxman

Active Member
Nov 14, 2003
187
633
Strange as I and everyone on the course and at my club has one and videos.
What county fa did you do yours with and when if you dont mind me asking mate? Poor if you didnt.
Agree some (in the book) are too complicated for certain age groups. Even us adults struggled on the course lol.

My level 1 was last year, and I'm doing level 2 this year. I live in London...not sure which county it was with to be honest! We did get books and other training materials, but none with drills in (like in your photo in the other post)

Our coach was quite specific about not giving us a whole bank of drills to use, as he was encouraging us to be flexible and tailored to our own teams...
 

slartibartfast

Grunge baby forever
Oct 21, 2012
18,320
33,955
My level 1 was last year, and I'm doing level 2 this year. I live in London...not sure which county it was with to be honest! We did get books and other training materials, but none with drills in (like in your photo in the other post)

Our coach was quite specific about not giving us a whole bank of drills to use, as he was encouraging us to be flexible and tailored to our own teams...
Did you go over the four corners guff?
Mine was 5years ago so must be cut backs lol.
 
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fuzzylogic

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2004
4,741
9,098
That kind of thinking has changed to be honest and why ask if you already know everything? You already asked for training tips Spurs do to apply to 10 year olds!!!.
Everybody thinks they are a good coach. Obviously they are not.
The fa want focus on enjoyment and skill development not just setting up to win every game as we have done for decades to our detriment. Getting big lumps and hoofing long ball has gone.
There is no competetive league for mini soccer, no offside until u11. Team, ball and goal size all increase with age. Development is the key word and the fa want everyone across the country singing from the same hyme sheet which is why they make everyone take the Level 1.
Good luck mate but you're going to find things have changed drastically from when you played.
And heres photos of info you SHOULD get on your Level 1.
View attachment 44025

Thing is I never claimed to know everything, maybe I could have explained things a bit better in my original post bbutI was tired and came off a long shift. I wasn't saying I was going to try and do the spurs drills with 10 year olds at any point either. The videos will help trigger ideas, memories etc. Thing is everyone's brain works different it's what makes us all unique. Say for instance I watch 2 players doing something, or a phase of a exercise that triggers a thought an idea. And to try and makes me out to be foolish or whatever you were aiming to do with the 10 year old comment I don't know. Thing is you don't know anything about me. I know football has changed, I
 

slartibartfast

Grunge baby forever
Oct 21, 2012
18,320
33,955
Thing is I never claimed to know everything, maybe I could have explained things a bit better in my original post bbutI was tired and came off a long shift. I wasn't saying I was going to try and do the spurs drills with 10 year olds at any point either. The videos will help trigger ideas, memories etc. Thing is everyone's brain works different it's what makes us all unique. Say for instance I watch 2 players doing something, or a phase of a exercise that triggers a thought an idea. And to try and makes me out to be foolish or whatever you were aiming to do with the 10 year old comment I don't know. Thing is you don't know anything about me. I know football has changed, I
Sorry I came across as bit of a twat earlier but it was the 'idiot guide book' comment that made me bite lol.
I'd just woke up and was tired lol.
Anyway, as I said you'll get lot of ideas and help on the Level 1 and it is all about being creative. Progression is what they want. So you start a drill, add a bit more, then a bit more. 15min max per drill so they dont get bored and try and do games or drills where kids have the ball a lot. Avoid queues. Lining up to do stuff causes attention to drift and before you know it chaos ensues lol.
Really wish you all the best and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
No idea what its like in your county but one thing that does get on my tits in my county big time is this, there isnt a league, mini soccer is non competetive which is a good idea imo BUT what pisses me off is... there are also no divisions, no abilty levels.
In this PC mad world of ours everyone is the same and we're all equal lol. I'm sorry but they're not.
At the start of every season they just chuck all the teams, about 38, together, draw teams out of a hat for the fixtures and then after about 6 games or so they introduce (or are supposed to) whats called the 'traffic light 'system. Theyre supposed to see who has been winning, losing, shipping most goals etc and split the teams into 3 groups, green, yellow and red. After another 6 or so games its reviewed again and teams go up or down a level or stay where they are. This goes on throughout the season. You dont play home and away. You may play 1 team once, some not at all or other 3 times.
The trouble is teams can get absolutely fkin stuffed for over half a season before playing anyone of a similar ability! Nobody likes getting stuffed every week even if it is non competetive. The best teams can go months without actually playing anyone worthwhile, learning absolutely nothing in the process and some players lose interest and quit! Given the whole idea is to take the pressure off players and make it more enjoyable so they dont lose interest or give up I think its fkin stupid frankly. I'm sorry but kids are not all the same. They get disheartened losing every weak and its not because they are rubbish or the coach os shit.
A new team starting at u10 will not be as good as one that has been playin since u7s and winning 90% of their games.
The county fa's know who has been playing since a young age, which teams are the strongest, which are the weakest and which teams are new with fresh players just starting out. It is not hard to put them in some kind of ability based group before the season starts and yet this simply does not happen.
To be honest the traffic light system is not used at all in my region. I've been coaching 4 years and this is the first season I've had fixtures with teams of a similar abilty or lower and we've won most of our games. Last season we didnt play any teams of our ability, and I knew who they were before the season started, until xmas. We got 90% of our wins then. However we are now playing them all again! Whats the point of playing teams we beat 10.0 and 6.0 again? Another team at my club in my age group (u11), may be slightly better than my team, have been getting beaten almost every week as they are playing much better teams and theyve now been given the same teams again in the next batch of fixtures. They won 9 games on the bounce at the start of last season as they had piss easy fixtures. The coach and their players have proper bum ache but they werent moaning last season.
Thats my biggest gripe anyway, fixtures.
If you get similar problem stick with it mate and dont get disheartened. Stopping the kids getting disheartened is the problem.
All the best mate, have a good season.
 
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Waxman

Active Member
Nov 14, 2003
187
633
Did you go over the four corners guff?
Mine was 5years ago so must be cut backs lol.

I referenced the 4 corners in my long message above....

I know that level 1 is now a lot more comprehensive as there was too big a gap between 1 and 2 previously

@fuzzylogic - you don't need your badges to coach these kids. Just use my advice above: fun, engaging, safe being the most important

PM me if you want more tips/advice
 

gp13tot

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2011
1,759
1,278
Loads of control zone drills that can be found on you tube, for passing and shooting. Favoured by barca/la masia, i use them a lot with my lads
 

fuzzylogic

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2004
4,741
9,098
Sorry I came across as bit of a twat earlier but it was the 'idiot guide book' comment that made me bite lol.
I'd just woke up and was tired lol.
Anyway, as I said you'll get lot of ideas and help on the Level 1 and it is all about being creative. Progression is what they want. So you start a drill, add a bit more, then a bit more. 15min max per drill so they dont get bored and try and do games or drills where kids have the ball a lot. Avoid queues. Lining up to do stuff causes attention to drift and before you know it chaos ensues lol.
Really wish you all the best and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
No idea what its like in your county but one thing that does get on my tits in my county big time is this, there isnt a league, mini soccer is non competetive which is a good idea imo BUT what pisses me off is... there are also no divisions, no abilty levels.
In this PC mad world of ours everyone is the same and we're all equal lol. I'm sorry but they're not.
At the start of every season they just chuck all the teams, about 38, together, draw teams out of a hat for the fixtures and then after about 6 games or so they introduce (or are supposed to) whats called the 'traffic light 'system. Theyre supposed to see who has been winning, losing, shipping most goals etc and split the teams into 3 groups, green, yellow and red. After another 6 or so games its reviewed again and teams go up or down a level or stay where they are. This goes on throughout the season. You dont play home and away. You may play 1 team once, some not at all or other 3 times.
The trouble is teams can get absolutely fkin stuffed for over half a season before playing anyone of a similar ability! Nobody likes getting stuffed every week even if it is non competetive. The best teams can go months without actually playing anyone worthwhile, learning absolutely nothing in the process and some players lose interest and quit! Given the whole idea is to take the pressure off players and make it more enjoyable so they dont lose interest or give up I think its fkin stupid frankly. I'm sorry but kids are not all the same. They get disheartened losing every weak and its not because they are rubbish or the coach os shit.
A new team starting at u10 will not be as good as one that has been playin since u7s and winning 90% of their games.
The county fa's know who has been playing since a young age, which teams are the strongest, which are the weakest and which teams are new with fresh players just starting out. It is not hard to put them in some kind of ability based group before the season starts and yet this simply does not happen.
To be honest the traffic light system is not used at all in my region. I've been coaching 4 years and this is the first season I've had fixtures with teams of a similar abilty or lower and we've won most of our games. Last season we didnt play any teams of our ability, and I knew who they were before the season started, until xmas. We got 90% of our wins then. However we are now playing them all again! Whats the point of playing teams we beat 10.0 and 6.0 again? Another team at my club in my age group (u11), may be slightly better than my team, have been getting beaten almost every week as they are playing much better teams and theyve now been given the same teams again in the next batch of fixtures. They won 9 games on the bounce at the start of last season as they had piss easy fixtures. The coach and their players have proper bum ache but they werent moaning last season.
Thats my biggest gripe anyway, fixtures.
If you get similar problem stick with it mate and dont get disheartened. Stopping the kids getting disheartened is the problem.
All the best mate, have a good season.
Sorry I came across as bit of a twat earlier but it was the 'idiot guide book' comment that made me bite lol.
I'd just woke up and was tired lol.
Anyway, as I said you'll get lot of ideas and help on the Level 1 and it is all about being creative. Progression is what they want. So you start a drill, add a bit more, then a bit more. 15min max per drill so they dont get bored and try and do games or drills where kids have the ball a lot. Avoid queues. Lining up to do stuff causes attention to drift and before you know it chaos ensues lol.
Really wish you all the best and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
No idea what its like in your county but one thing that does get on my tits in my county big time is this, there isnt a league, mini soccer is non competetive which is a good idea imo BUT what pisses me off is... there are also no divisions, no abilty levels.
In this PC mad world of ours everyone is the same and we're all equal lol. I'm sorry but they're not.
At the start of every season they just chuck all the teams, about 38, together, draw teams out of a hat for the fixtures and then after about 6 games or so they introduce (or are supposed to) whats called the 'traffic light 'system. Theyre supposed to see who has been winning, losing, shipping most goals etc and split the teams into 3 groups, green, yellow and red. After another 6 or so games its reviewed again and teams go up or down a level or stay where they are. This goes on throughout the season. You dont play home and away. You may play 1 team once, some not at all or other 3 times.
The trouble is teams can get absolutely fkin stuffed for over half a season before playing anyone of a similar ability! Nobody likes getting stuffed every week even if it is non competetive. The best teams can go months without actually playing anyone worthwhile, learning absolutely nothing in the process and some players lose interest and quit! Given the whole idea is to take the pressure off players and make it more enjoyable so they dont lose interest or give up I think its fkin stupid frankly. I'm sorry but kids are not all the same. They get disheartened losing every weak and its not because they are rubbish or the coach os shit.
A new team starting at u10 will not be as good as one that has been playin since u7s and winning 90% of their games.
The county fa's know who has been playing since a young age, which teams are the strongest, which are the weakest and which teams are new with fresh players just starting out. It is not hard to put them in some kind of ability based group before the season starts and yet this simply does not happen.
To be honest the traffic light system is not used at all in my region. I've been coaching 4 years and this is the first season I've had fixtures with teams of a similar abilty or lower and we've won most of our games. Last season we didnt play any teams of our ability, and I knew who they were before the season started, until xmas. We got 90% of our wins then. However we are now playing them all again! Whats the point of playing teams we beat 10.0 and 6.0 again? Another team at my club in my age group (u11), may be slightly better than my team, have been getting beaten almost every week as they are playing much better teams and theyve now been given the same teams again in the next batch of fixtures. They won 9 games on the bounce at the start of last season as they had piss easy fixtures. The coach and their players have proper bum ache but they werent moaning last season.
Thats my biggest gripe anyway, fixtures.
If you get similar problem stick with it mate and dont get disheartened. Stopping the kids getting disheartened is the problem.
All the best mate, have a good season.
Anno I didn't mean offence to anyone especially the poster who my reply was to. I wrote it jumped on my bus and finished my run about 4 hours later. As soon as done it I thought it was wrong but I couldn't halt the bus to edit a reply lol
 

fuzzylogic

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2004
4,741
9,098
@Waxman

Never meant offence with the post.
Thanks I might bend yer ear in PM's about it.

So anyway, I took some of the session tonight and it surprised me a few ways. Bearing in mind I'm not their manager just helping out from time to time

They have nobody working with the keeper, the only action he sees is in shooting practice and the bounce game at the end.
They are total scatterbrains, they are always talking and not concentrating on the task. Is this normal at 10 year old football level?
Also what's the coach etiquette of adjusting his drill he's set up? I kinda took over and adjusted things without saying to him as it just wasn't working.
For a player to be standing still 10-15 seconds in one position waiting on a pass to come isn't really gonna happen or did I jump the gun
 

slartibartfast

Grunge baby forever
Oct 21, 2012
18,320
33,955
@Waxman

Never meant offence with the post.
Thanks I might bend yer ear in PM's about it.

So anyway, I took some of the session tonight and it surprised me a few ways. Bearing in mind I'm not their manager just helping out from time to time

They have nobody working with the keeper, the only action he sees is in shooting practice and the bounce game at the end.
They are total scatterbrains, they are always talking and not concentrating on the task. Is this normal at 10 year old football level?
Also what's the coach etiquette of adjusting his drill he's set up? I kinda took over and adjusted things without saying to him as it just wasn't working.
For a player to be standing still 10-15 seconds in one position waiting on a pass to come isn't really gonna happen or did I jump the gun
Lol it can be. Obviously the younger they are the harder it normally is.
Does depend on the group though. Disruptive players can be a problem.
You dont want to have to continually focus your attention on 1 or 2 players for the wrong reasons.
When my team were younger I had a few who were always messing about.
I set a kind of sin bin and told them if you keep messing about and not listening you're going to sit over there for 5 mins and may not start on Sunday. That worked a bit of but some kids are just too immature or may have other issues like ADHD, problems at home, school etc.
Its a minefield.
At summer tournaments you get some teams, normally the best ones, sitting pitch side watching the games or resting while other are running wild like monkeys on acid climbimg trees knackering themselves out and going on the bouncy castles etc.
 

fuzzylogic

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2004
4,741
9,098
@slartibartfast

I actually know what you mean by that comment, my team was usually the one sitting watching and then smashing the teams who were running around like madmen. Changed days as there's so much more information and issues that are more widely known about now. 20 odd years ago nobody knew that much, or it just wasn't spoken about when I was a lad
 

Waxman

Active Member
Nov 14, 2003
187
633
Lol it can be. Obviously the younger they are the harder it normally is.
Does depend on the group though. Disruptive players can be a problem.
You dont want to have to continually focus your attention on 1 or 2 players for the wrong reasons.
When my team were younger I had a few who were always messing about.
I set a kind of sin bin and told them if you keep messing about and not listening you're going to sit over there for 5 mins and may not start on Sunday. That worked a bit of but some kids are just too immature or may have other issues like ADHD, problems at home, school etc.
Its a minefield.
At summer tournaments you get some teams, normally the best ones, sitting pitch side watching the games or resting while other are running wild like monkeys on acid climbimg trees knackering themselves out and going on the bouncy castles etc.

Sorry to keep picking on your posts. Do NOT threaten to sin bin or in any way punish kids for messing about. They are there to have fun, so do your best to channel that. If they aren't focused it's your fault not theirs

To my first post, keep the instructions to a minimum and let them play something fun...less chance of messing about
 

Waxman

Active Member
Nov 14, 2003
187
633
@Waxman

Never meant offence with the post.
Thanks I might bend yer ear in PM's about it.

So anyway, I took some of the session tonight and it surprised me a few ways. Bearing in mind I'm not their manager just helping out from time to time

They have nobody working with the keeper, the only action he sees is in shooting practice and the bounce game at the end.
They are total scatterbrains, they are always talking and not concentrating on the task. Is this normal at 10 year old football level?
Also what's the coach etiquette of adjusting his drill he's set up? I kinda took over and adjusted things without saying to him as it just wasn't working.
For a player to be standing still 10-15 seconds in one position waiting on a pass to come isn't really gonna happen or did I jump the gun

No offence taken, in fact not sure which post you were supposed to have offended me! ?

Keeper training should be separate...get the keeper playing outfield in these sessions and see if the keeper can go to specific goalkeeper training as extra

All kids of this age mess about. Don't expect them to behave like adults. It's their chance to have fun so don't take that away from them. Ideal world, your training is fun, engaging, safe etc and they see messing about as unnecessary as they're enjoying the session so much

As for etiquette, I have no idea! If I were in your shoes I'd have been talking to the other coach constantly as opposed to just changing his setup
 

ralphs bald spot

Well-Known Member
Jul 14, 2015
2,777
5,177
The kids I trained u11s but used to help out with the older lads as welll - were limited but willing and improved - I think you have to keep it simple and to a degree repetitive and even then something that you think ought to be easy can turn into organised chaos

I used to like the triangle to kids in a tight triangle pass and move teaches them in theory to receive the ball in different situations and even with different feet - the first time I tried balls were going everywhere so we had to walk them through it but in time it improved and some even got good at it to.

For the youngsters who at the very beginning tended to follow the ball splitting the pitch into quadrants was a challenge but it reaped rewards.

I have moved areas and don't have any involvement any longer but for anybody who does especially with the kids who aren't so good its hard word sometimes bloody frustrating but every now and again you do get a wow moment and one of the kids we had at a lesser club got signed by West Ham which is bloody amazing given how they started
 

slartibartfast

Grunge baby forever
Oct 21, 2012
18,320
33,955
Sorry to keep picking on your posts. Do NOT threaten to sin bin or in any way punish kids for messing about. They are there to have fun, so do your best to channel that. If they aren't focused it's your fault not theirs

To my first post, keep the instructions to a minimum and let them play something fun...less chance of messing about
Sorry I disagree about the sin bin. I've seen pro fa coaches do it in their fa skills training courses so do they not know what they're doing?
There's a big difference between having fun with your football training and constantly fuckin about.
As I said some kids are harder to deal with than others.
Oh and it works as all my boys now behave themselves. None of them needed counselling afterwards.
 

NP4_Yid

Well-Known Member
Jun 18, 2008
722
575
Really?

On my level one and two they gave me a book that had them in. It was an A5 book that had a whole range of other stuff as well. Not that it was overall useful but it was a starting point. Plus as you learnt all the different warm up methods for various ages you could note them all down.

There was also a DVD - but to be honest - at the time I didn’t have a DVD player or laptop that could play it.

There’s loads of paid and free websites online for coaching plans as well.

However if you do enjoy coaching the Youth Modules are better after you do your level 1 etc...
I've coached kids from u9s to u16s for the last 6 years at grassroots and academy level - the points you make are spot on regardless of age and ability.
I've worked with some technically brilliant coaches who get very little out of the kids as they can't put it over in a way which engages them and encourages fun. The only reason any of us have ever kicked a ball is for enjoyment, that has to be the number one priority!
 

Waxman

Active Member
Nov 14, 2003
187
633
Sorry I disagree about the sin bin. I've seen pro fa coaches do it in their fa skills training courses so do they not know what they're doing?
There's a big difference between having fun with your football training and constantly fuckin about.
As I said some kids are harder to deal with than others.
Oh and it works as all my boys now behave themselves. None of them needed counselling afterwards.

Maybe they just got older!!
 

soflapaul

Well-Known Member
Aug 18, 2018
8,875
14,962
There are a thousand ways to coach the boys that will work. Some will be good and some will be bad. Overcoaching tends to get mediocre results where unstructured play gets the same. I have been an academy coach for 13 years now and my observations would include
1. Whatever approach you take, make sure you believe in it because the kids will know you are going thru the motions. There is no one "best way" despite what all the experts like to think. I like much of the Coerver method for younger players - massive number of individual touches and small side games. some of the adherents are a bit over the top but it does get good results. (from a basics perspective, i still love Charles Hughes..... Old school but some real gems.) I am now coaching with some South Americans and the results they are getting with their approach is amazing.
2. At the end of the day, their greatest growth will be what they do between practices. if they spend time working on their craft while away from the team, their growth can be exponential. Hence, it seems to me that the number one job of a coach is to instill or nurture that passion for the game.
3. I take all my players aside at the beginning of the season and inform them of the following. First, at 9 and 10 years old, your priority is to master skills and learn tactical basics. Second, you will outwork your competition. Third, your brain is the most important body part when it comes to the game. And finally, if you say the A word (Arse****) your team will be deducted a goal, you will run laps, do pushups and watch from the sideline. We will be a team of gentlemen.
 
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