Prior to receiving the ball, THINK!

I came across the following rules, which I've copied from Active.com:

First Thought Rules

1. Can I score? If not...
2. Is there a player near me that can score? If not...
3. Can I move the ball forward myself? Is there a bunch of open space in front of me that will allow me to move the ball forward without pressure? If not...
4. Can I pass the ball forward? Is there a teammate that can receive the ball that is open, or without too much pressure? If not...
5. Can I pass the ball sideways and use the width of the field / switch the field to find a way forward? If not...
6. Can I safely back pass to a teammate or the keeper? If not...
7. Once we hit step 6, most of our options are gone. So, we should either clear or kick the ball up field or dribble as FAST as we

Improvement Takes Time and Practice

I've been testing my U14 Boys team once a week on a set of skills. My thinking was to prove that "what gets measured gets better." Well, it's been 3 weeks and there have been very modest improvements - but improvements nonetheless.  I'm optimistic that over the remaining 7 weeks we'll see more substantial improvements across the entire team.  On an individual basis, there are some significant improvements with specific skills, particularly the pullbacks and the stop turns.

Week 1 "What gets measured gets better"

For this season I thought that I'd try testing our players every week.  Below are the results from Week 1.  I had hoped that we could get this done in about 10 minutes (30 seconds for each test so 3:30 for each player), but it took us nearly 40 minutes with 17 players  (ended up putting the 17 players present into groups of 3 - one to score, one to receive the passes, and one to test).  I think the next time I'll try groups of two as I think the scorer can score and receive the passes.

Push Left refers to 1-touch push passes using only the left foot.  The repetitions refers to the number of passes that were received by the tester in 30 seconds.  Passes don't count if the tester has to move to receive the ball.  And, the distance is fairly short, say 10 yards.

Push Right refers to 1-touch passes using only the right foot.  Note that I forgot to sort the PushRight data, but you can  probably visualize a curve similar to the PushLeft above.  It's neat to see that the dominant foot (the right) delivers as you would expect.

Pullbacks refers to the "drag-back" move, alternating feet:  say pull back with the right foot, turn 180 degrees, then pull back with the left foot and repeat for 30 seconds.

Cruyff Turns are the classic fake named after Johan Cruyff.  None of my players are doing them proficiently so I'll need to put more time into teaching them how to make the feint.

Dribbling is how many out-and-backs the player can dribble through 4 cones using one foot in one direction and the other foot on the way back (say Left foot on the way out and Right foot on the way back).  The 4 cones are separated by 5 yards so this is about 15 yards out and 15 back for 30 yards total.  I had expected to see some doing 4 repetitions in 30 seconds, but obviously not!

Stop turns refers to the quick stopping of the ball followed by reversing direction.  As with Cruyff, I need to spend more time teaching the skill and the players have to repeat, repeat :)

Push Far refers to long push passes, with either foot.  The length of these is about 20 yards and, like the Push Left and Right, repetitions only count if the scorer can play the ball without moving.

The Talent Code

I recently read "The Talent Code" in which Daniel Coyle argues that talent is developed through deep practice, attitude, and repetition resulting in neurons wrapped in myelin.  It turns out that myelin acts much like an insulator in that it strengthens and accelerates the signals that travel through our neurons.

Neurons get wrapped in myelein as a consequence of deep practice:

Attitude refers to the answer to the question, "how long do you think you'll ...." (play soccer, play your instrument, write essays, compose music).  Those that have a short term commitment (say u14) don't progress as effectively and quickly as those that indicate a long term commitment.

Another observation he made relates to the phrase:  What gets measured gets better.

So, this Spring season I thought that I'd try some experiments on my U14 Boys team.

First:  test all the boys once a week for the 10 weeks - let's see if "What gets measured gets better."

Second, pick a skill and try to get the boys to perform "deep practice".  I'm thinking one-touch passing, which is an essential skills in tiki taka soccer - which I think is best illustrated by Spain's Barcelona club - they're phenomenal!

Third, give each boy a player to emulate - maybe because they share a birth date or month.  The idea is similar to the "how long do you think you'll play soccer" idea.  If the player can see themselves playing for years and / or being like Messi, then they improve.