By Rodney Kenney
The following coaching tips were learned from 30 years of soccer coaching experience. I am not claiming to be a soccer coaching expert, but I do know that the following areas are ones in which I had trouble, and I still see many “experienced” coaches, at all levels, having similar trouble today.
None of us want to learn the hard way, so I hope to be able to give you some easy ways to learn what it took me 30 years to discover. I also believe that by knowing these few tips you will enjoy your coaching experience more and also be able to produce better players and teams.
Never be late for practice: When setting practice times, you should plan to be there at least 15 minutes before the time you want the players to be there. This shows the players you are serious about practice, and expect them to be there on time, ready to practice. Being there 15 minutes early allows you to make sure the practice site is safe, and have the first drill set up. Ending practice on time also shows you respect the players’ needs to schedule their other activities.
What gets rewarded gets repeated: If you like what a player does, tell them so, and see it repeated. Be careful, because some players subconsciously see any response from you as a reward – even negative responses. You certainly don’t want bad things repeated.
I found that when a player does something wrong, they most likely don’t need me to tell them: they know. You can make them better players by relieving the pressure many of them place on themselves when they make a mistake. A positive word, such as: “That was a good try; you’ll get it next time,” will help them put that mistake behind them and regain their concentration.
Discipline is the key to winning: One of the most important things you can do, as a coach is to set standards of conduct for the team and make sure all the players understand them clearly. These standards of conduct are not only for games and practice, but for off-the-field activities also. An example is: “Never say anything, on or off the field, which would discredit a teammate or opponent.” It helps to get parents involved up front, and have them buy into the standards you have set for the team. This will make it somewhat easier to get support from the parents when you must discipline a player.
No coach treats all players the same. It’s just human nature to like some people more than others. However, when it comes to disciplinary standards, all players must be treated alike. If you want to destroy a team’s morale, don’t discipline a star player for an infraction of team rules.
Be a good role model: Always remember it is the coach they follow – good, bad, or indifferent. If you want your players to have good practice habits, you need to plan your practices to meet the team’s needs. That means homework on your part.
If you want your players to say positive things about each other, you say positive things about them.
If you don’t want them arguing with the referees, don’t you question the referees.
I have found that I have more control over most of my players than even their parents do. That’s because I control something they want: more playing time. The trick is not to abuse that power, but to use it as positive reinforcement whenever possible.
Remember people repeat more of what they see than what they hear, so if they hear you say one thing, but see you do something else, guess, which they will do…
Keep the game fun: Research shows that 75% of all youth that get involved in sports drop out by age 12. The research also gives two main reasons why: pressure from parents, and problems with coaches. There is not much we can do about parents, but do encourage them to always make positive comments to their young players.
We can make a difference on the coach’s end of the problem. First is to understand that as a coach you should not be judged by your win/loss record, but by how much your players learn and how much fun they have doing it. Another thing is to eliminate the players’ stress of thinking they must win every game. If you are scheduling only games you can win, you may be feeding your ego, but you are cheating your players into thinking that the effort they are giving is all that’s necessary to be a real winner. They will be very upset when they find they can’t compete at the next higher level, because you made it too easy for them.
Of course, no one likes to lose all the time either, so a balanced schedule of games you can win along with games the players must work hard to win, is best.
Don’t let your need to win keep you from building winners.
Keep practices economical: Don’t waste time with a lot of standing around. If players are standing for more than two minutes during any activity, that activity is not economical and needs to be restructured. Plan your practices using at least two of the four elements of the game — fitness, technical, tactical, or mental — for every segment of your practice. How long you practice depends on the age, ability, and skill level of your players. A good rule of thumb is to not make your practices longer than the time you play in a game. As an example, U-19’s and above play 90:00 minutes, so 90:00 minutes plus breaks is a good practice time.
Remember you are practicing to play the game so don’t spend a lot of time on things that are, at best, a small part of the game, such as free kicks, PKs, and throw-ins.
If you don’t do it in the game, don’t do it in practice. A lot of long distance running without the ball is not as game related as short sprints with the ball. The latter activity also works more on the type of fitness and skills needed for the game.
Always try to end practice with an activity the players like to do. This will be what they remember most about practice, and will make them want to come back for more.
Know your players, personally: You cannot coach someone without knowing what their needs are. Attempting to coach someone without knowing them personally is like borrowing a bicycle and finding out, once you get rolling, that the brakes don’t work. You’re headed for a crash. You need to know their previous training, what their family is like, what gets them upset, what calms them down, and what their physical and mental limitations are.
Ask questions, such as: What are your expectations? What motivates you? What do you think you can add to this team? And what can I, as coach, do to help you?
Play the parents as much as you play their kids: This may sound strange to you, but the failure of most youth coaches can be directly attributed to parents. To be successful you must have your players believing in you at all times. Parents can sow seeds of doubt that will hurt your effectiveness as a coach.
The answer to this serious problem is to spend time communicating with the parents. Make them part of the team. Give them a job. This will require them to take some personal responsibility for the success or failure of the team.
I have worked with a number of coaches who say, “I am here to work with the players, I don’t care what the parents think.” Those coaches always have problems, with both the players and the parents. Always remember that parents are the ones who pay the bills.
Coaching during the game:Â I would like to share a story with you about coaching during the game. While I was coaching a U-12 team many years ago, I had a young player who made a run on the right side of the field and received a great ball. As he headed to the goal, one-on-one with the keeper, I was screaming for him to shoot. He attempted the shot, only to hit a puddle of water that was hidden from me by the grass. The ball went maybe 10 feet, and the goalkeeper came out and collected the ball.
At half time, the player told me that if I had let him dribble just two more feet, he would have been out of the water and would have had a much better shot.
That single incident taught me how things look on the field is much different than what they look like from the sidelines. Since then I have waited to do my coaching during half time and at practice.
Don’t paralyze your players: I have seen many coaches paralyze some of their best, most creative players just by their coaching methods during games. Let me give you an example: While serving as Advanced Coaching Director, I was watching a U-16 advanced match. I noticed this very athletic and creative player who was doing many good things, but in his creativity, he would make a mistake every once in a while. As soon as he made a mistake, the coach would sub him out.
In the second half, after being substituted in and out about five times, he went in and just stood. I made my way around to the coach and asked him what player Number 14 was doing.
After watching him for a minute, the coach started to yell at him about standing around, and looked to the bench for a sub.
I stopped the coach and told him the player was not standing, but was paralyzed by his coaching method of substituting him every time he made a mistake. The coach had turned a very useful and creative player into a mental paraplegic in one game.
Look for and encourage creativity. Don’t stifle it. Understand that even Pelé made mistakes, but he was encouraged to keep trying.
You don’t coach the referees: A very serious mistake that many coaches make is to tell the players after a loss that: “If we had a good referee things would have been different.”
A coach who blames his losses on the referee, and dwells on referees’ mistakes during the game is missing things that could help his team do better in the next game. As a coach, you will not get a chance to work on correcting the mistakes the referee made in your last game. You will be able to work on the problems your team had in the game.
You also give your players the impression that they don’t need to improve since it was the referee’s fault they lost.
I have seen teams go for years looking for that elusive winning referee.
Coaches who lose 1-0 on a penalty kick, and then blame the referee for giving the other team the game have always amazed me. How did that coach expect to win when his team couldn’t even score a goal?
Referees make mistakes, but I have won as many games on referees’ mistakes as I have lost.
A good coach never stops learning: A good coach is always reviewing drill books, training tapes, and other coaching publications. You see them taking advantage of any coaching clinics that are offered. They see as many higher-level games as they can, looking for new tactical ideas to bring to their team. They make themselves aware of the new law changes, and club, league, and state association rule changes. They have their CPR and first aid certification, and are familiar with the common soccer injures and their proper treatment.
A good coach has an open mind and is willing to learn from anyone. If you think you know it all, you probably don’t know much...
Don’t wear out your players: The human body, like a car engine, will break down from excessive use if not properly tuned up and cared for. Many coaches over train their players until their bodies and minds just will not function at 100% anymore. At that point, these coaches think their players are just lazy.
When muscles are tired, the chance for injury increases dramatically. The fact is that rest is sometimes more important than practice.
The year I was head coach at the University of North Florida, we were an average Division 2 team. Part of our regimen was a number of rest days a week. On those days the players were not allowed to touch a soccer ball. At the end of the year, we were beating teams that were ranked in the top 10 in the nation, because our starting 11 were all healthy, both physically and mentally. Many of the opposing teams’ starters were injured or just not mentally sharp. Don’t forget to take a break; it could make you the winner in the end.
Coaching girls versus boys: There are a few generalizations that seem to hold true when coaching boys as opposed to girls. With boys you coach egos and with girls you coach emotions.
Boys come ready to compete on the soccer skill and ability level, while girls tend to put their social skills ahead of their soccer skills. Knowing this can help you manage your players. As and example, when one of my high school players showed up ten minutes late for practice I sent her home, telling her she could return tomorrow on time, ready to practice. Punishment for a boy would be to do extra drills. Sending a boy home is more like a reward, to a girl, being sent home is devastating, because they will miss some social time with their teammates. Challenging their egos motivates boys. Saying something good or bad about their behavior in front of their teammates usually produces the desired results. In the case of girls, saying anything good or bad in front of their teammates will offend them or someone else on the team. The best way to get results with girls is to scold or praise them together as a team, but only scold or praise them individually in private.
Now, after saying all of that, every player is an individual, and some may not fit the generalizations I just mentioned, so as I said before, know your players.           Â
Coaching is also teaching life skills: Always remember playing in all youth sports is a life-skill learning experience. By that I mean what is learned from playing youth sports will teach the participants how to work as a team, cope with physical and mental stress, and deal with losing, winning, and authority. Other life skills learned through sports include how to develop a good work ethic, and maintain physical fitness for the rest of one’s life.
As coach you are teaching all these things, so take your coaching job seriously. We are not only producing good soccer players but also good citizens.
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