Just in case you thought I was making it up that chocolate milk was a good snack after a game:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/10/30/benefits-chocolate-milk-after-your-workout/?test=faces
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
What is a captain?
Captains have responsibilities toward both the players and the coaches. Two of them will be elected by the players at our Thursday, 9/29 practice. They will serve as captains through the end of our fall season and will have arm bands to wear in games.
From the perspective of players, the captains should be leaders that the players are willing (and hopefully eager) to follow. We coaches will generally try to make sure that at least one is on the field at all times. They are expected to make decisions regarding who takes corner kicks, free kicks, and penalty kicks. They are expected to encourage players on the field, spur them on to a higher level of play, and keep players focused and optimistic through the end of every game. They should have a good understanding of the game so that their advice and instructions are trusted and well received by the players.
From the perspective of coaches, players help to organize practices and model the best behavior at practices. They should be diligent to arrive on time -- or even early -- to practices. They should through their own example and encouragement get the team to organize quickly for drills and keep mentally focused. I will often say, "Captains, form up two teams" or "Captains, break players up in to four equal groups". They should organize warm-ups once practice begins, and lead in any stretching that we do. They will pick teams for scrimmages, not by schoolyard rules but through consultation with each other to create teams relevant to the goals the coaches communicate to them for a scrimmage.
Shalrie Joseph has been the captain of the New England Revolution for a few years. One game will stick in my mind forever. In 2010, their backup goalkeeper Preston Burpo suffered a horrific (career-ending, as it turned out) leg break in a game. It was awful, and you could see that Shalrie was immediately shocked and sickened when he saw it. Players were devastated all over the field, with some of them lying face down on the field sobbing. It was Shalrie who went to each of them, picked them up, encouraged them, helped them recover and get their heads back in the game. And he helped to escort Preston Burpo's stretcher off the field, comforting him as he went. I turned to my son (a captain at the time) and said, "That's what a captain does."
God forbid we ever experience something like that! And I don't expect we will. But there will come times when we will fall behind in games and start thinking we're going to lose. It's up to the captains -- far more than the coaches -- to keep players' heads in the game, confidence up, and spirits bouyant.
Being a captain is not for everyone. This year, I will only list names for voting if the players have indicated to me that they wish to stand for election. I will make this clear at practices this week and next, and I will expect candidates to have read this post to understand the expectations.
From the perspective of players, the captains should be leaders that the players are willing (and hopefully eager) to follow. We coaches will generally try to make sure that at least one is on the field at all times. They are expected to make decisions regarding who takes corner kicks, free kicks, and penalty kicks. They are expected to encourage players on the field, spur them on to a higher level of play, and keep players focused and optimistic through the end of every game. They should have a good understanding of the game so that their advice and instructions are trusted and well received by the players.
From the perspective of coaches, players help to organize practices and model the best behavior at practices. They should be diligent to arrive on time -- or even early -- to practices. They should through their own example and encouragement get the team to organize quickly for drills and keep mentally focused. I will often say, "Captains, form up two teams" or "Captains, break players up in to four equal groups". They should organize warm-ups once practice begins, and lead in any stretching that we do. They will pick teams for scrimmages, not by schoolyard rules but through consultation with each other to create teams relevant to the goals the coaches communicate to them for a scrimmage.
Shalrie Joseph has been the captain of the New England Revolution for a few years. One game will stick in my mind forever. In 2010, their backup goalkeeper Preston Burpo suffered a horrific (career-ending, as it turned out) leg break in a game. It was awful, and you could see that Shalrie was immediately shocked and sickened when he saw it. Players were devastated all over the field, with some of them lying face down on the field sobbing. It was Shalrie who went to each of them, picked them up, encouraged them, helped them recover and get their heads back in the game. And he helped to escort Preston Burpo's stretcher off the field, comforting him as he went. I turned to my son (a captain at the time) and said, "That's what a captain does."
God forbid we ever experience something like that! And I don't expect we will. But there will come times when we will fall behind in games and start thinking we're going to lose. It's up to the captains -- far more than the coaches -- to keep players' heads in the game, confidence up, and spirits bouyant.
Being a captain is not for everyone. This year, I will only list names for voting if the players have indicated to me that they wish to stand for election. I will make this clear at practices this week and next, and I will expect candidates to have read this post to understand the expectations.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Important upcoming soccer games to watch
FC Barcelona (the reigning Spanish and Champions League champions) are playing AC Milan (the reigning Italian champion) on Tuesday (9/13) at 2:00 PM on Fox Soccer Channel.
We're recording it and watching it that evening. Contact me if you think you'd like to come.
We're recording it and watching it that evening. Contact me if you think you'd like to come.
The importance of aiming -- part 2
I was chatting with my brother (a coach for 25 years) last night regarding this idea of aiming to improve. He mentioned the example of Paul Mariner.
Paul Mariner was a great English striker in the 70s and 80s. A few years ago, he was the assistant coach for the New England Revolution (serving under another great former player, Steve Nicol).
Paul once told my brother what his personal training regimen was growing up. After his practices, he would stick around after and knock 100 balls into the goal... but not aimlessly. On Mondays, he would aim for the bottom left corner of the goal, 50 with each foot, using a cone to help define the success zone. On Tuesdays, he would aim for the bottom right... Each day of the week had a different specific location.
After he became proficient, he increased his challenge by not letting himself leave until he had 100 successful shots into each aimed spot.
Dedication + aiming helped make him a successful goal-scorer, notching 175 professional goals and 13 international goals in his 15-year career.
Paul Mariner was a great English striker in the 70s and 80s. A few years ago, he was the assistant coach for the New England Revolution (serving under another great former player, Steve Nicol).
Paul once told my brother what his personal training regimen was growing up. After his practices, he would stick around after and knock 100 balls into the goal... but not aimlessly. On Mondays, he would aim for the bottom left corner of the goal, 50 with each foot, using a cone to help define the success zone. On Tuesdays, he would aim for the bottom right... Each day of the week had a different specific location.
After he became proficient, he increased his challenge by not letting himself leave until he had 100 successful shots into each aimed spot.
Dedication + aiming helped make him a successful goal-scorer, notching 175 professional goals and 13 international goals in his 15-year career.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The importance of aiming (intention)
Have you ever noticed that most boys (and girls, too, but my team is a boys team) by age 12 or so can throw the ball pretty accurately to you most of the time at various distances and even when moving? If you asked them what were all the factors that they took into account (distance, angle, power, wind speed, gravitational pull, etc.), they'd probably look at you like, "huh?" They just throw it, and it gets to you.
It's instinctual for them because they've spent years aiming their throws. Virtually every time a boy throws a ball, he has a particular, small place he wants it to go, and he aims for that spot. And there is strong positive feedback for an accurate throw (the thwap of a glove, "great throw!", "out at home!") and negative feedback for inaccurate throws (running after missed balls, "safe!"). It's rare when a kid throws a ball where he doesn't consciously or subconsciously register it as a success or a failure. Do it enough times, and those feedback loops get into his subconscious, and he learns how to calibrate throws to near perfection.
Think particularly about baseball. Almost every throw in the game has immediate feedback. A pitch is a strike (good), a ball (bad, usually), or struck (good or bad, depending upon whether the player makes it to base). Trying to throw someone out at a base either succeeds or fails. If the ball is overthrown, that's particularly drastic because opponents get extra bases. No one needs to be explicitly told about their success or failure; the feedback is built into the game, and players can easily self-assess against it. Most kids who play it with any seriousness spend time outside of games honing their skills based on their memories of success and failure (and hopes for future success).
Soccer suffers from a lack of clear feedback loops, and players' skills suffer as a result.
In shooting, the goal is 8 ft by 24 feet, giving lots of room for success for a shot that is far off from where it is was actually aimed. Lots of shots that miss wide or high by a yard or two are lauded for being "so close". And even shots right to the goalie are congratulated for at least being "on net".
In passing, anything sent in the vicinity of a teammate has a fair chance of ending up in the possession of that teammate or another, though he might not be anywhere near the best spot. And an intercepted pass just isn't that big of a deal.
At young ages, any big kick on a clearance or attempt at a header is applauded, regardless of where it ends up.
I'm not trying to say -- at all -- that giving such encouragement is wrong. It isn't. Kids should be encouraged, because the game is first and foremost about fun.
But we need to recognize that kids won't excel in their skills unless they have frequent opportunities to distinguish between success and failure, and get their subconscious mind trained for success. The time to do that is primarily in their training, formal and informal.
One of the best ways to accelerate one's skills is individual training, especially wall work. Bang a ball against a wall 100 times a day, and you will improve.
But, intentionally aim every one of those 100 kicks, and you will improve tons. See how many times out of 20 you can hit that spot on the wall, then better your record. See if you can keep up a pattern of volleys with one bounce between, and aim each one for that smiley face on the wall. If you are juggling, don't just try to keep it in the air; try alternating between your feet each time, or intentionally doing one foot 5 times in a row, etc.
If you aim for something and succeed, your brain locks in what you did right. If you fail and let yourself acknowledge that failure, your brain will adjust next time to try something else that might make it better.
This is why I will be stressing a lot this season about intention. Players should strive to make each action have a purpose, a goal, an aim. If players develop that habit, and self-assess their success or failure against their intentions, they will improve dramatically.
In the coaching philosophy email I sent out before, a few people expressed concern about my section on intention, that it seemed too harsh. On re-reading it and placing myself in the position of someone who doesn't know me, I agree! That section, and the whole email, would have benefited from me re-reading it with a couple days space before sending it out. In the rush to get the season started, that didn't happen.
My principal concern is to get the kids to think about their actions and to self-assess. It's hard to get to that place without some external assessments and positive and negative feedbacks. But my email made it seem like I would establish some sort of Pavlovian environment of punishments and rewards. That's not the intention. The goal is to strike a balance that will keep things fun for the kids, but motivate them to excel.
To that end, I will be scrapping the idea of push ups after shooting straight at the goalie. I'm convinced based on feedback and further reflection that it would be counter-productive. I have other thoughts about how to handle that more positively (bonuses for shots at the edges of the goals).
Players will still shag there own wide shots. That's a time-honored practice. Someone's got to get the ball, after all, and the kids like the excitement of a brief man advantage while that's happening.
It's instinctual for them because they've spent years aiming their throws. Virtually every time a boy throws a ball, he has a particular, small place he wants it to go, and he aims for that spot. And there is strong positive feedback for an accurate throw (the thwap of a glove, "great throw!", "out at home!") and negative feedback for inaccurate throws (running after missed balls, "safe!"). It's rare when a kid throws a ball where he doesn't consciously or subconsciously register it as a success or a failure. Do it enough times, and those feedback loops get into his subconscious, and he learns how to calibrate throws to near perfection.
Think particularly about baseball. Almost every throw in the game has immediate feedback. A pitch is a strike (good), a ball (bad, usually), or struck (good or bad, depending upon whether the player makes it to base). Trying to throw someone out at a base either succeeds or fails. If the ball is overthrown, that's particularly drastic because opponents get extra bases. No one needs to be explicitly told about their success or failure; the feedback is built into the game, and players can easily self-assess against it. Most kids who play it with any seriousness spend time outside of games honing their skills based on their memories of success and failure (and hopes for future success).
Soccer suffers from a lack of clear feedback loops, and players' skills suffer as a result.
In shooting, the goal is 8 ft by 24 feet, giving lots of room for success for a shot that is far off from where it is was actually aimed. Lots of shots that miss wide or high by a yard or two are lauded for being "so close". And even shots right to the goalie are congratulated for at least being "on net".
In passing, anything sent in the vicinity of a teammate has a fair chance of ending up in the possession of that teammate or another, though he might not be anywhere near the best spot. And an intercepted pass just isn't that big of a deal.
At young ages, any big kick on a clearance or attempt at a header is applauded, regardless of where it ends up.
I'm not trying to say -- at all -- that giving such encouragement is wrong. It isn't. Kids should be encouraged, because the game is first and foremost about fun.
But we need to recognize that kids won't excel in their skills unless they have frequent opportunities to distinguish between success and failure, and get their subconscious mind trained for success. The time to do that is primarily in their training, formal and informal.
One of the best ways to accelerate one's skills is individual training, especially wall work. Bang a ball against a wall 100 times a day, and you will improve.
But, intentionally aim every one of those 100 kicks, and you will improve tons. See how many times out of 20 you can hit that spot on the wall, then better your record. See if you can keep up a pattern of volleys with one bounce between, and aim each one for that smiley face on the wall. If you are juggling, don't just try to keep it in the air; try alternating between your feet each time, or intentionally doing one foot 5 times in a row, etc.
If you aim for something and succeed, your brain locks in what you did right. If you fail and let yourself acknowledge that failure, your brain will adjust next time to try something else that might make it better.
This is why I will be stressing a lot this season about intention. Players should strive to make each action have a purpose, a goal, an aim. If players develop that habit, and self-assess their success or failure against their intentions, they will improve dramatically.
In the coaching philosophy email I sent out before, a few people expressed concern about my section on intention, that it seemed too harsh. On re-reading it and placing myself in the position of someone who doesn't know me, I agree! That section, and the whole email, would have benefited from me re-reading it with a couple days space before sending it out. In the rush to get the season started, that didn't happen.
My principal concern is to get the kids to think about their actions and to self-assess. It's hard to get to that place without some external assessments and positive and negative feedbacks. But my email made it seem like I would establish some sort of Pavlovian environment of punishments and rewards. That's not the intention. The goal is to strike a balance that will keep things fun for the kids, but motivate them to excel.
To that end, I will be scrapping the idea of push ups after shooting straight at the goalie. I'm convinced based on feedback and further reflection that it would be counter-productive. I have other thoughts about how to handle that more positively (bonuses for shots at the edges of the goals).
Players will still shag there own wide shots. That's a time-honored practice. Someone's got to get the ball, after all, and the kids like the excitement of a brief man advantage while that's happening.
Important upcoming soccer games to watch
The US Men's National Team has two friendlies coming up:
U.S. vs. Costa Rica
9/2, 11:00 PM EDT, ESPN2, ESPN3.com, Galavision
U.S. vs. Belgium
9/6, 2:30 PM EDT, ESPN, ESPN3.com
More details at http://www.ussoccer.com/.
I will be away from home for both of those games, but will be recording them.
U.S. vs. Costa Rica
9/2, 11:00 PM EDT, ESPN2, ESPN3.com, Galavision
U.S. vs. Belgium
9/6, 2:30 PM EDT, ESPN, ESPN3.com
More details at http://www.ussoccer.com/.
I will be away from home for both of those games, but will be recording them.
Spartan Soccer blog
This is a blog dedicated to the U14 Spartans. It is principally a way for me, the coach, to publish articles that are relevant to players and parents who want more information beyond the necessary announcements that I mail out to the team list.
The blog will be cagey about the location of the team, and will not post the names of players or coaches, beyond coaches' initials.
If you are interested in knowing when new posts appear on the blog, you should be able to easily set up email notification. Feel free to post comments, as well, but please don't divulge personal information while doing so. I will edit out personal information to the extent that I am able.
The blog will be cagey about the location of the team, and will not post the names of players or coaches, beyond coaches' initials.
If you are interested in knowing when new posts appear on the blog, you should be able to easily set up email notification. Feel free to post comments, as well, but please don't divulge personal information while doing so. I will edit out personal information to the extent that I am able.
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