Z' -X /^</^ ^< and Skills Strategies for > 'J J Co£^4^hing 4/ ^ . v Soccer m an nar&reaves ^y^' // 7>^^^c/ r and Skillfi^ Strategie^i^ for Coaching Soccer MEd Alan Hargreaves, 6" Leisure Press Champaign, Illinois Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hargreaves, Alan, 1933- Skills and strategies for coaching soccer / by Alan Hargreaves. p. cm. ISBN 0-88011-328-6 1. Soccer—Coaching. I. Title. GV943.8.H37 1990 796.334'07'7~dc20 89-35783 CIP ISBN: 0-88011-328-6 Copyright © 1990 by Alan Hargreaves All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or utiliza- tion of this work in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photo- copying and recording, and in any information retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher. Developmental Editor: June I. Decker, PhD Assistant Editor: Timothy Ryan, Robert King Copyeditor: Julie Anderson Proofreader: Dianna Matlosz Production Director: Ernie Noa Typesetter: Brad Colson Text Design: Keith Blomberg 9 Text Layout: Kimberlie Henris Cover Design: Jack Davis Cover Photo: Will Zehr Illustrations: Tim Birkin, John Hartshorn, David Hassall, and Elizabeth Salt Graphic Services: Tim Offenstein and Kimberlie Henris Printer: Versa Press Printed in the United States of America 987654321 10 Leisure Press A Division of Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. Box 5076, Champaign, IL 61825-5076 1-800-747-4457 To my wife, Janet. Digitized by the Internet Arcinive 2010 in http://www.archive.org/details/skillsstrategiesOOharg CONTENTS Preface IX Acknowledgments xi PART PREPARING TO COACH 1 I Chapter 1 Ethics and Coaching Philosophy 3 Soccer as a Lifetime Sport 3 The Meaning and Importance of Good Play 4 What Is Your Philosophy? 5 A Soccer Code of Ethics 6 Chapter 2 Individual Coaching Strategies Coaching Follows Observation 9 Good Diagnosis 10 Coach the Players, Not the Drill 10 Progressive Practices 10 Good Communication 11 Chapter 3 Group Coaching Strategies 15 Good Organization 15 The Grid System of Coaching 16 Good Selection Within Groups 18 Getting the Group Started 19 Keeping Momentum in Your Lesson 19 Accommodating Different Rates of Progress 20 Planning Your Coaching Session 20 vi Contents PART SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES 23 II Chapter 4 Coaching Collecting and Controlling 25 Basic Techniques 25 Ball Juggling 45 Chapter 5 Coaching Passing 51 Basic Techniques of Short Passing 51 Basic Techniques of Long Passing 60 Coaching the Mind of the Passer 63 Coaching the Mind of the Receiver 66 Chapter 6 Passing Games 77 The Enjoyment Factor 11 Controlling Your Practices 78 Games for Beginners 78 Games for Intermediates 80 Games for Advanced Players 83 Larger Game Situations 85 Chapter 7 Coaching Dribbling 91 Coaching Beginners 91 Coaching Intermediates 97 The Transition from Intermediate to Advanced 100 Coaching Advanced Dribbling 103 Chapter 8 Coaching Tackling and Defensive Skills 117 The First Defender 118 The Second Defender 132 The Basic Tackles 137 Chapter 9 Coaching Kicking 149 Teaching Beginners 149 The Instep Drive 151 The Long, Lofted Kick 155 The Volley 157 The Chip 159 The Swerve or Banana Kick 162 Chapter 10 Coaching Shooting 167 Where to Shoot 167 Drills for Beginners 168 Drills for Intermediates 170 Drills for Advanced Players 175 Shooting Games 179 Contents vii Chapter 11 Coaching Heading 185 Drills for Beginners 185 Attacking Heading 189 Drills for Advanced Players 191 Defensive Heading 193 Chapter 12 Coaching Goalkeeping 199 Selecting Your Goalkeepers 199 Goalkeeper Safety 200 Goalkeeper Warm-Ups 200 Dealing With Shots—The Basic Techniques 203 Goalkeeping Drills 205 Diving and Punching Saves 207 Dealing With Crosses 212 Diving at the Feet of an Attacker 215 Narrowing the Angle and Judging Angles 218 Distributing the Ball 223 Chapter 13 Coaching the Throw-In 227 The Basic Action 227 The Long Throw 230 Tactics in Attack 232 Tactics in Defense 241 PART TACTICS AND TEAMWORK 245 III Chapter 14 Understanding Team Play 247 The Three Common Concepts 247 Common Concepts of Attack and Defense 251 Chapter 15 Team Formations and Systems of Play 261 Development of Systems of Play 261 Basic Components of Modern Systems 265 Four Modern Systems of Play 267 Variations of the Basic Systems 272 Selecting a System 275 Individual Duties and Responsibilities 275 Chapter 16 Tactics at Corners and Free Kicks 279 The Short Corner 279 The Long Corner 282 Defense at Corners 286 The Attacking Free Kick 287 Defense of Free Kicks 293 Coaching Set Plays 296 — viii Contents Chapter 17 Coaching Tactics and Teamwork Methods 297 What Do Coach? 297 I Where Do I Coach? 298 How Do I Coach? 298 — Chapter 18 Coaching Tactics and Teamwork Practice Situations 305 Attack Versus Defense Practices 305 Shadow Soccer 307 Positional Practices for Individuals 309 Good Decision Making 313 PART IV TEAM MANAGEMENT 315 Chapter 19 Physical and Mental Preparation for Games 317 Physical Preparation 317 Mental Preparation 322 Chapter 20 Handling Problem Players 327 Prevention, Not Cure 327 The Ball Hog 328 The Violent Player 329 The Timid or Frightened Player 331 The Dictator 333 The Poor Tactician 334 Dropping a Player 336 « Chapter 21 Fitness for Soccer 339 Five Strategies for Fitness Training 339 Cardiorespiratory Fitness 340 Speed 352 Pressure Training 356 SkUl Circuits 357 Glossary 359 About the Author 365