Transitioning from 9v9 to 11v11 tips
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Anonymous
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My daughter was just told during our last practice that the coach would like her to move to the 06 team that's making a strong league and tournament run in the spring. She's excited, scared, and riddled with questions, as a parent I want to support her and therefore poking around here to see what your suggestions would be such as videos, links to sites, etc. Just to reduce the amount of questions, the 06 and 07 age group has 3 teams each and she's currently on the 1st team of the 07s. Physically she can easily blend with the 06s since some of them played together at u9 prior to the age group change. I'm more concerned about change in game play with the larger field and the additional 4 players. What are some tips I can share with her about her position (attacking center midfielder in 9v9, but coaches are thinking a winger in 11v11) on the field.
I expressed to her that this is a great opportunity even though she would be leaving her teammates, but when you are the only new kid on the team coming in mid season with middleschoolers I can see where she would have hesitation. So give me what tips you may have around the game play tips, I can handle the emotional component..I think. |
Anonymous
What league is the 06 team? Different expectations between ECNL, GDA, etc. |
Anonymous
This stretch of off season time is important. During this time, I would ask her how interested she is in spending two days a week using an app like Techne (http://www.technefutbol.com/ and another two days a week working on speed and agility. Nothing makes a player's skill look diminished more than rust and exhaustion. The touches will clean up any rust and the speed and agility addresses the soccer-specific conditioning that is called on most when playing. |
Anonymous
EDP |
Anonymous
So they are still doing 2 a week practices, but both indoors. As for physical training, she runs with my husband and her older brother at least 3 times a week. Except for when it's freezing like today! I'll take a look at the website, I had not heard of that before. |
Anonymous
| I'd caution you/anyone else in this situation to be careful.....it can be very flattering to hear stuff like this, but sometimes what it means is they don't have enough talent in the age group that they need to poach. The "strong run" might simply be a long, drawn out beating. |
Anonymous
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Tips for your daughter? Keep doing the same things at 11v11 she did at 9v9. The fundamentals don't change on the larger field. Keep connecting 5, 10, 15 yard passes on the ground. Play out of pressure. Keep possession. Work on touch so she can receive the ball from anywhere and control it.
No child transitioning to 11v11 can properly use all of the field because no one can strike a 40-yard ball consistently and accurately. Just keep doing the basics, correctly. The kids will take some time to grow into the size of the field. They'll be a little more tired from more running. A through ball to an open forward is no longer a 20-yard breakaway, it is a 50-yard run. And there is no longer a small space into which a through ball can be played, but rather an entire half of the field. If anything, your daughter should work on another fundamental skill of striking long balls, but learn how to use them judiciously. Don't worry, it all comes in time. |
Anonymous
I start by really looking at the situation and seeing if this is the right move for her developmentally. "Playing up" is done way too often (in my opinion), usually to the detriment of the player. Is the move from attacking mid to wing because they don't think she will be comfortable handling the ball and creating opportunities when playing against older players? Will she play less than she does now? Will she get fewer touches on the ball in training and in games? All important things to consider... Does her playing up benefit her, or does it benefit the 2006 team? My daughter's club (very large and successful club in another state), NEVER plays players up on older teams until they are u14/15. Even then, the player would have to be top 5 on the team they are moving up to. They do occasionally have a few younger kids "train up"--practice one day per week with an older team. That is of far greater benefit to the player, in my opinion. |
Anonymous
I'd also be cautious of a club that is focused on results ("making a league and tournament run") at u13... the best clubs for player development generally don't chase results until u16 and above. |
Anonymous
OMG everyone, put it in perspective. The kid is playing 11v11 3 months early. Her 9v9 career is over by June. This is not a big deal. Play up for the spring and reevaluate which team to be on for next fall. |
Anonymous
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Some tips from following closely my son's transition from U12 DA (9-sided) to U13 DA (playing "up" occasionally, which meant switching back and forth between 9 and 11-side) a couple of years back, then eventually (with his own team) to U14 DA.
- Positioning. Becomes much more critical on a large field. I have seen this to be more of a challenge for the extremely fast, all-action players who are used to running all over the field. On the larger field, positioning becomes far more important, regardless of how fast one is. The key thing here is patience, and to learn to be tactical, which is a long process that much older players are still learning with every game. Watching a lot of games (entire games, including the "boring" parts, not just the goals, great moves, and highlights) helps. While watching, my son was advised to focus on the movement and positioning of a few great players who play his position (midfield), and especially defensive positioning, regardless of where the action is on-field - a little hard on TV, but still possible. He was also asked to change some habits: (a) run "less"; (b) not attempt any dribbles past multiple players in the defensive half; and (c) to recognize that the speed of the play - which needs to be high in possession to break down any decent team - depends on the speed at which the ball is moved, and not the speed at which he runs. - Paying close attention to the tactical tips provided by coaches. Some coaches are better than others in communicating the tactical differences going from a smaller to a full field. A good coach will constantly find little tactical things that the team as a whole, and individual players, can improve on. Playing on the wing, the tricky decisions your player will have to make constantly are when to drop, when to make the runs behind the defense when the team has possession (stay wide or cutting in), and when to sit back in midfield even with possession to create overloads and little triangles with central midfielders and the wing back. Lot of this is instinct that she will develop over time, but good coaching, and reminders during or just after games or during video sessions (if any), can speed up the process. - Trusting teammates while defending. Sounds easy, but for a player who was a leader on his/her 9-side team, and thus used to helping out teammates in trouble by hustling on a small field, this is non-trivial. On a large field, and assuming the team is playing at a high level, every player should be capable of holding his/her own most of the time, and hustling to help out a teammate on defense can lead to leaving someone (or some space) open, which any average attacking player can exploit. The best help one can provide in defense may be to track runs of attackers who don't have the ball and/or defend open spaces (against runners from the deep). This of course changes if a striker is running on to a long ball one-on-one with one defender, where whoever is closest should help out the defender. - Team dynamics. This in my limited experience can affect wide players more, especially while playing "up" on a new team. I have seen many instances where a team in possession keeps forcing the ball through the middle or one side because maybe they are not used to playing with and trusting the other winger, or whatever. Even the best center-mids and center backs can show this trait - they are kids after all, and no one is trained in La Masia  The new player (winger) in these circumstances has to be patient. Help out a lot on defense, keep showing for the ball (even if it is not passed to her enough), be vocal without being a pest, help the central players and defenders by constantly moving and providing them with outlets, and over time things will improve. Above all, if deprived of the ball for long stretches of time, when she does get it, not try to do too much and keep things simple. Connect on quick, simple passes, and take dribbles only when necessary (to get out of trouble or in the opposition third). Over time, she will get the ball more, and will have many more chances to do more with it when she does get it. One thing to keep in mind though is that the ability to get the wings into play depends a lot on the technical quality of the central players. If these players do not have the right body positioning, vision and passing ability, the ball will keep flying vertically or to one side of the field. This is an under-appreciated, but critical skill, and it's really up to the coach to develop these skills.
- Finally, the very obvious things for the player to remember. Longer passes need to be hit harder on a larger field, esp cross field passes that are more likely to be intercepted as they have to travel longer distances, straight-line speed becomes more important, esp. for the wing players who often have to track the opposing wing players, who will always be fast on a good team. Every wing player will at some point of time play against someone who is faster, and would need to adjust accordingly (how close you play them, where and how you dribble, when you cross). Creating the right angles for passing lanes are very important and take adjusting to when the field size changes. Playing back is much easier usually on a larger field, including to the goalkeeper, and it's an option that players transitioning from smaller field often forget or are not used to. - For the player (and the parents), important to realize that the no. of touches one gets during a game may decline a lot as the field size increases, especially if one is playing on a team that is not possession-oriented or plays a lot against bigger, faster teams. That's ok, and one can have a perfectly fine game even with limited no. of touches, by just doing her job well defensively and passing accurately - something kids find very hard to accept. A smart coach (and parents) will appreciate little-noticed, smart plays, even without the ball, that do not get the cheers but are crucial elements of a player's and team's development. Example: wing back overlaps, dribbles past 2 players, plays a quick 1-2 with a midfielder and launches a great cross that almost gets headed in for a goal. As everyone is cheering for her and ruing the missed chance, the ball gets launched to the opposing team's winger who is on the side that is unprotected, where there are acres of space, which pulls one of the center backs out, leaving their striker acres of space to run into with just one center back in tow, where the winger can just play the ball as the center back near her tries to close down. Rather, this would have happened, but the winger in your team had the smarts to drop as the wing back bombed forward, and is now the one who is harrying and delaying the opposing winger with the ball, allowing enough time for the defense to set and the danger to be averted. The winger who decided to protect the space behind the wing back without trying to join the attack, reading that they have enough players in the box, and that the space behind has to be covered against an easy counter-attack, may not even have touched the ball, but deserves appreciation from the coach and team fans for her presence of mind and tactical nous. Too often, that does not happen. Too long a post now I see. Just to defend myself against those who might find all this to be rubbish, these are just my untrained views. I am not a coach, just a keen observer of the game - from kiddie level to pros - throughout my life. Played some soccer growing up, but was never good enough to make it beyond high school soccer, albeit in a country that is mad about soccer. |
Anonymous
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Physically it is a big jump but if she's already been doing extra running that should help.
As far as tactical instructions - the best tip you could give her is to listen to her coaches. Unless the coaches are giving specific tactical instructions to you about what she should be doing in her position, you will likely do more harm than good trying to give her advice. By the fact that you are even asking this question, I take it you are aware that you are not an expert in the game (which is a good thing to be aware of), so leave the coaching to the experts. In terms of individual tactical roles, there is not as much difference between 9v9 and 11v11 as you probably think. Other posters have raised some good points though. If your daughter is being moved up because she is dominant in her age group and needs to be challenged more in order to develop, that's one thing. If that is really the case, I would advise looking into moving her to a higher level team in her own age group next year. If she is just being moved up to help the 06 team have better performance and results though, that may not be a good thing for her. A red flag for me is they are proposing she move up for the whole season, rather than attending a few practices with the older team first, trying it out in a pre-season tournament, and maybe playing a few games with each team. Another red flag is the mention that the 06 team "is making a strong league and tournament run". That would make me concerned that they are looking to add depth to that roster, which would be a terrible reason to move a player up. There are advantages to playing up for players who are good enough - and fast/strong/fit enough, but there are also disadvantages. To reiterate, if she is not a starter and able to play a significant and influential role on the older team, there is absolutely no reason she should be playing up. |
Anonymous
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It is 3 months!!
The longest 11v11 can be pushed off now is until August. This is not a big deal. |
Anonymous
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OP - Great tips and I've agree with almost all the comments. I paraphrased the making a run comment so please don't put too much thought into it. If I were to phrase it a bit differently it was that the 06 1st team is very talented and that my daughter would benefit greatly in getting a early jump in transitioning to 11v11 now. They will make a strong push for both league and tournament play starting with Jeff cup.
I do trust the coach's decision and he's been very good to players and team to date. During our mid season review he did mention that she was being capped because of the lack of space and that once she went to the larger field he could she her really maximize her physical and technical ability. I asked about playing both 11 v 11 and 9v9, but he express concerns as did we since that is adding a whole season onto a busy schedule. Great tips from all, thank you and appreciate that no one bashed me for my question. |
Anonymous
I’m the one who preached it is only 3 months. I did that purely as a point of perspective of the actual timeline |