Reply to What should a club soccer practice look like?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Foot skills and small sided games. Constant movement and touches. Little watching and time without the ball. [/quote]

No if a top team lots of fitness. Bigger stronger more fit vs other teams equal wins. It’s all about athleticism and getting those athletes in top shape. Foot skills and small side games are the European/South American way.[/quote]

When I was in Portugal a grandfather was training his grandson (only around 12)...jumping up and down on benches, major plyos and conditioning.  My dad got to talking to the grandfather who was an ex-pro and he told my dad that every kid there already has very high technical skill and the difference is in conditioning.

We had a ton of pre-season conditioning and always ended practices with wind sprints and all kinds of plyos.  Many kids today just aren't in the top physical shape their parents think they are. WE also were given instruction on what to do OUTSIDE of practice.  We conditioned on our own too, throughout the season.[/quote]

So you never attended a youth practice in Portugal but saw some grandfather making his grandson workout? Okay guess that’s how it’s done in Europe!

Travel and ECNL is about winning(marketing so the club can fill the u-littles) and get kids in college(so the club can fill the u-littles). That mean getting stronger(more muscles) and fitness with technical skill development left to do on your own. This is idiotic and why so many players lack technical skill or do basic things wrong. Glad you buy in to the club telling you to learn your technical skill by kicking a ball against a wall. Soccer coaches are just physical fitness instructors, not someone who should develop technical skills during practice.

The bottom line is clubs stop what little development they do at u15/16. Why? Because you do not need to be a good technical player or even a good soccer player to play in college. You just need to be a good athlete. Now if you talk to college players they will all say they wish they were more technical and wished the clubs had done more technical training. I have never heard a college player say they wished the clubs did more physical fitness.

This is not how it is in Europe. U13 and under it is very relaxed. Practices are about developing technical skills and first touch to allow a player to play at the next level and develop their speed of play. They play them in shape. They do not do fitness unless it is part of training with a ball. All training is done under pressure against players.

U14/u15 and up it’s about playing against higher level competition- mixed age teams playing against other mixed age teams. You have fitness in addition to training but it is done as part of the program. You are not doing it on your own or outside of practice. By u17/18 only the very technical players are on the field.

You can get an out of shape technical u15-18 player in shape in about 4-6 weeks. You can not turn a fit u15-u18 player with subpar technical skill into an adequate technical player. Technical players are developed by coaches instructing, demonstrating and correcting techniques. [/quote]

I didn't bother reading.  But, no, we lived in Spain for several years and my kids played there (ages 8-12).[/quote]

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