Re-evaluating The Coaching Approach

How would you describe the environment of your last training session? Was it a learning environment? Did your players get the objective? How long did it take?

Are You A Gambling Man, Coach?

Indulge a completely unrealistic scenario, because this is what it's going to take to become a more effective coach. You have been called up to run ONE training session, and you have 30 minutes. Following your session, your team will play on live television. If they win, you will be venerated as the world's best coach, a million dollars will be prize money for the team and you can a managerial contract with any team you like for the next 10 years. If they lose, not only is the whole world watching, but you will lose your credentials and never coach again, not even as a volunteer. High stakes? Make them higher with whatever stipulations you like.

This proposition should get you thinking. Would you have the team run laps for 10-15 minutes to warm up, like you are doing? How about dribbling around cones? Coaches do not always maximize the time available. We spend a lot of time on things that are not important. But we've done them for years, so they must be right. Besides, they were part of practice sessions when we played. That shows how important they are. Right?

If you wouldn't have time for it in the 30 minute high stakes scenario I painted above, you don't have time for it now. Drop it and focus on those things that really affect the game. And not just the outcome either, but the process. Throw the team into a circle and have them pass the ball around, one touch. An inaccurate pass or two touches gets you in the middle. Work to get the ball back. Split the team into several circles so that everybody gets lots of touches. Turn up the heat by saying the ball must be won back in less than 10-15 passes. In a few seconds, you have set it up so that your team has to practice passing, control, marking, adapting, and a lot of running if you're the guy in the middle. Most of all, the team has a bit of fun while their at it.

NEVER PUNISH PLAYERS WITH "FITNESS." Running is a necessary part of the game and your players should never see it as a punishment. They need to associate running with improving their game so that they will run on their own. Instead use positive reinforcement. Reward the player who enters the circle the least number of times with choosing teams, the captaincy in the next game. Whatever works for your team.

Proceed to your situations:

• 1 v 1, 2 v 2
• 2 v 1, 3 v 2
• Work on your drills/plays- whatever you have prepped. 

Is It The Kids, The Way You Teach Or Where You Teach?

Because we are so concerned about our players mastering the drills, more often than not, we tone down the intensity of practice sessions. I want to suggest a continuum of intensity that all coaches should use. A safe, slow environment where we, as coaches can interrupt the game to manually move players and re-issue instructions is perfect for teaching new drills. It means the team can grow and develop injury free (hopefully), since nobody is flying about with two-footed tackles against their own team mates. In practice, the pressure we have have to deal with is nothing more than the 'learn from your mistakes' kind. We get do-overs. Training is absent the threat of losing the tournament if you miss your penalty. There is none of the emotion of playing when refereeing errors (whether intentional or not) are costing you the game. We all believe in building  players' self-esteem, so we employ the psychological tactic of compliment- criticize (constructively!)- complement. We correct in the most positive way, giving supportive feedback, loudly applauding the willingness to learn.

On game day, on the other hand, the atmosphere isn’t as forgiving. When the result is on the line, coaches, parents and even the players don’t always display the same level of patience or forgiveness as they do in a training environment. In these situations, players suddenly find themselves uncomfortable and anxious. Stress anyone? In an attempt to alleviate their stress, they forget what they learned in training and fall back on the habits of their comfort zones. That's why the drills performed perfectly in practice breakdown. "We practiced that, didn't we?" To put it simply, they don’t know how to adapt their comfort zone to react to the situation while also applying the new skills they learned in training.

This discussion on the effect of safe, low-intensity practice vs. volatile, high stakes game situations is intended to highlight, the obvious fact that these environments are different. How coaches and players respond in each is different. So why do we fail to acknowledge this so consistently? Why do we not account for it? This is the art of coaching.

Here are some suggestions.

Internship. This is the whole premise of sending players out on loan. We've seen it countless times, maybe done it a few times ourselves- playing a team several classes lower (or years younger). A thrashing is guaranteed, boosting team morale. But that morale will collapse as easily as it came because the skill level is not developed. An equally matched opponent will not be easy to bully and team might win, but will struggle. A better skilled/conditioned opponent expose your weaknesses so blatantly you will feel as if you haven't done any work at all. To leverage the idea of internship, send two or three of your players to play with a team a level higher. Obviously, it helps of that team's coach shares your philosophy. The will come back with a greater sense of responsibility, and nuances of the game that are difficult to produce in a practice environment. If you chose well, they'll be better skilled too.

A second look at internship is to play against teams of better quality. Note that research suggests that if the difference in quality between the two is too big, the lesser will not be able to learn anything. The trick is to find an environment Gray Cook describes as 'the edge of ability.' That means the tasks at hand are challenging, and they produce manageable mistakes. The boost in morale that comes from winning, or putting up a good fight (even if your team loses) is matched with an increase in awareness and skill. The excitement is palpable when players discuss how they almost (or did) win a battle with a player they know to be bigger/stronger/faster because the difference between them is not overwhelming.

The last suggestion is the simplest. Most youth coaches have players that play the game, but have no interest in watching it. Yet as coaches, we make time to watch the pros. Next time you have a tournament, see how close to the time your practice session starts most of your players will arrive when they could arrive earlier and watch others play. The emotional ride of supporting a team through a penalty shoot out; of knowing Manchester United could not possibly beat Barcelona (I knew that in both Champion's League Finals) but pulling for them anyway; or being a Crystal Palace fan for 1 day, knowing that if they do the impossible- take a point or three away from Liverpool, then the old enemy will be denied the Premier League championship for yet another year; insert your own emotional roller coaster here- most young players haven't a clue what this is like. Encourage your players to watch more games. They might learn a thing or two.

Acknowledge the differences in practice and play environments. Acknowledge the differences in yourself and your players in the environments. Harness them. You might find everyone defining new comfort zones, under pressure or not.

Why Stepovers Don't Work

I saw a 4-picture spread of the step-over that the Brazilian Ronaldo pulled out to score his fifteenth world cup goal. It was magical; it was effective and pronounced him the top goal scorer of all time. Stepovers were a feast for those who love them when the Galacticos Zidane, Figo and Ronaldo played for the mighty Real Madrid. 

With time however, coaches and defenders have since learned to look at the ball, not the dancing feet. It's still a widely used skill, but it's just not as effective as it once was. Here's why it used to work and why it doesn't anymore. 

                                           

According to Hick's Law, the more stimulus-response alternatives there are, the slower the response time. Not that Cristiano Ronaldo is going over Hick's law in his mind when he pulls a few step overs out, but what he's really tried to do is give you some questions to think about. Am I going to the left? The right? Through your legs? Maybe I'll go left and then right, and leave you on your backside! The sheer number of possible options is enough to make a defender stop. Which do I pick? As far as executing a movement goes, once the message has been delivered from the brain to go left, the body has to finish going to the left before going to the right if that is where the ball eventually goes. Whether that means the left leg starts to move, or the body shifts just a fraction, it has to finish doing that before it can execute the next neural command. This is why the step overs and other feints work. 

Step overs don't work as well as they used to anymore because they have become pretty, a tool for humiliation. More often than not, the player executing them hasn't decided himself what he's going to do. You'll see five, six, seven of them. If you haven't sold the guy in two or at most three, you'd be lucky to escape without an injury. By then the defender knows that you DON'T have a plan. That's when they'll lunge in getting the ball, the man or sometimes both. 

                                   

Like I said earlier, the number of options presented by the dancing feet is overwhelming. To put an end to them, simply focus on the ball. The debate continues amongst coaches as to whether you should watch the trunk or the ball. Let it continue. I used the step over here because I an in complete awe of guys like onlinesoccercoaching.com and topsoccerdrills.com. They have taken our lesson plans, converting our the X's and O's into something concievable for every players. 

Let me insert here something I learned from three coaching movies I thoroughly enjoy. Denzel Washington, in the movie Remember The Titans declares that he has only 7 plays. The team ran those plays over and over again until they were...."PERFECTION!" I can still here him saying it. No trick plays. The basics made perfect. You will find the same ideas in Coach Carter. What I find thoroughly inspiring, as a coach, a player and a fan of common sense is the "Power I" play that Matthew McConaughey brings to his new job in We Are Marshall. After a few tries, he boldly declared, "I'm a fan of it; I love it but it's not working." Dramatically and effectively, he tosses it in the trash. 

If you haven't accessed the two resources I mentioned above, I may go so far as to call you negligent as a coach. Get on it! But once you are there, remember the step over. Used with a plan, it's extremely effective because of the many questions it give the defender to think about, buying you time. Drills are much the same, whether offensive or defensive. Giving your team too many drills to work on is using step overs on your own team. They will be slow to react and you will miss chances and concede goals. Not every drill works for every team, that's why the guys are giving us so many options. If it's not working, throw it out. Go for something simpler. Too many players involved in a drill present too many variables for you to manage even in a controlled environment. Considering that the opposition on game day aren't in the positions you used during practice you team will run into problems all the time. Do you mark the space or the man? What if you choose to mark the man and, like Rooney, he goes deep to get on the ball? What about the increasingly popular false nine- how do you mark that? Or Frank Ribery, who keeps popping up on the right when he is playing on the left? 

Whatever your tactics; whatever drills you choose, simplify as much as possible. Hick's Law applies every time. Respect it. Better yet, use it to your advantage.

What Does Standing On One Leg Have To Do With Scoring Goals?

We take for granted the minutiae that contribute to a free flowing Messi or an extravagant Ibra. Yet we've all heard commentators talk about the incredible balance that the very best players have. So we run them more if we're coaches, doing all sorts of drills requiring a quick change of direction, and acceleration away. But as I have mentioned before, simply rehearsing your skill will not improve your efficiency at it if the requisite elements are not present to begin with. 

Can you do this?

Years ago, with a team of three others, I measured speed and agility in a professional soccer team. We took 22 players through a simple light-gated test where they sprinted 20 meters, made sure they stepped over the line before turning back. The most interesting part was not speed so much as their turning ability. A feint, side step, the pass around the corner that sets up the one-two, even the small steps that get the keeper in position to make that goal saving dive- all have single leg stance competency in common. I found this demonstrated when eyeballing the data. The fastest players were not always the fasted players on both legs. There was as much as a 2-second differential between the turning off the left leg and turning off the right leg in SAME PLAYER. For others, the difference was not as big. I am not aware of any data that compares the two sides, making a certain amount of time between the sides advantageous or otherwise. I don't know if it's even possible for the two to be the same even in 2-footed players. These players only show an ability to use both feet but even then, one feels more natural than the other. So why discuss this at all?

• Because if you're a forward, you will win more often than not if you go to the defender's lesser side. If you're a defender, you'll show the defender your strong side because of your confidence on that side. 

• Because if you sell a fake to the right well enough and go left, it will take the defender that much longer to recover from the dummy. Tell me, what could you do with an extra 2 seconds? 

Balancing on one leg demonstrates the same motor control, in a controlled environment, that turning does, in a more volatile one. It demonstrates the sequencing of muscles to get into position, the timing and control of the whole body. The lunge is even more dynamic, taking the requirement from the stability in one leg while the other performs a dynamic movement to both legs having to work simultaneously. The hurdle step and the in-line lunge represent the qualities required to accelerate through a sprinting stride and cutting and changing direction respectively. The inability to perform in these two tests suggest that players are not performing as efficiently as possible. Efficiency removes the limitations to (but does not guarantee) maximal performance, and helps reduce the risk of injury. Inefficiency in a player who otherwise performs well suggests compensation. Athletes are some of the best compensators. Though patterns do exist, every body compensates differently. That means one athlete who fails stand on one leg may not run into any trouble while another who also fails may have recurring injuries that can be traced back to this one thing. If the goal is to reduce the risk of injury, both athletes need corrective attention.

Case Study


Frank is a diminutive defender, powerful and has really good awareness in the game. His movement profile is good:-

1. Overhead Deep Squat- 2
2. In-Line Lunge- 2's (Greater difficulty with left leg in extension)
3. Hurdle Step- 2's (Also greater difficulty with left knee extended)
4. Shoulder Mobility- 3's
5. Active Straight Leg Raise- 3's
6. Rotary Stability- 2's 
7. Trunk Stability Push- Up- 3

Negative on all clearance tests.

As far as the Functional Movement Systems model goes, load 'em up! Frank should be training hard in all the patterns. Correctives would only be to make things better. Unlike Steven's program that I outlined here, Frank's program does not need anything taken out. He would, however, benefit from unilateral training. Remember that running is pretty much an exchange of one stance to another (compared to walking which has a double support phase). For this reason, ALL players would derive greater benefits from going to unilateral training. In Frank's case, let's work work on upper body strength with some overhead presses, so he can do better when it comes to shoulder-to-shoulder challenges. But since we want to address the sloppy balance we saw in the in-line lunge and hurdle step tests, let's lift his right leg up onto a box. This will create a situation where he must react to the perturbation produced in the pressing movement with that left side. Without the help of the right foot, he will have to figure out his balance. I've highlighted before Why Soccer Players Need Abs, so Frank will do his presses one hand at a time- this will increase the load through the core. 

Mountain climbers would be a great idea. I like to grab a tennis ball, bottle of water or whatever I can find and place it on the small of the back. Frank's task is to raise his knee towards his chest as far as he can go and back, WITHOUT dropping whatever I have on his back. This emphasizes control of the hip. Notice how, (apart from the hand position), the knee up is like the sprinting stride and like the hurdle step. Focus then on his performances when he lifts his right knee towards his chest. At first, it was slow here because he kept dropping it on this side. But with a little practice (more reps on that weaker side focusing on their quality), we were able to progress to faster reps. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THE BODY IS STRAIGHT. A hiked hip defeats the purpose of the exercise.

In keeping with the unilateral approach, lunges with the weights in different positions are warranted. Below is a video I recorded just messing around with lunges and presses. Single-leg deadlifts are another of my favorites for developing a hip-hinge pattern critical for power through the glutes and hamstrings. The single leg component will also challenge that unilateral balance and strength.

Just messing around

In summary, Frank's program looks like this:

Single leg deadlift (unloaded)

Back lunges (unloaded, in place)

Ipsilateral (same side) shoulder press

Contralateral (opposite side) shoulder press- both with right foot raised on box or in half-kneeling

Mountain climbers

Single-leg deadlifts (loaded)

Lunges (unilateral load)

How many reps? As many as it takes to get it right! Once it's done right, I'll aim for 12-15 reps.

I was excited to see this video and thought I'd share it with you. It features Arjen Robben and Bastian Schweinsteiger in individual training sessions on their return from injury. It features a great little clip that shows the demand for single leg stance in our game.

Enjoy!

Training That Makes You Indispensable Looks Like This

Rooney and Ronaldo. 

Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole. 

Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo. 

Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandes. 

Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. 

All over the place, if you know what you are looking for, you'll find pairs that make the difference. They may not be the ones who score, but without them, the team does not tick the same way. Every now and then, the duo becomes a trio or more. I highlight these because they complement each other so well, one without the other seems just weird. You may not be part of a dynamic duo, but you can still make yourself indispensable. 

What makes us say Zidane had great vision? Not only could he see the pass, he could complete it. The accuracy he showed when he made a pass was magical. I have not yet seen a player who can control the ball as well as he. Every player has a strength. To get to the next level, you need to identify a quality that complements that one, making it even more valuable. So what pairs go together?

• Speed and strength- think Wayne Rooney
• Power and presence- think Yaya Toure
• Attacking and tackling abilities- think Philip Lahm
• Size and agility- think Manuel Neuer
• And as I've already mentioned, vision and accuracy. 

There are other examples of qualities that can be paired together as well as players that display them well. The point is to get away from straining the same things all the time. Like I mentioned in my article You Are Ruled By Your Weakest Link, working on your strengths is good, but working on your weakness is even better. 

What do you do when you're a passer and your passes are off the mark? What about when a forward is having a goal drought? These are the outcome measures, but there could be more to them than just a lack of match fitness. 

Steven is 17, tall, not quite done with his growth spurt and is hoping to make the junior team of one of the country's premier soccer teams. His FMS scores were symmetrical 2's on the hurdle step and in-line lunge; a 2 on the squat, push-up and rotary stability with 3's on the shoulder mobility. Big red flags: 1's on both side of his ASLR. 

The 1's suggest that he has trouble when the whole limb is required in flexion and extension at the hip. Steven can't touch his toes. Some how, he has managed to get to this point without injuring himself. In my article, Evidence for the late swing, I presented evidence that the hamstring is more likely to be injured at that point. Both attachments of the muscle are basically in stretch during the late swing phase- exactly what is required in the active straight-leg raise. But the ASLR is not a hamstring test. Palpation, confirmed by subject information from Steven, there very little flexion in his low back- it 'really tight'. Again, I'd say, SOMEHOW he has managed to play to this point without major injury. Nothing more than a sporadic sprained ankle.  But Steven is aiming to make it at a level that is tougher than the one he has been successful at so far. He's going to be pushed beyond his comfort zone. To make it, he will have to put more stress on his body and that dysfunction will come back to bite him. 

How simple is an ankle injury?

It is misleading to assume that ankle sprains are minor. I called them that to throw them into sharp relief when, in the global game, metatarsals, hamstrings, groins problems and concussions are considered more serious. After all, the Question of Returning to Play is not even on the table. These others are more 'serious' because they result in missed games. Ankle sprains are patched up and sufferers are often in the line up for the next game. But think about it- isn't the system trying to tell us something if a player rolls his ankle in a contact situation? Research tells us that there is some inhibition of the glutes following ankle injury. Between the ankle and the glutes are the calves and the hamstrings. Above the glutes is the low back. Typically, the down regulation of the glutes means compensatory work for the low back and hamstrings. Calves tighten up too. How can we try an coax more speed out of this athlete?

The solution is simple- STOP doing what's causing the problem! Its elementary, my dear Watson. It's a huge problem when a soccer player can't run because running is exacerbating the injury cycle. This is where we must consider what I call energy system training. By now, I trust we have abandoned running laps around. The field as 'cardio' or conditioning. Instead, Steven could do kettlebell swings or medicine ball slams. Both elicit ridiculous cardiovascular adaptation if done properly as well as developing power through the entire stem. Try battle ropes. Again, lots of cardio, plenty of work for his upper body for those shoulder-to-shoulder clashes in the game and his feet don't have to leave the ground.

His training program is basically conditioning his strengths (3's and symmetrical 2's) - push ups, clap push ups, and pull ups. It also means approaching single leg stuff with caution. It also means deleting or at least putting in hold those exercises that exacerbate the problem. Previously, in The Best Exercises Soccer Players Are Not Doing, I mentioned that hill sprints (uphill) are great for working on stride length while going downhill is very useful for challenging stride frequency. Remember that speed = stride length x stride frequency. Steven however, SHOULD NOT be doing hill work. It will throw him up against his limitations and with the scores he has, they would be compounding the leg raise problem, if not downright getting him injured. Our athletes should be training to get better at the game. Players getting hurt in training is simply unacceptable.

Corrective for ASLR. 

(functionalmovement.com)

The fact that Steven has had ankle trouble is significant. As are his 1's in the active straight leg raise test of the Functional Movement Screen. His back is tight for a reason- it's protecting him from further injury. Address these things, and you can reduce his risk of injury. A Movement Screen with no 1's or asymmetries does not mean his performance will increase, but it does mean that the physical limitations that could be getting in the way of him executing the play book, being better, stronger and faster are removed. That is the dynamic duo. 

How Athletes Get Stronger and Faster

Among the principles of training that I have written about in the past is the principle of specificity. When talking about the body, it is frequently referred to as the SAID principle- namely, Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand. In simple terms, the adaptations you see are consistent with the load applied. Sounds a little Newtonian doesn't it, although the reaction in this case is not necessarily opposite.


Nevertheless, narrow-minded thinking has taken this principle to main that training for soccer means that players need to have a ball with them all the time. We need to consider that game is movement. It's a very specific movement, and the skills required of us is unlike any other sport, but it is a movement nonetheless. With this baseline, here are different considerations for coaches and players:

Because soccer is movement, one need only analyze the patterns involved in the execution of various skills. 

• Hip flexion and extension are involved in running. So too in the shoulder. 
• The fastest sprinters have a strong core from which the appendages can move freely, quickly, and powerfully. 
• Internal and external rotation are required for the in-step and outside of the foot passes respectively. 

These are just a few of the requirements for effective running, cutting, turning, jumping, passing and shooting. Exercises that emphasize these are therefore appropriate for soccer players. These include:

1. Kettlebell swings, cleans, snatches and presses
2. Deadlifts (using both legs and both arms; single-leg + both arms; single-arm + single leg)
3. Squats (I prefer front squats to back squats; single leg to double leg. Of the single leg squats, rear-foot elevated variations including body weight, weighted with arms on the side, or holding a kettlebell in the goblet squat position). Of course they are many others, but these form the back bone of my training programs.

Pavel performing the swing. Strongfirst.com

WHAT ABOUT 'CORE' TRAINING?

Exercises NOT movement specific:

 
Sit ups and crunches of any sort (they have no transfer to performance. The only thing you'll get is becoming really good at doing sit ups!)

Planks can be very useful but only the right context. Unless there is a new position where you have to be still for 4 minutes, a 4-minute plank doesn't mean anything. The science from Professor McGill's lab, and others tells us that beyond 7-8 SECONDS, those 'core' muscles will be starved of oxygen. Those players 'holding' their plank for extended periods are just really compensators.

So how is the plank movement specific? Learn this adage: proximal stability for distal mobility. 

It means the core (transverse abdominis, internal and external obliques, multifidi, ) is the engine of the body. As long as it is good working order, the limbs will be able to move freely. Not only that, but since the core is the conduit for the transfer of power, the more 'solid' the core, the more power you can impart onto the ball. I use the word solid rather than strong to try to dissuade the thinking that you need a strong core. Once again, McGill and others have shown that the endurance of the muscles is more important that the strength. Remember that they run out of oxygen within seconds. So what we're after is what Prof. McGill calls superstiffness. It is a maximal contraction of the abdominals in the split second before kicking the ball.

Notice that the maximal contraction is time sensitive. It is in response to the timing demands of a powerful and accurate shot. Core training should be reactive in nature if it is to carry over to performance. The progressions of training start with the plank. (There are further breakdowns if we are rehabilitating a painful back.) The following exercises include and are built on a good plank:

1. Low (elbow) to high plank (push up position)
2. Mountain climbers (from high plank)
3. Shoulder tap
4. "Stir the Pot" (McGill)
5. Push ups
6. Clap push ups

"Stir the Pot" on a Swiss ball

These exercises follow a simple model of progression. There is a postural challenge and the athlete is to hold the position, resist attempts to throw him/her off (perturbation) as well as produce power from it. That is how the core works when we play and that's how it should be trained. 

The benefits of these cannot be maximized without this off-field training. It is a mistake for soccer players to think skill alone will get them, and keep them, at the highest levels of play.

You Are Ruled By Your Weakest Link

Have you ever looked at your team and thought, 'We really need to work on that?' But because you only have so much time per practice session, you'd leave it for next session?

Have you ever been frustrated watching your team run around but make no progress in mastering the drill?

Have you ever had the feeling the drill is just not working and you should can it? But that was probably the practice plan that took the longest to plan wasn't it? So your told yourself you just needed to spend a little more time on it...?

I know the feeling. I saw my guys and it couldn't be more plain. They were scared to head the ball. We needed to work on it, but we didn't have time (that's what I told myself). We had a tournament in 4 days, and I had two sessions. There was so much to work on. So I compromised.

"It's okay to be scared. Let the ball bounce, then attack it. Even if it hits you, after the bounce, it won't be as painful." Those were my words of wisdom.

Come game day, the opposition's strategy, like mine, was to play to their strengths. They were tall. Every ball from their keeper, clearances, corners, throw-ins- all of them were played in the air. My tallest player was my goalie. My shortest players were in the midfield. Not only did they beat us because of their height, but because my boys were scared to head the ball, even those that were of a reasonable height that they could challenge, they didn't. Waiting for the ball to bounce was costing us the game.

What would you have done?


YOU'RE THE WEAKEST LINK

The fact it is, even with the best scouting, the strategies we approach the game with will not always be successful. Partly because they are largely based on everything going well on our end. Sometimes it's a defense minded strategy, at others, attacking too much and leaving gaps at the back. In our case, we would use the one-touch passing we had worked on- make them do the running. But the way they were playing the ball in the air, we didn't have a prayer of being on the ball long enough to get the passing game going. If we were to compete, we needed a new approach. If you cannot admit that you need a new strategy, then YOU are the weakest link.

It is a trap that we have all fallen into as youth coaches- designing beautiful plays that are sure to produce some galactico-like goals when the basics are not intact. The thing that causes these things to fail is not that they are poorly designed. They fall apart because the young guys don't know how to control a ball. They panic when they have to control the ball under pressure. Or as in my case, they are afraid to head the ball. How do you defend corners then? How do you attack corners? You might be thinking that you can't fix control in a single session, and for some kids, not even in a single season. You are right to think so. But think about it-


You will be ruled by your weakest link.


Your strategy is, more often than not, based on attacking your opponent's weaknesses. If you looked honestly, how many weaknesses does your team have collectively? What about your players individually? Now look at your practice sessions. What percentage of each session, and of your season's practice plans, is spent on addressing those weaknesses? It's human nature to gravitate towards those things we are already good at because it makes us feel good to see and feel success when we try anything. Fortify the house all you want- alarms, burglar bars on every window, secret key codes. If you continue to leave the door open, you will always be vulnerable. Those things you add will never make up for that weakness.


What I Did

I stepped up and told the boys I was wrong. It's NOT okay to be scared of the ball. I pointed out that we needed to make an effort. Courage is not born on the battlefield. It is built up gradually, each time against a bigger opponent. The biggest of those being yourself. I appealed to the young people they were. I knew that in saying BMX, skateboarding and hockey, I managed to describe them all. How many times have you fallen or been bashed into the boards? Yet you're still here. I won't lie to you and say it won't hurt. It will, but I need you to get up and keep playing. Make an effort. Jump and see what happens. Even if he beats you to it, make it so awkward that he can't do as he pleases with the ball.

THE SOLUTION

The first and most important step is a screening process. I'm talking about movement screening. This should precede performance testing. If you can't balance on one leg, you will have a hard time developing the speed and explosiveness required to be competitive. A well designed screen (like the FMS) will yield very specific information from which you can individualize warm-ups and homework for each player. How many coaches still have their athletes run laps around the field to warm-up? Drills and exercises that are tailored to your players' needs will give the team the tools they need to improve, not just an elevated heart rate. The good thing about screening a group of players is that in most cases, the majority will have the same needs. So even if you don't have the time or the resources to monitor twenty plus people doing different things, you can give them one or two drills to do. Building them off the screen, you are still sorting out your weaknesses.

Movement screening can explain why players have a hard time producing the power needed to compete for the header and/or develop knee problems when they land. It can tell you why there are recurring injuries. When the screen is clean, then you can do performance testing. Treat the results the same- ID the weaknesses. Address them in the warm-up, give them as homework. Too many coaches are afraid to encroach on their kids' time away from them. They leave themselves too much to do in the sessions they are already complaining are too short when they don't give homework.

Youth coaches are responsible for their charges in the alloted time of practice. That means coaches should arrive for a 5:00 session at 4:30 or sooner and leave only when the last child has been picked up. What are they doing in the time before practice begins and while they are waiting to be picked up after? They are already messing around with the ball anyway. Step in and give them instruction.

Every session after that game began and ended with heading. The drills involved heading. Every throw in was to be headed. I took corners and free kicks myself because my boys were not doing too well in directing their crosses. When the heading became decent, I focused on crosses until accurate crosses were attacked or defended with headers.

The solution is simple- identify your weaknesses and sure them up. Don't put fancy diagrams and drills on top of basics that are not basic. The best strategy is making sure that the basics are done right. Set the foundation. Put the basics on top of the foundation. Decorate the basics with the fancy stuff.

The Side lunge with Overhead Press

This is hardly an invention and if it is, it's nothing as monumental as the invention of the wheel. But the side lunge with an overhead press is one of my favorite exercises for a number of reasons.

1. It can serve as a screen much like the Turkish get up (kelosthenos version as taught by Gray Cook and Functional Movement Systems). 
2. It's definitely an advanced exercise (who doesn't want to be called advanced!) Following the idea that asymmetries are risk factors, this exercise is compound in nature but still offers that appraisal of the left and right sides. So if one side catches you out, you can simply stick with it until you have managed to correct the areas that are lacking before you progress. 
3. It offers mobility, strength, and power work simultaneously. 
4. I think it qualifies as a self-limiting exercise. 

THE MOVEMENT


The move is basically a side lunge and an overhead press with the same side arm. When I teach the side lunge, I'm looking for the side view to be identical to what I would see when doing a squat. For the sake of clarity, I'll go over the parts of the squat that are related to this movement.

Typically, we want the butt to be going back and down. The initial backward movement gets the hips into flexion. The knees will also go into flexion as you drop your butt towards the ground. Because the ankle is in plantar flexion, the squat is often referred to as a triple flexion pattern.
The secondary reason for describing the movement as the butt going back and down is because the rearward movement takes the femur (thigh bone) with it so that when it flexes, it does so without tracking ahead of the toes. There will be some movement of the knee towards the toes, but it should be minimal and not end up in front of the toes. 

Similarly, there should be minimal if any tracking of the knee medially. The coming together of the knees as if they are going to touch is called knee valgus and is undesirable. When this happens under load, the foot pronates and we see the outside of the foot on the side of the small toe come up. It's also a fairly common observation in jumping sports, particularly among female athletes. Both conditions (heavy load and high speed) predispose athletes to ACL injuries. Read more about that in this post. 

The heels should stay grounded throughout the movement. This is not too difficult if you sit back and down into the hip. I have separated this point from number 2 because this is a major stress point in the side lunge with the overhead press. Even people that have good squats have a tendency to lean forward in a side lunge, either lifting the heel or allowing their knee to track ahead of their toes. 

The last part I want to highlight is that the triple flexion if of the lower body only. A lot of people lack the back extensibility and the flexion in the hip to go below 90 degrees of a squat. They compensate by bending forward- dropping their chest towards the ground. This should be minimal, if present at all. One way to get a feel for what should be happening when you squat is to lie on your back and raise your knees towards your chest. Obviously, because you are on the ground, the back does not move at all. All the flexion has occurred at the hips, knees and ankles. 

The overhead squat requires all the aforementioned parts. On addition, there is an opposite appraisal going on in the upper body. Whereas there is triple flexion in the lower body, there is extension of the thoracic spine which allows the hands to go overhead without dropping the chest down. 

AS A SCREEN


This move is little more that an overhead squat looking at one leg and one arm at a time. Therein lies it's strength. It's weakness is of course that it is an advanced movement. Not everyone will be able to do this.

It challenges extensibility of the thoracic spine in the demand to press the weight (or simply raise an arm) over one's head. In the same aspect as we look at the arm going overhead, we assess shoulder integrity. Internally rotated shoulders make this move difficult. The mobility lost in the shoulders will have to be found somewhere. Usually this will be in the forward tracking of the knee with the heel lift.

I've had complaints of discomfort in the low back while doing this. In one person, the discomfort went away immediately after reinforcing that he 'sit lower into that hip'- effectively, keep the heel down while pressing. In someone else, she was able to do it with no discomfort after just a minute on floor running the foam roller across her back.

MODUS OPPERANDI

• Hold a kettlebell in the rack position, with legs together. 
• Step laterally, wider than shoulder width. Keep the toes pointing straight ahead. 
• Descend into a side lunge on the same side as the racked kettlebell. Remember the triple lower body flexion. Stay as tall as possible in the upper body. 
• Once stable, press the kettlebell overhead. Extended the unburdened arm in whatever direction for added balance. Cycle a breath with the kettlebell overhead before eccentrically bringing it back to it's racked position. 
• Return to the starting position. 

The exercise is designed for both sides of the body so perform an equal amount on the other side with the same type of form. Small changes can make a big difference in this move, as I have already shown. Pay attention to those small things. Stay where there are issues until you have mastered them.

Expect a level of core challenge as you go through the exercise. It features the 'changing levels' idea as you descend squat-like into the side lunge. The elevation of the kettlebell overhead changes the center of gravity, effectively pulling it up. Poor core stability and strength will be caught out here. I mentioned that shoulder integrity is scrutinized as well. As with any exercise that involves a weight overhead, many will thrust the chin forward as they press. Try to achieve the finish position while keeping the neck packed. Similarly, the scalenes, sternocleidomastoid and the other neck muscles should not suddenly make an appearance. Always try to keep the neck area tension free when lifting weight. If they do, they are making a contribution to the stability process and they should not be.