In this PDP Live Session, AFC A licensed coach, Ric Marchioli leads his Brunswick City SC Men’s team in an 11 v 11 conditioning game. In this practice, Ric sets the players the task of playing out against varying levels of pressure with a focus on creating an overload in the build up, to progress to central areas – or the ‘control zone’ as it’s referred to. This was a pre season session for the team, so a conditioning element was factored in. This took…
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Rondos are a popular possession-based practice favored by many of the world’s best coaches. They allow players to experience being underloaded and overloaded, incorporate elements of positional play, and provide opportunities to coach tactical elements of the game. But when is it appropriate to use rondos while working with young players? Below, we look at both the benefits and the drawbacks of rondos, and consider the best time to utilize them while coaching youth soccer. In This Article What are Rondos? A rondo is a…
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In this Masterclass Webinar replay, we connect with the highly experienced, Kelly Cross & Drew Sherman to discuss youth development in Australia. Kelly Cross is the Technical Director – Youth at Sydney FC, whilst Drew is the General Manager of Football at Melbourne Victory. Since the turn of the century these two clubs have been the most successful in the A League and now lead the way around youth development pathways. In this discussion, PDP Editor, Dave Wright hosts Kelly and Drew for an in…
Coaching across age groups requires subtle skills and in depth understanding. In this Masterclass Webinar replay, PDP Co-hosts Dave Wright and Dan Wright host Assistant Academy Manager at Birmingham City FC, Stuart Engish for an in depth discussion on age appropriate coaching. Stuart shares some brilliant insights into the academy at Birmingham City FC and his former club, Brentford FC where he held a similar role. The conversation focusses on the differences of coaching delivery and player development across all of the age phases from…
The question this week comes from the PDP Community: “Should my club publish youth football results?” Your Turn: Ask PDP Anything Do you have a coaching question that we might be able to help with? We would love to hear from you! Here’s what you can do: 1. Tweet your questions to us @playerdp, or contact us on our Facebook page.2. PDP Members can chat directly with the PDP team to ask questions, share ideas, and support each other on our exclusive Coaching Community. Start your membership today, and…
Transition is a moment of the game which requires practice. In this session you’ll see a small sided game which encourages a high level of repetition of quick attack, forward runs, forward passing and recovering runs. The game is designed to create overloads in different areas of the pitch which creates a high number of attacking opportunities for the team in possession and challenges the defending team to recover and often defend outnumbered. UEFA A licensed coach, Dave Wright will talk you through the set…
The debate around hard work vs. talent, and which is more important, can be a contentious one among coaches. But perhaps our focus should not be deciding whether talent beats hard work, or vice versa, but determining the best ways to support all of the individuals within our team, regardless of ability. In this Q&A, we discuss the definition of talent and the pitfalls of early talent identification, address the challenges of working with players of different abilities, and consider how to work with a…
Good relationships provide a powerful foundation for coaching. Connecting is something you do and can practice getting better at, particularly the art of listening well. 5 Barriers to Connecting 5 Top Tips for Connecting Connecting, in itself, turns lives around, because empathy is like a fuel that helps people to feel safe and brave enough to change. Every conversation can make a difference, whether formal or informal, short or long, whether about sport or other things. Top Questions for Connecting What are your top questions…
This practice provides players with a high level of repetition around a 1v1 moment in the game. Attacking players are challenged to run with the ball at speed and win their duel. Defenders are tasked with trying to win the ball from the side and transition to attack if successful. Be mindful of group sizes to keep repetition high and ensure pitch dimensions allow players plenty of space to exploit when running with the ball. Quick Navigation About the Video Additional Information Practice Overview Interpreting…
In this Masterclass Discussion, PDP Editor, Dave Wright is joined by Academy Manager of Birmingham City FC, Kristjaan Speakman for an in depth and wide ranging conversation. Kristjaan has been at the club for well over a decade and has also coached at Derby County under the guidance of Terry Westley. Now one of England’s most highly regarded Academy Managers, Kristjaan sits down with Dave to discuss leadership, coaching and coach development, shares insights into the journey of Demarai Gray & recent first team debutant,…
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Football can be a powerful evoker of emotions. But, as coaches, it’s vital that we remain calm around our players and don’t let emotional responses govern our actions. Below, coach and author David Mayer discusses the importance of emotional awareness, and how developing emotional control can help us to create better learning environments for our players. In This Article Being Aware of Your Emotions In all walks of life, we can benefit from understanding, and knowing how to react positively to, our emotions. This is…
Being organised and following a session plan are fundamental to good coaching. Knowing how to efficiently set up your session can save you time, increase ball-rolling time for the players, and minimise stress when you first arrive. In our Introduction to Soccer Coaching online course, Rob Sherman (Current Fiji Men’s National Team Coach and Former Technical Director of Football Australia) shares his system for ensuring you’ve got everything covered when you turn up to training. Rob’s N.E.A.T system helps to ensure the players spend their…
Safety may not be the first characteristic we associate with exceptional coaching environments, but, for our players, a sense of security is essential to being able to learn effectively. Below, we draw upon the knowledge of several experts as we explain why safe coaching environments are so important, and how we can engender a culture of trust, security, and enjoyment within our teams and clubs. ] In This Article The Importance of Safe Environments If we’re to give kids the best chance of enjoying football…
Quick Navigation About the Video Interpreting the Diagrams Part 1: Ball Hunter Part 2: Shooting and defending transition game Part 3: 3v3 ABC 123 Transition Game Part 4: Small Sided Game: Transition Winner Stays On Moments of the Game The PDP team believes that in football, there are four moments of the game. They are, controlling possession, defending, transition (attacking or defensive) and creating and scoring. In line with this view of the game, we are producing full 60-90 minute training plans on these four…
In this Masterclass Discussion, the PDP team share a model of play focussed on moments of the game. The team go into detail as to how you can design a programme within your club that helps players develop across all facets of the game. Image Source: matimix from Canva Pro
Manual Santos and Kevin Morgan The Big Idea In 1974 Studs Terkel, the American broadcaster, actor, and oral historian, published the best-selling non-fiction book, Working. In it he interviewed a cross-section of Americans about their working lives, “about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread.” In one interview, Terkel interviewed jazz tenor saxophonist Bud Freeman. Freeman got to talking about how hard the work of improvisation is, the working out of all the possibilities of a theme, and the on-going promise of…
The importance of self-reflection cannot be overstated. Observing ourselves in order to learn and improve is a key part of development — whether we’re a player or a coach. So what does it mean to self-reflect? And how can we create coaching environments that promote independent thought and learning? Below, we consider the fundamental components of self-reflection, and how we can facilitate self-reflection within our coaching environments to support our players’ development. In This Article What Does Reflection Mean? According to PDP Co-Founder Dave Wright,…
In this PDP webinar replay, we facilitate a discussion on how we can better develop midfielder players. Hosted by PDP Co-Founder, Dave Wright, this conversation includes PDP Technical Advisor, Dan Wright & PDP Coaching Advisor, James Coutts. Our panel of UEFA A & FFA A licensed coaches share a presentation and facilitate live Q&A on the following topics:
Curriculums can be an invaluable source of guidance for coaches. They help us to cover a complete range of themes and topics, provide a framework for planning sessions across an entire season, and facilitate the consistent application of ideas and playing philosophies in all teams within a club or programme. Below, we explore the benefits of using a curriculum, and discuss ways that coaches and programme directors can implement curriculums within their clubs. In This Article Creating a Framework for Session Design The strictness with…
Ase Strandbu, Kari Stefansen, Ingrid Smette, and Morten Rensio Sandvik The Big Idea “Involved parenthood” in organized youth sports is what these Norwegian researchers are attempting to better understand. Child-centered parenting they note—using the United States as an example—is still evolving since its early cultural development in the 1960s. Organized youth sport in those days was in its infancy, preceding the appearance of involved parents. On a personal note, this reviewer—who is from the U.S.—recalls his early childhood sporting days in the 1960s, and happily…
The question this week comes from a Richard via the PDP Member’s Slack Channel. Richard asks: “Should you have a season long plan? Your Turn: Ask PDP Anything Do you have a coaching question that we might be able to help with? We would love to hear from you! Here’s what you can do: 1. Tweet your questions to us @playerdp, or contact us on our Facebook page.2. PDP Members can chat directly with the PDP team to ask questions, share ideas, and support each other on our…
PDP Video Session Plans are adaptable sessions designed by academy coach, Dave Wright. All sessions show key focus points, set up, and progressions so you can use them in your next practice.
The question this week comes from Gav through the PDP Members Community: Gav asks, “Should I have a theme for my sessions?” Your Turn: Ask PDP Anything Do you have a coaching question that we might be able to help with? We would love to hear from you! Here’s what you can do: 1. Tweet your questions to us @playerdp, or contact us on our Facebook page.2. PDP Members can chat directly with the PDP team to ask questions, share ideas, and support each other on our exclusive Coaching Community. …
Coaching kids soccer can be challenging, in order to help the majority of coaches (and therefore, the majority of players), we need to arm volunteer coaches with everything they need to get started putting on great sessions for 6-12 year old players. So we put together an introduction to soccer coaching course which we believe is missing from the world of coach education. We know that the majority of coaches out there are volunteers – first time coaches, who may not have a background in…
In this Masterclass Discussion, Dave Wright and Dan Wright sit down for a two hour discussion with world leading Sports Psychologist, Dan Abrahams. Dave and Dan facilitate an in depth conversation with Dan on his experience in sports psychology across different codes. We examine the four corner model and the value of breaking down psychology into a component, we talk autonomy, challenge the review process, discuss coach communication and much, much more. This is a fascinating conversation from an experienced expert in the world of sports…
This practice is designed to be used as a warm-up focused upon passing and receiving. Quick Navigation About the Video Additional Information Practice Overview Interpreting the Diagrams Diagrams Objectives Organisation Observations & Interventions About the Video In the video below, Dan will talk you through the structure of the practice, various outcomes and how you can adapt it for your players. Do you want to improve your ability to plan and deliver great sessions? Sign up for our Foundations of Session Design course here. Practice…
Warren Grieve is an AFC Pro License holder and Technical Director at Football NSW in Australia. In this interview, PDP Editor, Dave Wright sits down with Warren to talk coach education, learning environments and more. This conversation covers a range of topics including: This is an insightful discussion for developing coaches, particularly those who have an interest in pursuing formal courses and qualifications. Image Credits: Unsplash
The question this week comes from Steve via Twitter. “We are planning for next season and wondering whether coaches should stay with their team through the age groups, or is there a benefit in a new coach each season?” Your Turn: Ask PDP Anything Do you have a coaching question that we might be able to help with? We would love to hear from you! Here’s what you can do: 1. Tweet your questions to us @playerdp, or contact us on our Facebook page.2. PDP Members can chat…