Small games and youth soccer: drills versus letting the kids play
Why would a sex and soccer specific strength and fitness coach come off the reservation, so to speak, and post a video about gaming and training in close quarters?
The answer is really very simple! I was recently speaking with a group of soccer coaches about soccer-specific strength and physical training. The seminar went well and I thought all questions had been answered when, from somewhere in the back, someone asked me my opinion on using small-sided soccer training techniques instead of traditional soccer drills. Well, he did, he asked my opinion! Over the next 45 minutes, we discussed every aspect of close quarters technique, the pros and cons, and I have to tell you, it was a heated discussion.
When the question is, what would I wear, what did I wear? The answer is complex, to say the least. Small games versus the traditional training mode with its drills, drills and more drills would seem like a no-brainer. Frankly, I think there is a place and indeed a need for both. That being said, I am very much for small games and as the title suggests, letting the kids play! I used a video, not mine but made by one of the US National Team coaches, to illustrate the technique of small-sided play and its benefits. The video is a pretty tame version of what I used to do as a trainer. In fairness to the trainer in the aforementioned video, he was teaching them a new technique and as such the kids weren’t quite up to speed yet. When used correctly, game speed is greatly improved through the use of small game technical training.
Game speed and ball touches are crucial for the development of any soccer athlete. The main benefit of small-sided games is getting players to touch the ball as many times as possible. As the game progresses the emphasis can change and restrictions come into focus, so you have to touch the ball one, two, three times before passing and you have to complete two, three, four and even five successful passes before trying to score. . You can play two against three, you can have a neutral midfielder. In other words, combine it according to the needs of your team, its weaknesses and its strengths.
Small game technical coaching is a fully adaptable model. The real benefit to the small sided game is that it is fully adaptable, fast, and in many cases, on the fly. You can see a need during training, adjust accordingly, and continue training. With the exercises, the children line up, wait their turn and have limited touches of the ball. The small-sided set eliminates this inconvenience and keeps kids playing. The latter is much more intense and effective in many ways.
The small side game was used extensively at the United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA) licensing clinic, the Ohio Youth Soccer Association of Northern (OYSAN) which I attended many years ago. The licensing clinic was an excellent opportunity to learn from one of the early proponents of the small-sided technique, Dr. Tom Turner. By this time, the debate over small-sided football technique had reached a fever pitch, with Tom being one of the leading advocates, particularly in Region II, but also on a national level. The emphasis of his classes? You got it! Small games. Well the crowd was around 90-10 against until the end of the clinic. By then all but one of the coaches had been sold. There’s always one, right? And this was an intense class, every football coach from almost every major club (top club teams) in Ohio-North was in that class, and some coaches from nationally ranked high school and college squads, like Walsh Jesuit. So, it was a tough crowd, but Tom won over almost every trainer, not by instruction but by demonstration. The evidence? Oppressive!
As small-sided games gained popularity and favor, there were still some resisters, but an overwhelming majority, at all levels, now see the benefits of small-sided strategy. It’s been close to fifteen years and the small sided set is the gold standard, hands down. I would have said feet down but it didn’t sound right and my elementary school English teacher would be rolling in her grave!
The exercises of the past? Some things persist and sometimes the terminology remains, but the defined practice is different. Unfortunately, the exercises have remained firmly entrenched in our lexicon. Despite the military connotations, the word drills must be dropped once and for all. In fact, one of the training methods I currently use is called 205 Drills. Yuck! But the guy is good and has some really useful strategies. I think it could be better? Yes! Are there better programs out there? Not many! So until we do, we read, we learn, we study and we share. That’s what the football community is all about and I’m sure it will continue to be that way for the foreseeable future anyway.
Small game technical training is now the main method of training our young and not so young soccer athletes. The evolution has been rapid, all things considered, and knowing how long the old model of rig after rig has been in the works, I’m actually a bit surprised there isn’t a little more resistance… and there was a lot. Just ask Dr. Tom! The benefits simply overwhelmed the old strategy, making it outdated and irrelevant. However, like most things outdated and irrelevant, it has a way of creeping back in. In this case, I think the small side game has always been the favorite; time and results will tell.