Introduction to the Forum

The last blog gave an example of the value of small number practices and the possible returns from these when carefully crafted and delivered. These small practices will also help the coach develop their observation skills leading to a much greater accuracy and confidence when noticing the small technical details in a game.

We want our youngest players to be fearless in possession and creative in their play but this is a very difficult thing to achieve, particularly in the short time many grassroots coaches have in contact with their players, but we have to start somewhere and increasing the number of repetitions of things that are similar but never the same is such a good starting point.

The priority for development in the Foundation Phase must be the individual. We have the opportunity to equip each player with a range of skills and abilities in all corners of development…

Throughout this series of blogs the intention is to present a model of best practice for the development of our youngest players. An added bonus is that you will also have lots to consider as you plan, deliver, review and evolve your coaching practices and your coaching methodology. To help give you an idea about what you might consider when planning your sessions I will use the example below.

I love this practice for a variety of reasons:

1.The players get to practice similar things but never the exact same thing. This is great for developing flexible and adaptable decision makers as they must react to an environment and to situations that are constantly changing.

2. The young players get lots of touches of the ball coupled with lots of decisions to make. Is the situation one where I can be successful using my individual ability? Is now a good…

In my last blog I introduced the idea of play and how important this was to the overall development of our young children. As football coaches, adopting a games-based approach and a coaching style that embraces empowerment, experimentation and freedom of expression is a great way to maximise the development of our young children. If you are eager to try this approach then here are some guidelines to help you provide an enjoyable and vibrant environment for your players.

The first thing you must do is to KNOW your players. If you have players of different abilities then playing matched up games may disadvantage some players and favour others. Part of your session planning when using small-number practices is to decide who plays with who and who you play them against. This is critical if you are trying to provide an appropriate challenge for every child.

If you begin with…