Better Football - Soccer Coaching Podcast
By Better Football Ltd
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Podcast Description
Get youth soccer coaching advice from expert coaches, top tips to get the most from your players and get drills and small-sided games for your own soccer sessions.
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The Talent Code with Daniel Coyle | Daniel Coyle is the author of the bestselling 'The Talent Code : Greatness Isn't Born It's Grown', 'Lance Armstrong's War' and 'Hardball:A Season In The Projects'. The Talent Code describes the traits common to the development of elite performance across a wide range of fields. From studying the environments in which some of the worlds best sportsmen, athletes, musicians, artists and mathematicians developed their skills Dan saw that talent is almost always the product of a certain type of coaching, a certain type of environment and a certain type of motivation. In this podcast interview I discussed each of these areas and how they relate to coaching soccer with Dan and Ross Tucker PhD (from the tremendous http://sportsscientists.com). Some of the most pertinent points are also written below but I'd highly recommend giving the whole interview (around 30 mins) a listen. Download MP3 The Talent Code, 10,000 hours and Developing Footballers Pavl Williams: The Talent Code is included in a collection of books which perpetuate the '10,000 hour rule' but actually isn't the book about quality of practice not quantity? Daniel Coyle: It's about finding the common principles of excellence. The reason hotbeds of talent succeed is not because they're magical or because there's something special in the drinking water; they succeed because their everyday life, the boring, repetitive, substance of their day to day lives is aligned with the way people actually learn. So they practice repetition. They have these very dense - what I would call - reachful practices. In the States you see soccer practice with fourteen kids in a line and the kid at the front kicks the ball and then goes to the back of the line. Well count the reaches…one. Now let's take those same kids and let's put them in a game or 2v2 and design something clever (it's about creating a space) to make it a game. You've taken the number of reaches from one per second to ten per second. You're ten times more effective. Principle #1 : Reach As Much As Possible So this idea that you can glance at a practice field and say, "that is a waste of time; that is an effective practice" is an important first step in aligning your culture and aligning your practices to the way people learn. PW: Deliberate practice is often interpreted as narrow focus, static and repetitive. Can you design 'deliberate practice' for a game as dynamic as soccer? DC: It's very difficult. When you see good coaches doing it, effective practice is slightly different for each individual. The edge of your ability is a little different today than it was a month ago and it's different from the guy next to you. So the good coaches that I've seen are coaches who find a way to individualise that coaching. Very little good coaching goes on if a single person is speaking to a group. Communicating through language is extraordinarily difficult, so the pattern I see amongst these great coaches is there's some series of games, some series of drills with lots of fluid motion and the coach sidles up to one kid. [The coach] gets their attention, he gets their full attention, for five seconds and delivers a message; and it's usually an image. It's usually something very memorable and tactile. It's not "kick the ball more softly", it's "let it kiss your foot", that phrase "kiss" it's an image. So they deliver that message and the kid takes that and the kid puts it to use right away. It's not a lecture they see at night, it's during the process. PW: There's a balancing act between letting kids make mistakes and solve problems for themselves and wanting to set good habits early and make sure kids are repeating good technique. Where do you draw the line? DC: You obviously don't want someone thrashing, having zero percent success, and you obviously don't want them to have ninety percent success. You want them fifty to eighty percent success. The less the coach says the better. Ultimately what teaches the game? The game teaches the game. | 30 11 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Show Some Respect with Chris Kirkham | Chris Kirkham is the author of 'Show Some Respect - The Sound and the Fury of Junior Football'. In this brief interview we discuss the problems witnessed at grassroots football games across the country every weekend and what might be done to address the issue. We also review The FA Respect campaign and how the challenges facing grassroots coaches are presented in the media, online and in the real-world of Saturday or Sunday morning junior football. Have a listen using the player above or download the MP3 file | 15 10 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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1-on-1 Coaching with Tim Wareing | In this podcast we are talking to UEFA A Licence Coach and Author Tim Wareing - who has just released his second book "1-on-1 Coaching" - about technique development, the importance of age-appropriate coaching and what he learnt from study visits to Barcelona, Ajax, Eindhoven and Braga. Topic covered in this interview include: [unordered_list style="tick"] Toddler Soccer Age-Appropriate Coaching 10,000 Hours Theory Technical Skills Development 1-on-1 Coaching European Study Visits (to Barcelona, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Braga) Grassroots Development [/unordered_list] Have a listen in the player above or download the mp3 file here. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and if you have any questions for Tim I will pass them on and post his response. Coach Tim's latest book '1-on-1 Coaching' is available now in paperback and ebook formats and is well-worth a read if you are keen to develop better technical football players. Head over to http://CoachTim.org/book for a free sample chapter and to view a 1-on-1 Coaching session in action. [button size="l" color="red"]Download a sample chapter[/button] | 27 6 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Player Friendly Development with Tosh Farrell | Tosh Farrell is a youth coaching specialist who worked with Wayne Rooney whilst Head of International Development at Everton and who now supports tens of thousands of coaches in the North-Eastern United States. Tosh's sessions are world-renowned for his use of language, manner and ability to connect with the kids he coaches and in this podcast interview we discuss the importance of being a player-friendly coach and how we might develop better football players through a more child-centric development system. Listen using the player on this page or download the MP3 podcast here. For me, the key 'take home' messages were: Become Player Friendly - get to know the kid and understand how they learn. Take an interest in them as a person (their family, their other interests) and not just whether they're going to become a good player for you. Match Expectations - let players do what they thought they were going to be doing. Give them a ball each and let them dribble, shoot and play with their friends. This is the only way to get them to buy in to the work you may need to do later in their development. Coaches are the biggest thieves around - and it's okay to 'pinch' practices, as long as you understand how to repackage them and make them work for the players you are coaching. Build Rapport - ask questions, let the kids decide on some practices. Give out nicknames and use their names when praising. Let kids know you're seeing them succeed and they'll work 10% harder for you. Focus On All Your Players - making a very poor player into a poor player is still good coaching. Don't ignore the players who are already doing things well, and don't neglect the players who maybe aren't as good. Coaching 'Teams' Sacrifices Individual's Development - we don't need to focus on team passing and formations until individual technique and skill has been instilled. When coaching U6-U10s rarely move beyond 2v2 and ensure lots of touches on the ball and lots of pass or dribble decisions. Always Finish With Shooting - this is what kids want to be doing but coaches often start at furthest point from this (such as playing out from the back). You will keep player enthusiastic when they can always see the chance to score at the end of the move. Don't Coach Young Players, Coax Them - some players need to learn how to be coached so when working with young players offer incentives to improve in your practices but let the game be the teacher. Keep Practices Fresh - with young players use 3,4 or 5 different practices in a session. You can retain focus with more variations on a theme than sticking to a single drill for too long. Coaches Are Last People To Take Blame - when a team wins it's great coaching but when they lose it's crap players! Be honest and reflect on each session's positives and how it would have been improved. We Go Too Sexy On Formations - coaches make formations too complex because of the winning mentality. At U12-U16 game time is about understanding their roles and responsibilities on the pitch, not the specifics of a 4-2-3-1 formation. Rotate Players To Aid Development - your team's Centre-Forward can learn a lot by playing Centre-Back against your opponent's CF. Midfielders can benefit from playing in Defence as they recognise space and danger-areas. Give players opportunities to learn in all different positions. 8v8/9v9 Should Aid Transition To 11v11 - have a long-term vision and set-up your team to play the way you'd like in the larger game. If you play 3 in midfield at 8v8 your players will stay narrow for 2-3 years. When you move to 4 in midfield you want width so instruct the opposite. Use the 8v8/9v9 game to teach players principles which will help them in 11v11. League Football Should Be About Development - and there's more room for rules changes and variation than the current system allows. Develop A Process That Leads To Positive Outcomes - follow a programme and have the confidence to stick to it if is best for development. There's no | 6 6 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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‘Your Kids Your Say’ with Gareth Southgate & Nick Levett | It's an exciting time to work in grassroots football. Coming off the back of The Future Game conference The FA have begun taking their message to the masses in an attempt to engage the football community in a debate about "What Is Best For Our Young Footballers?". Some of the answers, say The FA's Nick Levett are: a) Support for Smaller-Sided Games at U8/U9 and U11/U12 b) Less Focus on Competition and League Tables c) Strategies to Combat Age-Relative Effect (or Birth Bias) Listen to the podcast using the player at the top of this page and if you find the discussion interesting, don't forget to subscribe to our podcast in iTunes using the buttons at the bottom of this post. Alternatively you can download the MP3 file here. --- UPDATE 1 --- Club Website have a very detailed description of all The FA's grassroots proposals and I'd encourage you to head over there and give them a read (opens in new tab). --- UPDATE 2 --- Because the sound quality is quite poor throughout the Gareth Southgate interview here's a transcript of the conversation: Firstly I asked how he came to take the grand title 'Head of Elite Development' and find his role within The FA: Trevor approached me before Christmas, looking to bring someone in on the back of the Youth Development Review. He wanted someone who had played for England, with managerial experience and who had their Pro Licence. So that quite limited the pool of people who could be involved. And Trevor, having met me over the years, knew where my interests lie ethically. So for me, having a massive interest in developing young people and also English football, it was a great opportunity. Really my role is guided by the recommendations of the Youth Development Review, so on this side of things – helping to develop coach education, working with the Premier League on the EPPP (Elite Player Performance Pathway) and also working with the junior international teams. To begin with, monitoring how we prepare for tournaments and for matches, and to help make recommendations and follow things through and put them into place as part of that Youth Development Review. To gauge Gareth's thoughts on the current state of English football I asked what he felt had changed since he was a young player? I started with under-12s football when I was nine, playing 11 v 11. My son is seven now and he has been playing at a Charter Standard club for two years, so the amount of skill development which is going on; the change of emphasis in coaching; the greater knowledge we seem to have about how kids learn; and taking that further forward, the desire to produce players with better technical quality and generally across the country - it’s probably a generational thing - but a better awareness and understanding of what is going on across the world. When I was a lad growing up, the Cup final was the only match that was on; we know see European football every weekend. I think people are rightly raising the question now, why aren’t we technically playing the same way as the Spanish, Portuguese or Italians – whoever it might be. I think there’s a generation of fathers saying that this is what they want for their kids. We had done a lot of work anyway but I think last year’s World Cup highlighted it, and deep down people know there needs to be a longer-term plan in place anyway. What happened last summer just maybe has moved things along more quickly. I asked Gareth why we still seem to be lagging behind other European countries when it comes to developing technical players: It’s no different from when I was playing for England. At the very youngest age there wasn’t as much emphasis on skill development; we had all of the great English traits – team spirit, great work ethic, a never-say-die attitude. But the emphasis in our coaching has never totally been around skills and technical ability. There are many reasons for that – inherent thinking of our coaches, we can’t ignore the fact that our climate gives | 17 5 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Inside Performance with Louise Deeley | If you attend any of The FA's football coaching courses you'll learn about the 'Four Corner' model of development. This gives equal weight to the importance of Physical, Technical, Social and Psychological elements within your practice sessions. In my experience, regardless of their strengths in the first three areas, most coaches struggle with the latter. So I spoke to expert psychologist Louise Deeley - a lecturer from Roehampton University and founder of Inside Performance - to try to gain some insight into the importance of psychology in coaching and learn some practical tips which grassroots coaches can take away and apply to their sessions. If you find the discussion interesting, don't forget to subscribe to our podcast in iTunes using the buttons at the top of the page. You can download the MP3 file here. You can find out more information about Louise and the talented team at Inside Performance by visiting their website. In particular, those coaches interested in learning more about NLP and psychology in sport can attend in-depth 3-day courses or pick up the Inside Performance Home Learning Pack. How much do you think about psychology when you're coaching? Were you surprised by Louise's advice? Do you disagree with some of her ideas? Let us know in the comments below. | 23 9 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Coerver Method with Alfred Galustian | The Coerver Method is all about developing great technique. In this in-depth interview Alfred Galustian, Director of Coaching at Coerver and Technical Advisor to the Premier League, explains how the system has developed over the last 26 years and how the central curriculum of player development was decided upon and expanded. You can download the MP3 of this interview here. There are lots of great ideas in the Coerver system and this is evident in the adoption of similar methods at some of the world's top clubs (Arsenal, Bayern Munich, AC Milan to name a few). But grassroots football players can benefit most from their coach integrating some aspects of Coerver coaching into their sessions. In particular the small-sided games and skill practices featured in the Coerver DVDs are well worth a look. If you'd like to find more about the Coerver method you can pick-up the Make Your Move DVDs here. You can also find out more about Alfred and the Coerver community in the UK by visiting the Coerver site at www.coerver.co.uk The books mentioned in the podcast can be found on Amazon using the links below: Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else (by Geoff Colvin) Outliers: The Story of Success (by Malcolm Gladwell) | 14 6 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Grassroots Football Live | In this bumper Grassroots Football Live podcast you'll hear from West Ham Academy Director Tony Carr, Former International Managers Peter Taylor and George Burley, Premiership Legends Iain Dowie and Julian Dicks, Freestyler Woody and podcast veteran Chris Green. This year's grassroots football live at the NEC in Birmingham was a great event for soccer coaches, with plenty of interesting seminars offering advice on tactics, techniques, practice sessions and sport science. I had the opportunity to interview a great many of the speakers and have compiled their responses into this week's soccer coaching podcast. Inside you'll hear from West Ham Academy Director Tony Carr, Former International Managers Peter Taylor and George Burley, Premiership Legends Iain Dowie and Julian Dicks, Freestyler Woody and podcast veteran Chris Green. You can download the MP3 of this file here. We'll also have plenty more insightful interviews in podcasts over the next few weeks so subscribe to the feed using the buttons above. You can find out more about Woody's projects at www.paulwoodfreestyle.com and www.sporting-chances.com. Julian Dicks' Junior Football Alliance can be found at www.JDFJA.com. | 7 6 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Every Boy’s Dream with Author Chris Green | Chris Green's latest book tells the story of the 10,000 boys in the Academy system in England, and particular of the 9,990 who will never make it as professional footballers. Through interviews with all the leading stakeholders in the modern professional game, Chris Green delivers a detailed analysis of the current system and exposes it's dramatic failings - both in delivering world-class players to the clubs and in protecting the children and parents who are desperate to follow their dreams. I had the opportunity to talk to Chris about the book and asked him what grassroots coaches and parents can do to ensure their talented young players are as well prepared as possible for entering (and possibly exiting) the Academy system. You can download the MP3 of the interview here. "Every Boy’s Dream" is published by A&C Black priced £9.99. Better Football readers can purchase the book at the special price of £7.99 (plus free UK p&p) by calling 01256 302699 and quoting offer code 3AJ. You can also purchase "Every Boy's Dream" on Amazon for £6.99 + p&p (choose Super Saver for free delivery) by clicking here. Awesome Photo by Espen Faugstad | 1 9 09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Give Us Back Our Game with Paul Cooper | Paul Cooper is the co-founder of Give Us Back Our Game and an expert soccer coach. In this in-depth interview with Better Football he discusses the importance of playing Small Sided Games in football coaching sessions and talks about the motivations for junior soccer players. One of the key aspects which Paul makes the case for very convincingly is to let the game flow, and I recommend listening to his thoughts on adult imposed organisation. You can get much more information, including details about Give Us Back Our Game's workshops, magazine and loads of online coaching resources, at the GUBOG website http://www.giveusbackourgame.co.uk. You can download the MP3 of this interview here. | 1 7 09 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 10 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
Love the podcast
I am a professional coach and I am loving the podcast, I listen to a new one every time I am in the car. Get insight and it makes you think about the bigger picture. I am now researching NLP to see if it can make me develop.
Keep up the good work.
Eye opener
I never thought I'd find such interesting football coaching podcasts as these. I enjoy the interviews with top coaches who give an insight on how they work with players. Plenty of ideas to work with if you're a coach and food for thought for anyone involved in football, at any level.
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