The
Importance of Planning Soccer
Training Sessions Beforehand
When
I was 7 I had a coach that terrified
every kid on my team, and even
some of the parents! He was the
authoritarian drill instructor
type, and his abilities as it
related to dealing with children
were non-existent. While his methods
allowed him to be in complete
control at all times they probably
would have worked a little better
with older kids. For an U-8 Advanced
House team, they were very much
excessive.
Of
course the more common coach is
probably likely to have less control,
as most coaches exist on the opposite
side of the spectrum. The coaches
that I had that fit this bill
pretty much never had control
of our team, mostly because they
didn't know much about soccer,
didn't study it and the players
knew it. Instead the players tended
to run practice and we spent the
time scrimmaging, especially as
I got older.
Now
that I have coached, I feel that
as with most things in life, the
correct answer lies in the middle.
While it is important to have
the power to organize and discipline
your team, it is not the only
important factor. I think that
somewhere balanced between the
variables of league competitiveness,
age group and your knowledge about
the game you can find a style
that works for you. Regardless,
as a coach your job is to be a
manager so you should always be
in command of the team and run
the training session. Never let
the players take control, no matter
how much you know about the game.
If you don't know how to plan
effective soccer practices, get
help from someone who knows what
they are doing, or even hire a
paid soccer trainer!
There are plenty of soccer coaching
resources in the world to aid
your journey, and you just have
to take the initiative to read
good soccer books, watch videos
and study the game, many of which
you can find on this webpage.

If
you are a coach that knows the
game like the back of your hand
and you can wing it as far as
practice plan go, great! Most
people are not in this sort position.
As a coach one of your primary
roles is to progress your players
understanding of the game. If
you never put together a solid
training schedule, you won't know
what you have done and you won't
know where you are going. To reiterate
the point once more, planning
soccer practice beforehand is
an essential element to your success
as a soccer coach.