I have to say I spent some time during the evening of Day 1 contemplating whether too much had been thrown at the players. Some of the complex drills can be built up to, but we were hoping to jam as much in as possible and then back up and build simply upon it. Luckily both morning groups were excellent. With re-calibrated groupings, numbers were good and players were matched more effectively. The afternoon 'nippers' worked hard too - they are starting to get into the swing of things (apart from the odd discussion about whether the ball was over the line etc....!)
We put everyone through the circular warm ups which allow for changes of direction, communication and most importantly, a couple of hundred touches on the ball.
How many times do you see teams ‘warming up’ with a long line outside the penalty area - a coach, receiving a ball (one at a time) and rolling a pass for one player to shoot. Oh, and worse than that - static stretching. So, let’s clear a few things up. You’ll detect a little personal opinion here - but much is Academy approved!
A warm up is simply that. Warming the body so working muscles are prepped for athletic movement and more elastic, thus reducing the chance of injury. Static stretching before performance actually works against what you are trying to achieve. We also aim to have as many motor programs that actually relate to playing the game put into action before performance. This assume the coaching staff incorporate a type of practice with multiple game related movements and cognitive functions. I believe there is an additional benefit psychologically. I tell my players they just got around 200 touches on the ball - so the first touch in the game is going to feel familiar. It’s a confidence boost especially in a big game where most players over exert themselves due to that initial adrenaline rush. Why only practice 5 shots each when most of the 11 players rarely get to shoot.
The circle drill described yesterday was executed well - a game called ‘endzone’ helped put some of the simple principles of vision / awareness, playing off your back foot and supporting play into action. Every now and then a string of passes gets put together combined with simple movement - and a goal is scored. You have to pay attention or you miss it - when what you are aiming for falls into place it is effective, fast paced and hard for the opposition to stop. We also talked about the nature of practice. We are too familiar with the saying ‘practice makes perfect’. Well, that’s only half the truth. Practice makes permanent. Doing something wrong a lot allows you to become good and doing something badly. Often when coaching slightly older players we have to breakdown what they have learned and build it back up. Unlearn bad habits. Perfect practice makes permanent. Doing things simply and executing them correctly is very important. When we coach our impatience to move the players up to the next level of difficulty often has a negative affect. We should expect our players to work without opposition and execute drills effortlessly. It would really surprise you how much at the Academy is based on unopposed drills. Players are expected to approach things from different angles, but being able to get into a ‘flow’ for some of these drills is the objective.
How does this impact what we are doing at the Regional Camp? Well, much of the work covered would probably make up a fair chunk of a seasons work. The Albuquerque kids are doing a grand job - even if we are trying to pack so much in for them.
Above is a simple drill we ran with the older players. Beau and Chris have to pass the ball to each other through the different color markers. As they play the ball they call a color, the other has to adjust feet and move the ball in order to get it through that color marker - and then call another color. So both have to 'say it as they play it'. This game is a favorite of Rio Ferdinand. You can make it harder by increasing the pace, setting the markers closer - and the tough one to catch is the ball played first time right back through the marks you just called. Beau and Chris did a nice job for only their second attempt at this.
Less pics and vids in the blog today - Day 3 is photo ‘op’ day and a big push to get a lot captured on video. We’ll be posting that next - thanks to the rather faster wifi of Starbucks across the road. Clearly the hamster running the cage-wheel-generator in my hotel has vacation time. Not complaining though - sunrise over the mountains is pretty impressive.
So, Friday - Day 3 is an attempt to pull many of these drills together and have the players feeling comfortable. We’ll be throwing a few extras in to support existing work - but I am hoping to start to be able to step back and let them get on with it. Saturday will be a big game play day - another chance to step back and assess individual players.
Just a few last notes. We have covered some non-coaching stuff during the week - here is a summary:
- Boomerangs work. I have one from Aussie. You think its never coming back, then it does and takes your head off.
- The Eiffel Tower is in Paris, France - thanks Chase.
- Julia scored the winner Day 2 - one of the smallest players out there but fired up - nice job.
- Wayne Rooney has not been signed by West Ham United. I made that up kids.
- Henry VIII did have a 13 mile tunnel from a country home to the Boleyn Castle so he could visit Ann. That’s why West Ham’s ground is called ‘The Boleyn Ground’ and there is a castle on the badge - the castle stood on that spot hundreds of years ago.
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| Hammers Badge - Hannah (6) |
- There are rattlesnakes and scary spiders in New Mexico. That’s why I brought a first aid kit. Figured band aids fix anything - based mostly on the complete confidence my 6 year old triplets have in their healing powers.
- There is no water in Albuquerque. It’s all in Indiana this year.
- Barcelona are the best team in the world and despite super smart people being able to predict mathematically which way a professional player will take a penalty - no one can tell what Lionel Messi is going to do. I suspect he knows but doesn’t want to tell anyone.
- Francisco drives 5 hours each weekend to come to play for Rio Vista FC. I love that - gotta love that kind of commitment. Germany is 5 hours away from my house in England and I been there twice in 42 years. Nice beer though.
Last question - 3:52am this morning. Was that an earthquake? It woke me up.....
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