Sam’s Blog will be a weekly addition to the US Youth Soccer Blog. Sam Snow is the Director of Coaching Education for US Youth Soccer.
Some people see only the surface when observing game-like activities. They see only soccer camp type games that they associate with killing time. Yet when the layers are peeled away it is clear that there is quite a bit of depth to what appears to be a simple activity.
Some people see only the surface when observing game-like activities. They see only soccer camp type games that they associate with killing time. Yet when the layers are peeled away it is clear that there is quite a bit of depth to what appears to be a simple activity.
It’s even easier to dismiss the activity when it doesn’t look like the things that professional players do at their training sessions; that the soccer implication is not immediately obvious. So let’s take one of these game-like activities and peel away the layers one at a time and see what the implications for the game are.
DRAW!
…just a camp game or something more?
Some people see only the surface when observing game-like activities. They see only soccer camp type games that they associate with killing time. Yet when the layers are peeled away it is clear that there is quite a bit of depth to what appears to be a simple activity. It’s even easier to dismiss the activity when it doesn’t look like the things that professional players do at their training sessions; that the soccer implication is not immediately obvious. So let’s take one of these game-like activities and peel away the layers one at a time and see what the implications for the game are.
In the activity DRAW two players stand facing one another with a ball between them. They stand with their feet squared and flat. On the coach’s call of DRAW they try to be the first one to use the sole of the foot and pull the ball back to them. The players keep their score and after a certain number of rounds or a set amount of time the coach asks the players their scores.
Sometimes if the coach calls out a word that sounds similar to DRAW and a player pulls the ball away then that player loses a point. As many rounds as the players care to play can be done. Now that you have the procedure and rules for the activity let’s dissect it. We’ll use the four components of the game to dissect the activity.
Fitness: improvement will be seen with balance, agility, and foot speed and eye-foot coordination
Technique: the skill to manipulate the ball using the sole of the foot will improve
Tactics: reading partner’s body language to anticipate action or reaction is improved
Psychology: mental focus and alertness to the coach’s call and to the partner’s
movement; rebound ability has a chance to improve in between each round; mental toughness whether winning or losing a round
This is a fun way to start a training session scrimmage sometimes too. Do have some fun with the game too and call out LAW or PAW just to goof a little, which can have a positive impact on team building.
DRAW is a relatively simple activity meant to improve competitiveness among the players as well as achieving improvement in the components described above. Yet even in this one simple activity it can be seen that there is more than meets the eye.
Some people see only the surface when observing game-like activities. They see only soccer camp type games that they associate with killing time. Yet when the layers are peeled away it is clear that there is quite a bit of depth to what appears to be a simple activity. It’s even easier to dismiss the activity when it doesn’t look like the things that professional players do at their training sessions; that the soccer implication is not immediately obvious. So let’s take one of these game-like activities and peel away the layers one at a time and see what the implications for the game are.
In the activity DRAW two players stand facing one another with a ball between them. They stand with their feet squared and flat. On the coach’s call of DRAW they try to be the first one to use the sole of the foot and pull the ball back to them. The players keep their score and after a certain number of rounds or a set amount of time the coach asks the players their scores.Sometimes if the coach calls out a word that sounds similar to DRAW and a player pulls the ball away then that player loses a point. As many rounds as the players care to play can be done. Now that you have the procedure and rules for the activity let’s dissect it. We’ll use the four components of the game to dissect the activity.
Fitness: improvement will be seen with balance, agility, and foot speed and eye-foot coordination
Technique: the skill to manipulate the ball using the sole of the foot will improve
Tactics: reading partner’s body language to anticipate action or reaction is improved
Psychology: mental focus and alertness to the coach’s call and to the partner’s
movement; rebound ability has a chance to improve in between each round; mental toughness whether winning or losing a round
This is a fun way to start a training session scrimmage sometimes too. Do have some fun with the game too and call out LAW or PAW just to goof a little, which can have a positive impact on team building.
DRAW is a relatively simple activity meant to improve competitiveness among the players as well as achieving improvement in the components described above. Yet even in this one simple activity it can be seen that there is more than meets the eye.
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