Four Don'ts of Soccer for Coaches

Coach Malcolm Brown of klassicsoccer.com/ has a passion for passing on the knowledge of soccer. Malcolm Brown shares his experience as he coaches local Westchester, NY coaches.
Watch as Malcolm teaches Westchester, NY soccer coaches the 4 Don'ts, or the 4 L's, of Soccer:
1: Laps have no place in the development of kids in soccer - Malcolm stresses to soccer coaches to seize every opportunity to get players involved in active decision making as they work on physical conditioning.
2: Language when working with kids - Soccer coaches must be very aware of their language and tone when speaking with young players, especially during games in which the team is losing.
3: Lines - Setting up lines that have to go through the coach gives one person more practice than everyone else - the coach! Get the players to work together instead.
4: Lecture - Lectures rarely accomplish our goals on the field. Seek to inspire your players and spark a passion for soccer rather than picking apart each game.
Klassic Soccer runs clinics to help Westchester, NY youth soccer coaches excel at teaching and working with today's kids. Book your clinic today: bit.ly/1e8ZKDR

[@brian7897]

One important thing to do when coaching kids is to ask questions. Get them to repeat things you say. Instead of lecturing. Get them to explain stuff. Instead of lecturing on how to jockey as a defender. Show them an example of jockeying then ask them how they would use it. Especially the kids who seem to have their head in the clouds. They will remember things if you force them to answer questions.

[@nofurtherwest3474]

Yes guided discovery

[@LarryHanson]

I agree on the no (or very few) lines bit. Starting at the very early ages (around 6 years old), the club I coach for emphasized no lines, and maximum touches. They supplied us with enough balls that each kid had one of their own plus a few more. They taught new coaches that the only time a line is appropriate is for cardio recovery, otherwise all the kids are engaged in some activity with the ball. This approach takes some reprogramming for coaches who grew up with older line based activities. One good measure of how effective your activities are in engaging players (rather than waiting) is to count the number of ball touches they are getting over the course of your practice sessions. There is a stat I've seen that says a lot of US youth players only get about 350 touches total on the ball over a typical 90 minute practice session. Less than 4 touches per minute (tpm)! I try to design activities that get my players 500+ touches in the first 10 minutes of a practice session with the ball (50 tpm). You can't do that with lines! And there are many who believe the rate should be more like 150 to 250 tpm. Get rid of the lines!

[@livio09179]

great video @malcolm. I remember myself making ALL FOUR of your mistakes when I first started coaching. These four tips on how to talk, prepare and avoid when coaching kids football WILL make your training session easier, funner, and by the end of the 90 minute session you'll be asking yourself where all the time has gone. Thanks again and keep the videos coming please!

[@fccorona3052]

Amazing video, pure knowledge!

[@lloydedwardssaith9399]

Excellent video Malcolm. I am new to coaching have spent over 2 decades playing and I am working to overcome some of my bad habits picked up from my old school coaches!

[@keithlovejoy3770]

Well done coach Malcom!

[@tylerwells703]

Great points but I absolutely love his delivery. Fantastic!

[@markcollins8955]

yes, intense drills where all the kids are involved and moving. (line for the goalie, passer and scorer) creates much more movement. you can add a defender for one more line!

[@johnbelleisle6847]

My boy is just starting soccer and I'm lucky to be able to assist in coaching. Excellent video

[@satcom3000]

Good points coach ....well done !!

[@stevengerrard6711]

this is so true, that's exactly how my coach be.

[@jaywalton683]

I have just started coaching an U/6 team. Thank you very much for sharing your wisdom. Some excellent points. Subscribed! Thanks Jay, from Australia.

[@brian7897]

U-6 has its own rules. Basically you can't teach much because their attention span is small. Don't try any complicated drills. Just give kids a ball and get them to touch it a lot. Help them build confidence and make it about being fun.

[@bearsandcatsyoutube5182]

Excellent!

[@StopWarsColoImperialism]

Great advices thank you

[@Wootz9]

I liked the four L's analogy : lines, laps, language, lectures I will use that with my kids teams in America , I believe in my philosophy that positivity breeds positivity in all aspects so they all the in with your soccer dont's ! Keep up the good work!

[@narenthakur9700]

Thanks a lot sir for such a good video.pls guide us in further future too..

[@nycfcistrash2097]

Love it!!! Hahahahaha I had a flashback from my coaching/referee courses. There is always that one guy who dresses up in all his soccer gear and is a try hard during the practical lessons. It’s the guy in the Spain jersey in this video. Lol

[@shawn-raemorris2444]

Beautiful

[@zed6638]

Great advice 💯

[@jesseg9419]

Great video. Thank you

[@DigitalTEnt]

very good children football advice..

[@ramonayala4726]

I think running with the soccer ball is one of the most beneficial things a human can do to become a good player. I wish I had done it at a younger age.

[@thewirah1]

Great video. I wish you had one about discipline. With young players things tend to get a little crazy, especially between exercises.

[@Z.the.G]

Solid content , immediate subscription .

[@kmillersc]

This is fantastic. Such an eye opener for me, brand new to soccer with my little kids starting, and I'm volunteering coaching because there aren't enough volunteers and I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING LOL XD thank you for sharing such great tips for all the roomies out there, like me!!

[@robinverbeek5040]

If you need any help or ideas I can and will help you out, I'm a youth trainer here in the Netherlands.

[@RdoRobles]

@@robinverbeek5040 Hi, I'm new to coaching, could you send me some tips to get better? Thanks!

[@brucecook5356]

Do laps with a ball. But why not condition with intense non-stop drills with each person touching a ball. You don't run laps in a game.

[@german9020]

A1 5STARS THX COACH

[@karumehuie1407]

i love this big up

[@malcolmbrown3724]

Your response highlights one of the main problems in youth soccer. A lack of COACHING EDUCATION. Coaches/parents/trainers that observe a professional team training session or game, and later apply that content as a tool to teach a player who is in the pre-puberty stage, does not know what they are doing. Everyone can watch a pro team training session on KZbin, but you can't ascertain the periodization cycle, and that is imperative to effectively train players. Failure to understand what needs to be taught based on the age and stage of a player, prevents that child from reaching their potential. Sadly, there are too many so called coaches applying professional methods to young players, but are only hiding behind their deficiencies. How does running around a field develop the technical skills (coordination training) of a young child, whose central nervous system is growing? So to answer your comment, don't watch pros and apply same methods to kids w/o doing some research.

[@coachwayne8094]

Guilty of yelling. But I whole heartedly agree with the no laps thing, I have always said that running laps were totally counter productive. There are many different ways to achieve endurance.

[@yasinmakandalau4414]

Hello coach we need get more courses in coaching soccer,how can you hello?

[@bipinsingh6384]

B

[@lxlxsaucexlxl2241]

@Malcolm Brown, first of all thank you and i love your videos. i wish there was more i love watching and learning from you. i really wish you had some more videos, maybe some on actual drills, passing drills, correct kicking drills. Just some actual drills that you have had experience with that works for youth soccer. i coach a u7 girls team this is going to be my second season coaching. i had a blast last season and so did the girls. my coaching philosophy is to have fun and try to develop some of their skills. thanks again, and hope to see more vidoes from you.

[@hotdog8214]

Thank you and this is why I believe the DA at 12 13 14 is a complete waste..but like everything in America it's a buisness

[@larrymaloney8398]

YES YES YES YES!

[@inglesbilingue7886]

I learned to play soccer when I would travel to South America to visit family. I wasn’t learning anything from coaches in the U.S., other than coaches are cruel and make us run till we puke, and how to run track. Coaching is why the U.S. isn’t achieving in Soccer. This guy is telling it like it is. I will and do coach my players in the manner this gentlemen is speaking about. Kudos coach!

[@goated6146]

Fully agree with you brother. Everything impactful I learned about the game was either self taught or observed from watching professional soccer or read from delving into learning about professional coaching and tactics. I played for a top club in my area too, so that's pretty sad. I learned almost nothing from my actual coaches even though they were lovely people. I actually began to dislike my club team at around 17 because I realised how tactically inept my coach was, I genuinely felt like I understood what our team needed more than he did but of course I never said anything because I wouldn't disrespect someone like that. I don't even say that out of arrogance or anything like that, that's just how low actual understanding of the modern game is here. They basically coach brexit ball here even if you have 11 technically sound players. There was actually a bit of a joke at my school, we called long balls "varsity balls", if you could hit them you were guaranteed a spot on varsity because we played 532 even though we were good enough to be a possession team as we had multiple all state players. Park the bus and hit long balls. It's stupid even if it works. That isn't how you coach kids to play.

[@emilyallen5330]

These are great points and this video has helped me a lot with my first time coaching, but what are some alternatives to these. Some "do's" you could call them. For instance, instead of the line exercise for shooting on the goal, what could the team do? Instead of doing laps before practice, what is a good way to warm them up for the game or practice?

[@KlassicSoccer]

You have to create game/activities that are reality based (captures the demands of a game). For ex. let's assume kids are U12 or younger. Organization 24 - 30 yds by width of penalty box. That meas the field is not long. Play 3v3/4v4 w/ a GK in each goal. That's a shooting session. You can have conditions that fosters more shooting. Warm up - keep away 3v3/4v4; rondos 4v2/5v2; handball. They play for 2 mins, stretch for 30 - 45 secs then play again. This is interval training which is the rhythm of a game.

[@LarryHanson]

Malcolm Brown, what is your opinion of the FIFA 11+ warm-up routine? It is an off ball warm-up sequence that seems counter to your "no laps"/on ball warm up approach. I like it because it gives me a vehicle to teach general off ball athletic body positioning and movement. With some time without a ball the players are less distracted by trying to control the ball, and can better focus on how they hold themselves. I've use Part 1 and 3 of FIFA 11+ and can get my players through it in about 6 minutes so it is not much of a time suck. I find it to be a very effective structured off ball warm-up.

[@KlassicSoccer]

I use various methods to warm up players but it's often contingent on age, weather, date of previous game/activity etc. Yes, I have implemented concepts from FIFA 11.

[@sirfondeck651]

great tips, thanks a lot. please how to solve the line and lack of attention?

[@kinito992]

Long time, but a good option is maybe to stand in a horizontal line and the coach could call who comes forward to have them be on their toes. Then whenever the kid goes for the finish, he is the one that has to do the pass for the next kid and so on

[@MrOkandacollins]

Great, coaches should create more stations for drills in order to avoid the long lines. For instance if you have 20 kids, creating 4?stations will help.

[@jamiesimms7084]

Or have sessions as opposed to drills

[@samajisafe3806]

hi coach, love your points.. question please. so in regards to the lines, so what is the best way to have the kids stand before the shooting warm ups? And i completely agree with you that kids get distracted while standing around. thanks

[@KlassicSoccer]

I'm assuming your having them stand and wait their turn to shoot. For kids it is not game-like and therefore boring. You have to make it a game w/ conditions to help bring out your objective.

[@samajisafe3806]

thanks for the reply. yes i do make them stand around waiting for turns, but i want to go your line. any suggestions on games please instead of waiting? thanks@@KlassicSoccer

[@KlassicSoccer]

Small sided games (SSG) are the ideal model to develop skills. ORGANIZATION is key to players learning. For ex. if you have only 1 goal, you can play 2v2...4v4 where both teams score on the same goal (like half court basketball). Game is played in penalty area. Have balls at the top of the penalty area for the team that scored gets a new one. If defending team steals the ball, they have to make at least 1 pass before attempting to score. Game can be played w/ support players on side. How you ORGANIZE is dependent on age and stage of players development. If no goals, create SSG w/ goals (cones, bags etc) and have a restraining line (8 - 10 yds from goal) for extra points if goals are score from behind.

[@samajisafe3806]

cheers and thank you @@KlassicSoccer

[@DigitalTEnt]

this is so my experience as a coach with the kids

[@davecollier7329]

Great help mate have you got any passing drills for 9-10 year olds

[@KlassicSoccer]

Kids’ learning is minimal at best, if you conduct DRILLS. Players learn thru games, activities. Play 3v3/4v4 to end zones. Team scores when a player can receive the ball in the opposing zone.

[@benmedrek233]

My coach does the exact opposite

[@armandgarcia2292]

Very, very Good Video. Love it!

[@deyanzaprianov1582]

Hello Coach, how do you develop stamina and endurance for the players to be able to resist long time non stop runs?

[@KlassicSoccer]

Objective of this session focuses on grassroots players at the youth level, not the elite player. Pre adolescent.

[@deyanzaprianov1582]

@@KlassicSoccer ahmmm... ok

[@sperry4771]

I agree 100% however there has to be a culture change to implement this. I lived abroad saw other ways of playing/practicing and I took the D course, however it's made it near impossible to getting a club coaching job in my area because the people are so stuck on the old way. My daughter plays at a high level for her age, but I finally decided to just put her in rec and I'll coach her, because she was freezing with the yelling. There is a huge problem in the US with arrogance, that we know everything. Parents like cones and flashy equipment, most coaches in my area are coaches because they were the jock in high school and are athletic, not because they know soccer. In my case I have very few options, If I make a parent mad going against the status quo, I dont have a coaching job, or the parent takes their kid to play football/basketball etc. and we might not have enough players to make a team. US Soccer needs to make their licenses mandatory at least at the club level before any changes will happen.

[@frpgplayer]

Played soccer, baseball, football, hockey, and basketball. Soccer is the only sport that teaches technical but no tactical skills to all players. All the other sports, I learned both. Didnt matter about skill level. Coaches taught us both. We knew both while we learned our technical skills. Soccer coaches, classes, training books, have the issue of, if you dont have technical, you cant learn tactical. The teams I see winning as a referee were taught both. Take kids of a soccer team to a basketball court. Watch them move to get open, pass the ball as they see their teammate move, anticipate it. They hit the soccer field and stand still. Why? Because they're taught technical only. No tactical until later. They're taught to pass to standing targets. They're taught to pass softly to control the ball. Guess what they do in games? Stand still for passes. Pass softly. Until we change coaching, players will be behind

[@KlassicSoccer]

Every moment in soccer involves tactics. Not sure what you are trying to explain. Your comments don't make much sense. Your broad/general points need to be specific. What age and stage of development are you referring to?

[@tepper82]

Rule number 5 - dont call it soccer ;-) Only joking, Great vid

[@brunosantez6334]

Just wonderful, I've been looking for "confidence classes for children" for a while now, and I think this has helped. Have you ever come across - Elilan Coachify Domination - (do a search on google ) ? Ive heard some incredible things about it and my buddy got amazing success with it.

[@AtlasGaming717]

You said joking but on the inside you ain’t joking

[@vitoroma9082]

Soccer!

[@elil864]

8:15

[@henrys1046]

「あなたのコンテンツはとても感動的です」、

[@fabiGBOtown]

Dont yell though? Maybe in America, growing up in Brazil everyone yelled at everyone. Last place medals next?

[@christianvera7631]

you missed the point. A lot of coaches, yell to just yell...kids after a while will just ignore the yelling...not an effective method.

[@fabiGBOtown]

@@christianvera7631 i respect your opinion.

[@LarryHanson]

Any communication with a player has a purpose and an impact. What is the purpose and impact when you shout at a player? Instructing? Hopefully. Demeaning, shaming, embarrassing? Hopefully not. Getting them to do something just the way you want? Often. As a coach I try to only shout to project a distance or maybe show (positive) excitement, not to demean, shame or embarrass or play robot windup athlete (pass! run! shoot!). The aim and purpose of my communication with players is to motivate them and instruct and lead them towards skill building and efficient, independent problem solving. Also, shouting to players out on the field often has a negative effect in that they are then distracted from the play at hand. With shouting coming from the sideline they are often trying to "solve" the coach (or sometimes a parent) instead of the problem in front of them on the field, and things often just get worse from there. Coaching at the youth level, if I shout anything from the sideline I try to model communication that I would expect any player on the field to use. "See Julie square to you." "You've got a drop if you need it." "Man on." "You've got time." "Nice try! Unlucky!" rather than "Oh my god! What were you thinking?!" "What kind of pass was that?!" "That was a pathetic effort!" "Is anyone going to start trying out there!" If I have significant criticism of a player I will usually sub them out and do it one-on-one with varying ranges of privacy depending on the feedback. And I try to start the conversation out something like "That situation didn't go the way we would want. Let's walk through what happened and see if we can find a way to change it next time for the better." and we problem solve together. It's through this that the player and their teammates know that I want what is best for the team and that I am there right beside them to work to make the best a reality, and I won't settle for less. I believe this is very motivating. Some believe instead that shouting to demean, shame and embarrass is an effective motivator. Possibly in the short term these may motivate, but I don't believe they are effective in the long term.

[@kevenblaq]

American soccer smh lol

[@sirfondeck651]

I think the yelling thing depends. normally back home in Africa, I don't yell at my boys. but here in China, my guy you most yell for the kids to listen.

[@KlassicSoccer]

No idea, never used it,

[@Odieodius]

I'm not sold on this. Lines, laps and lectures are helpful in moderation. With teams not doing laps, I'm noticing a lack of endurance. Change doesn't always mean progress

[@LoveBagpipes]

This is covered in the Australian FFA curriculum that's been in play for the last, say 5 years...the idea is that fitness can be worked on outside of the practice session, and that in cultures that say, have soccer run for half a year at most, need to maximise the in-game style touches to maximise on ball decision making skills, etc

[@OldFlads]

In the UK we focus on including physical aspects when required by altering technical drills. For example, increasing pitch sizes, increasing distances of pass and move drills etc etc. This way everything remains game orientated whilst offering harder physical elements. It's also known as 'hiding the running'.

[@coachwayne8094]

I have always said that running laps were totally counter productive. There are many different ways to achieve endurance

[@giloneal1]

I’m with you, Nothing wrong with Laps, they do a lot more for these young lads in a short practice to build their endurance and help them play longer in actual games without stated fatigue.

[@thatcrazyguyfrom76]

You are looking at endurance wrong. The concept of endurance must be applied to the sport specifically how it is used. Laps is great for long distance runners. Soccer (Futbol) is a max interval/plyometric type sport. Think about how they run in a game situation and practice. It's not a consistent speed run for distance. It's quick burst at full speed, jogging, shuffling, back peddling, etc. I promise if you re-think your conditioning you'll see better performance from your players.

[@user-ee7db4ip6j]

I’ve seen the exactly same drill Real Madrid doing in training where players are standing in a line and zidane laying ball off to score. Exactly the same. No difference. RM players do laps together also to commence training.....

[@reeceballantyne9497]

H412 H46 the thing is this is targeted towards coaches of kids football not professional teams how is doing laps of a pitch going to aid the development of a young footballer the are playing football because they love football so don’t make it into a session about fitness. I’m not saying they shouldn’t do any fitness training but it will be a lot more enjoyable for them if it involves a ball and they are constantly having to think about what to do next

[@seanwickham8905]

There's a lot more thought put into warm-up laps for the RM players. Is this a session the day after a match? Are the players who played doing the same thing as the players who sat on the bench? How many laps are they doing? For Zidane laying the ball off for players to score: what part of the session was this? How many players were involved? A lot of professional coaches implement a fun shooting session at the end the practice, and often it's a shooting game they used to do as kids.

[@catblueeye]

Laps are for warmup and if a kid do not obey instructions as a punishment?

[@KlassicSoccer]

Too many coaches/trainers responsible for youth development apply training methods of adults. This represents a lack of education, a common problem. Have you taken an educational course that teaches laps for youth players? Don’t destroy kids dreams.

[@seanwickham8905]

Depends on the age of the kid and if they're not obeying because they're too hyper/inattentive or if they're just defiant. For younger kids, you can just involve the parents after practice. If they're older, you can talk to them and explain that their attitude is going to affect their playing time in the game.

[@KlassicSoccer]

@@seanwickham8905 You want to correct behavior of a disruptive child, have them sit and watch. Beats sending a child around a field who now you can''t watch because your paying attention to others. What you are doing is setting your yourself up for a liability.

[@seanwickham8905]

@@KlassicSoccer I think we are both visualizing completely different behaviors when it comes to how we define "disruptive." That could range from little kids having ants in their pants, two older kids cursing or acting abusive towards other players. Of course, I fully agree that you correct the behavior, but there are many methods for just as many possible disruptions. I agree with you 100%, you don't send kids off to run laps to discipline them. Heck, most discipline issues are avoided by following your advice on this video. Probably the most effective punishment I gave a player, was to give the entire team the choice of having him kicked off the team for being involved in a major fight off school grounds, or they could all run several sprints while he stood and watched. The team unanimously chose to run, so he stood there and watched everyone bust their guts out for him. That teenager felt loved by his teammates for the first time in his life.

[@seanwickham8905]

I would like to add that I never said running laps to correct an on-field discipline issue is good idea for a coach.

[@kevenblaq]

This is why American players never go anywhere. All for the like and not for the development

[@brian7897]

I figured all this out before my first time coaching. Seems like common sense. Every practice revolved on maximizing touches on the ball. No kid ever sat idle more than a minute. LAPS? Never. Lines were never more than 3 deep. I would let them do 6 on 6 scrimmages, but I didn't like it because it meant that out of 12 people on the field only 1 was touching the ball. However, they enjoyed it, and there was no other practical way to teach how to maintain a defensive line.

[@jazzspiry4821]

What is Episoketren System? Does it work? I hear most people improve their soccer skills using it with this popular training course.