Many grassroots coaches only have an hour a week to practice with their players. Taking lateness, water breaks, explanations and group coaching points into account, it's not long. Making our sessions as efficient as possible is going to benefit our players going forward.
The following 4 ideas will help you get the most out of your sessions. They allow players to remain active, while also giving you the chance to help them improve. The best of both worlds! Give them a try and let us know how they work for you
Plan The Timing Of Each Section
We can all be at a point where part of a practice isn't going the way we pictured. The practice then continues until it gets to a point where we are happy. I've been guilty of this, leaving minimal time left for a game at the end. While this could be justified for certain ages and levels of player, it doesn't benefit the foundation age grassroots player. The majority of our players attend practice to play games and we must take that into account.
Whether you prefer Whole-Part-Whole or Unopposed-Opposed-Game, giving each practice a time to be completed will help you remain on task. Try to be as specific as possible (10 mins as opposed to 5-10 mins) and be strict on yourself if the time limit is reached. Wearing a watch is key as you will need to start and finish on time.
As well as the practices, take into account water breaks, explanations, debriefing the session and collecting equipment. Some of you may also need to plan for 2 minutes at the end for changeover if another team is coming onto the facility.
Prepare Your Cones Before The Session Starts
I was fortunate in that my first coaching role was a paid one. Arriving 30 mins before sessions started was an expectation and meant that everything was laid out before the players turned up. Going one step further, cones were arranged so that I only had to pick them up when moving onto the next part of the session, rather than having to re-arrange them. This saved valuable time.
The picture above is based on what will be my first session back with the U9's once the powers that be give the green light. The warm up/unopposed activity will use 4 red cones and the 4 yellow cones. Once this is done, I will pick up the 4 yellow cones and use the 2 halves of the pitch to run the opposed practice. When we get to the game, the pitch is set up to get going straight away.
Setting up your practice in this manner allows a small effort on your part when the players are having a water break.
Get The Activity Going
The speed in which children process information varies greatly. Where as one child only has to be informed once, another may need multiple explanations to understand what is being asked. Couple this with preferred learning styles and if you're not careful your players could be stood still for 10 minutes of your practice. If you only have an hour, this is a whopping 17% of your session gone.
I have taken the approach in recent years of explain once and get them moving. While this may mean that certain groups interpret the conditions of the session very differently, they are still playing. It also provides an opportunity for those that do understand to develop their leadership skills by helping those that don't. As players are more likely to use vocabulary that their peers understand, this provides a much better insight than you or I can offer. You also have time to step in and help run through the practice again, while the remaining players perform.
Coach The Individual
Youth Football is a funny sport. While it is a team game, we are coaching a bunch of individuals, each with their own development needs. In terms of a passing & receiving session, one player might need to check their shoulders when the ball is coming to them, while another may need to open their body more. The points are personal to the individual and how you deliver them should be as well.
Some coaching points will require you to speak to more than one player at a time. If the issue that players are bunching in a 2v1 activity, then highlighting the benefits of using width will help the group. Even then, as previously mentioned, smaller groups an be spoken to rather than the entire team. Technical points however are individual, and allowing everyone else to stay playing while you speak to one player keeps the ball rolling time high. Players will also appreciate the personal touch to their development.