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In the last few weeks I completed my review of how you can use formations for player development. On Episode 57 I looked at 7 v 7 for U9/U10 teams. On Episode 58 I reviewed the different formations for teams playing 9 v 9 at U11 and U12. Last week on Episode 59 I looked at the transition from small-sided games to full-sided 11 v 11 matches. If you missed any of those you should check them out.

Last weekend my teams finished up their league seasons. Two of my teams are attending a tournament over Memorial Day weekend but then they’ll be finished as well. The next thing on the calendar is tryouts which should be especially interesting this year with the changes to the age groups.

Today I want to describe how I use short phrases to connect the work we do in training to situations that the players face in games. There are times that we want to get points across to our players but they don’t have time to stop, listen and think so we need to make our point quickly but in a way that affects the players thinking and actions.

I’ll describe my favorite 19 short phrases. I’ve divided them up into six different areas of the game ranging from ball control to defending. You may already be using some of these yourself without considering why they work and how you could use them more effectively. This episode will get you thinking about more ways that you can connect important coaching points to key phrases so that you can help your players learn without over coaching them.

Coaching is transferring your knowledge to your players. You can’t do it for them, you have to give them the tools and teach them how to apply them correctly to the situations they’ll face in the game.

Whenever we’re working on something in training I try to connect it to a short phrase that serves as a que to get the players to make the connection between the phrase and the important factors of the skill or idea that we’re working on.

This type of shorthand helps me get my point across to the players without having to reteach the technique or tactic during the exercise, scrimmage or actual game.

I don’t think I’ve created a new idea here. There are some of these phrases that you hear over and over like, “Far Post” but that’s telling the player what to do not how to do it. I prefer to say, “Twist Your Foot” to describe how they can position their body to shoot toward the far post.

Here are the short phrases that I use with my own teams.

• Ball Control
  1. Safe Side
     1. Putting the ball on the player’s farthest foot from the pressure
  2. Protect It
     1. Shielding the ball and keeping it until it can be dribbled or passed
  3. Foot Over or Under
     1. Controlling the ball out of the air by cushioning it with the top of the foot or trapping it with the sole
  4. Magic Hop
     1. Being on their toes cushioning the ball by opening their hips and touching the ball in the direction they want to play next
• Passing
  1. Balance
     1. Foot next to the ball, leaning forward and following through to land on their passing foot
  2. Bounce It
     1. Locking the player’s ankle and striking the ball in the middle of the foot so that the ball bounces off of the foot
  3. Slide It
     1. Keeping the ball on the ground while it is traveling from one player to another
• Shooting
  1. Twist Your Foot
     1. Pointing your plant foot in the desired direction of the shot
  2. Land on It
     1. Landing on the shooting foot means that the player needed to lean forward, strike the middle of the ball and keep it low
• Possession
  1. Eyes Up
     1. Looking up so that the dribbler can see where the pressure and space is to make a good decision
  2. Have a Plan
     1. Think ahead so that when you have the ball you already know what you want to do
  3. Fake or Pass
     1. Don’t just dribble, use a move or make a pass rather than running into pressure
  4. Start Over
     1. Passing the ball backward to a supporting player away from pressure to restart the attack
• Support
  1. How Can You Help
     1. This is one of the most powerful phrases you can use
     2. It makes them think about what positions they can take up to support the ball
     3. You’re not telling them what to do but to THINK about what they should do
  2. Two Runs
     1. Moving away to draw the defender and then checking for the ball
     2. The first run is for the defender and the second run is for the ball
  3. Windows Not Walls
     1. Find ‘Windows’ to receive the ball through, don’t stand behind ‘Walls’ (defenders)
• Defending
  1. On Your Surfboard
     1. Taking up a defensive position
     2. One foot in front of the other on a diagonal (ie quarter turn)
     3. Balanced with a bit more weight on the back foot
  2. Stand Her Up
     1. The first job of the defender is to slow the attacker
     2. This gives time to recovering defenders
     3. Makes sure that first defender does not dive in and beat themselves
  3. Get Across Him
     1. Moving your body across the defender to separate them from the ball

There are many other phrases that you could use to describe these actions and ideas. There’s no magic in the phrases that I use. The key is for you to select phrases that are both short and memorable. Then you have to link those phrases to what you’re doing in training. The players need to hear them over and over again to make the connection. That way, when they hear them in a game, they can instantly remember the process from practice and apply it to the situation they are in during the game.

Printable Show Notes

In Future Episodes

I won’t have a podcast to release next week because I’ll be traveling with a couple of my teams to a tournament in Chicago. I’ll be back June 3^rd with more training sessions and coaching tips.