Coaching Soccer Weekly

Coaching Soccer Weekly

A Podcast that Shares Training Sessions, Interviews and Commentary from WORLD CLASS COACHING

Coaching Soccer Weekly is a podcast that gives you an in-depth look at the methods, strategies and techniques used by a youth soccer coach working full time with players of every age and skill level. This includes training plans, team management and planning ideas, the latest trends in soccer coaching and education, as well as approaches to deal with challenges.

The podcast also includes interviews with other soccer coaches and trainers that are on the cutting edge of modern soccer development.

#028 Organizing Your Training Sessions

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As I mentioned last week I took some of my teams to a Labor Day tournament over the weekend. Taking three teams made for a busy weekend but the teams played well and I enjoyed spending time with them away from home. My younger teams played in traditional tournaments brackets with the top two teams playing in the final. My high school age team just played three teams of similar ability with no final. I think this is a great way to format the tournament for … [Read more...]

#027 Building an Unbreakable Defense

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This week I want to share a session focused on teaching the key defensive principles. The session starts with the basic building blocks of individual defending and progresses to include small group defending and finishes by working with the entire defensive unit. The amount of time you spend in each phase of this session will depend on the age and experience level of your players. With younger players you may only go as far as the 2v2 defending work because … [Read more...]

#026 Developing Players in Full Sided Games

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An email came out from US Youth Soccer on Monday, August 24. It was to announce changes that most people had heard something about already. The first is that they are mandating small-sided soccer for players below the age of 12. They are also standardizing the formats for each age group. The U8’s will play 4 v 4 without goalkeepers, U9-U10's will play 7 v 7 and U11 and U12 teams will play 9 v 9. This is a change from the 6 v 6 and 8 v 8 formats that many of … [Read more...]

#025 Systems of Play for U11 and U12

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Last weekend was our first tournament weekend. There is always a lot of discussion about whether playing multiple games over a weekend is good for players. I think it depends on the age and level of the players. For high school age and above I think more harm than good comes from playing more than a game a day and no more than three days in a row. These are players that are playing close to if not full 90 minute games and often with limited … [Read more...]

#024 Formations for Small-Sided Soccer

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The questions and suggestions keep coming in each week and one that I received today gave me an idea. Michael K said, ‘I am really enjoying your podcasts and am finding them very informative and educational. Would it be possible to include sessions that focus on set plays and restarts? This is a topic that I have on my list but it’s one that I’ve avoided because it’s not one of my strengths. I have a couple of corners and free kicks that I use with my teams … [Read more...]

#023 A Progressive Shooting Session

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At the beginning of each season I always plan to do a shooting session in the first week. I have a shooting exercise or game in each training session but what I’m talking about here is a complete practice focused on shooting. I set the session up as a progressive practice that begins with a focus on technique and gradually becomes more dynamic and functional. I feel that this is a session that you could do with just about any age group, especially early in … [Read more...]

#022 Developing Vision and Awareness

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Training sessions have started in our area and it’s great to get back on the field with the players again. The summer provides a welcome break but I enjoy working with kids and watching them develop so I’m always excited to start a new year. I have a range of age groups that I’m working with again this year. The youngest are our U8 Pre Academy boys and the oldest is a U16 girls team. In between I have U10 and U12 girls teams. I enjoy coaching teams that play … [Read more...]

#021 Getting a Jump Start to the Season

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I continue to receive a lot of great feedback on the podcast as well as ratings and reviews on iTunes. I really appreciate everyone that has taken the time to send an email or write a review. I'll do my best to bring you information on the topics and ideas you've requested. This week we went past 100,000 downloads of our episodes! I’m glad that so many coaches are finding the podcast useful and spreading the word about the training sessions and information … [Read more...]

#020 Developing a Pressing Mentality

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I've continued adding printable show notes for each episode to CoachingSoccerWeekly.com. So you'll find printable notes for this episode at the bottom of this page. I’m also working through the previous episodes as well so keep checking back if there’s one your looking for or you can email me at tommura@worldclasscoaching.com and let me know if there’s a particular episode you'd like to have printable show notes for. I'll prioritize episodes with the most … [Read more...]

#019 PreSeason Skill and Conditioning

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The summer months are an important time because they give our players a chance to rest and recharge at the end of a long season before they prepare for the next one. You can’t constantly train at a high level without breaking down and risking injury and burnout. But it’s important for players, especially as they mature, to prepare for the challenges of returning to training. Goals of Preseason Conditioning Get the players fit enough to start training … [Read more...]