My conversation with Andy Barney about his player development methods was very well received last week. I hope to have him back on the show in the future. Be sure to check out Episode 65 if you missed it. Today I give you a tour of our new WCC Training Center. We've been working on it for six months. The goal is to combine all of our coaching resources in one place to make it easier for you to search for and find exercises to plan your next training … [Read more...]
#061 Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone
Since I didn't put out a podcast last week I thought it would be a good time to do a survey that I've been considering for a while. I appreciate everyone who took the time to fill it out. There were a number of things that I’ve learned from it already. Over 80% of coaches who responded want more training sessions. The recent episodes have included more commentary than actual training sessions but there's been a lot going on to talk about. I asked what … [Read more...]
#052 Coaching the Most Important Age Group
I’ve settled into a regular routine with our Instagram account. Each week I share a complete training session or progression of exercises from one of our books along with a couple of interesting photos or quotes that I’ve come across. I think it’s a great way to share drills and exercises because the comments section allows enough room for the complete description and coaching points. If you don’t have an Instagram account I would suggest you check it … [Read more...]
#051 How to Function Within the Formation
I’ve had some interest from a couple of coaches that are willing to be part of a coach’s roundtable discussion on the upcoming rule changes. I’d like to have four or five coaches involved to get a wider range of opinions. It won’t be difficult or complicated to be involved. You just need a free account on Skype and 30 to 45 minutes to talk. Email me at tommura@worldclasscoaching.com if you’d like to join the discussion We had our first weekend of the new … [Read more...]
#041 What is Tactical Periodization and How to Use it
Each December the coaches in our club complete player evaluations. We used to do these on paper but for the last few years we've used ZoomReports for all of our player evaluations. That was long before ZoomReports became a sponsor of this podcast. It's a great site that makes it easy for our coaches to complete evaluations but it's also a great tool for our Directors because it allows them to see which coaches have completed their evaluations and which … [Read more...]
#040 Technical and Tactical Q&A
This week I share some of the questions I've received from coaches around the world. One of my favorite things about hosting a podcast is that it gives me the opportunity to exchange ideas with a large number of coaches. Most of the times it's just me talking about what I'm doing with my teams or with one other coach. I prefer a dialog where I get to learn from other coaches as well as sharing what I've learned over the years. That's why I'm always excited … [Read more...]
#039 The Foundation of Effective Defending
Last week I enjoyed a great break over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Lots of time spent with family and friends. It also gave me a chance to catch up on podcast episodes that I hadn't listened to. I try to keep up with the latest episodes of Youth Soccer Evolution, Winning Youth Coaching, Coach Your Best and a new one I discovered called, Coach Bain Mused. It is hosted by Alistair Bain. The episode I listened to was a conversation between Coach Bain … [Read more...]
#032 How to Transfer Training into Matches
I think we all have experienced the frustration of running a session on a particular topic where the players performed well and appeared to understand the points we were making but then you don't see any of those ideas being used in the next game. This week I talk about this issue with Bob Warming, Head Men's Soccer Coach at Penn State University. This is the second time Bob has been on the podcast. If you haven't listened to our discussion in Episode #8 on … [Read more...]
#029 Getting the Most Out of Uneven Match-Ups
As we reach the midpoint of the fall season here in the Midwest my training sessions are becoming more focused on small-sided games. Early in the year I spend a lot of time on technical training and individual skill development. This provides a foundation of understanding for dribbling, fakes, passing, receiving and shooting. The players have heard the coaching points from me over and over so we have a kind of short-hand that makes it easy for me to help them … [Read more...]
#027 Building an Unbreakable Defense
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...]