#119 Training Transition

Last weekend’s tournament in Iowa went well despite some weather issues. The tournament did a good job of managing them but on the show I talk about the best way I’ve seen of dealing with weather delays. As I’ve said before I enjoy having my teams play multiple games over the course of a weekend and learning from one game to the next. We played on some beautiful grass fields but it did take us some time to adjust to the slower surface and smaller field dimensions. It’s all part of the experience for me. The players learn to make adjustments and deal with different conditions. This week’s question comes from Ryan He asks a question about tracking game statistics. Ryan says, “Do you have suggestions for a form that can be used to track players during a game. Used by Coach and parents to track # touches, # passes, # moves. The goal for the game is to see how many times can the team connect 3 passes, 4 passes 5 passes.” Thanks for the question Ryan! I found an app called SoccerMeter. It’s a great way to track a bunch of stats for soccer including: number of passes completed, the number of passes before a goal, time of possession and more. Here’s a screenshot of the free version of the app on my Google Pixel phone: I haven’t used the app during a game but just played with it a bit. All you have to do is tap the large box under each team whenever that team has a player take a first touch. Then you tap it again as a new player touches the ball. When the other team gets control you take that team. It’s simple to use while you (or an assistant or parent) watch the game. If you’re looking for a stats app, this is the best one I’ve come across for soccer. In This Episode Today I look at the most often forgotten phase of play. It’s the link between attacking and defending. If you’re not incorporating it into your sessions then you’re missing a huge opportunity. Printable Show Notes The show notes for each episode are accessed through the WCC Training Center. They are FREE but you will need at least a Free Membership to the Training Center in order to view and print them. They’ll be available there for eight weeks before they’re placed in our archive which can be accessed at any time by Elite Members. Click on the image of the notes and if you’re already logged in to the Training Center you’ll be taken to the Podcast page. If you’re not logged in your be taken to a login page where you’ll also be able to login or register if you are not already a Member. Remember! Make sure you subscribe to Coaching Soccer Weekly through iTunes, or your podcast provider of choice, to be sure you never miss an episode. We would appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star rating and/or a written review on iTunes to help spread the word about the show and ensure that we can continue to bring you top notch guests in the future. Future Episodes Next week I’ll show you why you should train your players NOT to look at the ball.