Does Practice Only Make You Better?
Only perfect practice makes perfect!
Practice makes you better. What a statement! Does practice though make you better in football? What does our practice need to be perfect? Technology and the internet have helped coaches and sports practitioners to expand their horizons, change ideas and come back with new ideas. A plethora of exercises and training plans can be found on sites, in books and journals around the word. In the end, all experienced coaches say that keeping it simple makes everything easier.
Bill Shankly, ex Scottish football player and manager said: ‘’Football is a simple game made complicated by people who should know better’’. We all make our life difficult looking for fancy drills that make us better coaches in the perception of our players or staff! We all change our minds regarding the way we work. Who can confidently say that they don’t laugh when thinking of what they were doing at the beginning of their careers? We all made and still make mistakes along the line. The important thing is to understand our mistakes, try to improve and be open to adapt to new ideas. We, therefore, should reconsider our way of working, starting from the question:
Profiling football?? What do we have to consider before starting our plan?
Statement 1: We could say that football is an intermittent sport with changes in speed of movement and direction (e.g., walking, jogging, high intensity running, and sprinting). Moreover, we should be aware of all these activities and speed zones that players are performing in, in a game or during training (table 1)
Table 1, Movement Activities and Speed Zones
Statement 2: The intermittent exercise associated with soccer necessitates contributions from both the aerobic and the anaerobic energy systems.
Statement 3: Players have to be strong and avoid injuries. Therefore, injury prevention and strength segments should be incorporated in their daily routine.
Statement 4: All the above physical aspects are important for a player in order to be able to perform well in technical actions (e.g., passing, shooting, etc.) which can make all the difference in a game.
Statement 5: Finally, all the above are essential for the successful completion of the tactical principles of play (e.g., formation, positioning, etc.) which ultimately determine the outcome of the match and the overall team performance.
Having these statements in mind, we have to set our priorities and start designing our plans.
In this post, I would like to share my personal thoughts about drill and session designing with you:
Plan Plan Plan. Plan your mesocycle and microcycle before designing any session (I am not referring to macrocycle.)
Need Analysis of your team and your players. Get to know your team and player weaknesses and do not get caught on weekly plans that might not be helping your team.
Analyse your game demands and train accordingly.
Prepare your players for the unknown! (Worst case scenario.)
Make your drill and sessions attractive to your players.
Give your players targets and build competitiveness.
Training concepts have evolved into more integrated types of physical and tactical training (individual, group, team). Try to achieve your targets using moments of the game and be as more football-related as possible. On the other hand, do not just use a ball just make it sport specific!!
Several examples of drills that include competition and could be enjoyable for your players follow. Starting from the basics (without ball) to more complicated drills. Set your targets beforehand. Plan your week and fit all your needs within the blocks you have. (Click on images to view videos)
Drill 1: Speed Competition (isolated runs in pairs)
Drill 2: Speed Competition 2 (football related in teams)
#1 point to score #1 point for the team to finish first
Adjust distances according to your target
Drill 3: Technical - 3v3 Football Tennis
Level 1: Play over the net, without moving
Level 2: Play over the net, move after the passing of the ball to the other half
Level 3: Play under the net, without moving
Level 4: Play under the net, move after the passing of the ball to the other half
Drill 4: Rondos 5v2 with Jogger and transition
Work: 1min
Challenge: As many times pair recovered the ball and score
Drill 5: Speed Rondos 4v1 with transition
2 teams of 2 squares playing 4v1. When the player recovers the ball, they sprint back to their team and the next player goes. Game finishes when all players have recovered the ball once. You can adjust the distance between the squares.
Drill 6: High Speed Running (+Finishing) competition
#1 point for scoring
#2 points for finishing first as a team the transition run
- GK should be in the highlighted box after the finishing
- Progression with one defender
As I often say to my friends: "In the end, what does really matter in football?
The answer is simple, JUST SEND THE BALL IN THE NET!"