Private soccer coaching in CT -- Is MA next?

[ForzaAzzurri]

to name a few;

club:

1. shows favoritism
2. not offering adequate training times
3. does not work on skills player wishes to develop (but on own objectives)
4. negative/unapproachable coaching environment
5. large communication gap / confusion /
6. constant change and rotation of coaching


- and it's easier to say find a different club, but think about it... what is the case in another club?

And what does private training have to do with any of those things? The only one that even comes close to being addressed by private training is #3...which can easily be addressed on one's own (which should be happening anyway)

[And while not on point, since you brought it up, if those things you mentioned are an issue (even just one, never mind more than one), then why continue with THAT program??? Or if you say that it will be more of the same on a different club, than why even do it at all?]

[Unregistered]

If I'm a coach—and I am—and one of my field players felt the need to seek out private instruction as means to get "better", I would promptly walk away from the game.

If I had the occasion to speak to anyone considering such, I would ask...why?

What about goalkeepers doing private sessions? Surely having your goalkeeper do private training will be of benefit to them, as it is a far more specialized position. Not many clubs can accommodate coaching the position (bad goalkeeping coaches, large training groups).

[Unregistered]

And what does private training have to do with any of those things? The only one that even comes close to being addressed by private training is #3...which can easily be addressed on one's own (which should be happening anyway)

[And while not on point, since you brought it up, if those things you mentioned are an issue (even just one, never mind more than one), then why continue with THAT program??? Or if you say that it will be more of the same on a different club, than why even do it at all?]

Different Poster:

I don't understand your aversion to private training? If a player works with a strong private coach it can make a world of difference to their game.

It doesn't matter who good their club/town/HS coach may be, they don't have time to give individual attention to 15-20 players during their team sessions.

Private coaches can quickly fix technical flaws as well as providing dynamic and challenging drills that can often be taken away and practiced at home in their own time. I often hear posters on here mention that all a player has to do is juggle or kick a ball against a wall but a (good) private coach will be able to provide all sorts of different skills/drills for a player to practice at home that won't become monotonous after 5 minutes.

[perspective]

And what does private training have to do with any of those things? The only one that even comes close to being addressed by private training is #3...which can easily be addressed on one's own (which should be happening anyway)

[And while not on point, since you brought it up, if those things you mentioned are an issue (even just one, never mind more than one), then why continue with THAT program??? Or if you say that it will be more of the same on a different club, than why even do it at all?]

Interesting....both the issue and your response.

This happens FREQUENTLY, and just at the DAP, ECNL, NEFC Elite, etc levels. And this was happening 6-8 years ago at the level of good MAPLE teams and up. And this reminds me of why I focus as much or more on the parents in these discussions (compared to focusing so much on the clubs). Parents would secretly have their kids doing private training as a way to get an edge...to keep a starting role on their club team, or to win a battle for a spot where they were neck-and-neck with another kid....and/or in hopes of the kid moving up to a DAP or ECNL-type level. I'm surprised you are surprised. Parents do this kind of stuff for all aspects of their children's lives...looking for any and all ways they can gain just that little edge needed athletically and/or academically to nudge past perceived strong competition. I mean, at its core, isn't that a big part of putting one's kid in an ISL and NEPSAC situation?

[Unregistered]

What about goalkeepers doing private sessions? Surely having your goalkeeper do private training will be of benefit to them, as it is a far more specialized position. Not many clubs can accommodate coaching the position (bad goalkeeping coaches, large training groups).

I think that's why ForzaAzzurri said "field player" in his post, and with that exception, I agree with him. Why stay in an organization if its not meeting your needs?

[Unregistered]

I think that's why ForzaAzzurri said "field player" in his post, and with that exception, I agree with him. Why stay in an organization if its not meeting your needs?

Because clubs only provide group lessons. In any sport that involves technical skills, you can develop those skills better in 1 on 1 lessons than in group lessons.

[ForzaAzzurri]

What about goalkeepers doing private sessions? Surely having your goalkeeper do private training will be of benefit to them, as it is a far more specialized position. Not many clubs can accommodate coaching the position (bad goalkeeping coaches, large training groups).

I don’t disagree with you. As someone noticed, I intentionally wrote field players in my original post. As you said, GK is a specialized (and mostly individualized) position, involving a completely different skill set and soccer-IQ than field players, so, in recognition that some teams/coaches might not have the wherewithal to provide an aspiring GK with the foundational instruction needed, I would understand why someone would consider it, but…I’m not sure anything beyond group training is really needed (small group training!).

That said, just to expand a little, and at the risk of being ostracized (by GKs, GK coaches, and anybody else), in my mind there is a point of diminishing returns for continued personal/group (especially if it is paid) GK training. Once the basics (and I don't mean to understate their importance, but I'm using the term as a catch-all for all the fundamental things, like hands positioning, raising the knee, jumping off of a certain foot, protecting oneself on the ground, putting the body behind the ball, etc, etc) are understood then progressing individually as a GK really comes down to factors (e.g., shot-blocking ability, angles, when to punch out v. catch, coming out vs. back-pedaling, playing as a “back”, etc etc) that are honed through sheer playing experience. These abilities, I personally think—based on observation/experience—can adequately, and sometimes better, be addressed in a general (team) setting. (Of course, it never hurts to supplement team training with a friend/teammate/parent taking shots). In other words, assuming one knows/understands—and does!—the basic “technical” stuff, and provided that the team’s coach(es) can provided a minimum of basic feedback, what is going to make one a better GK and differentiate one over another is positioning (left, right, up, back), reaction time, reading the developing play, (split-second) decision-making, and most of all, blocking/stopping the shot...all things that I maintain one can best develop and get better and better at by a) playing the game (which puts all the player movement and attacking team’s options in context, and adds the element of pressure) and b) facing hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of shots and crosses and back-passes and...

Put another way, if I had a kid, say around U12 or so, who wanted to be a GK? I'd leverage a particular website that I find absolutely fantastic as a one-stop shop for GK insight, then sign him up for—not the "best" team he could make, where he might barely get involved in the action game after game—but one of the WORST teams in a competitive league. If in a couple years he was enjoying it and hoping to continue with it, I’d consider a one-time group class (say, up 10 hours over a few days) or perhaps a fall of ODP ($180 for five 2-hr sessions) to get that professional hands-on perspective. Then back to the firing range…

[ForzaAzzurri]

Different Poster:

I don't understand your aversion to private training? If a player works with a strong private coach it can make a world of difference to their game.

It doesn't matter who good their club/town/HS coach may be, they don't have time to give individual attention to 15-20 players during their team sessions.

Private coaches can quickly fix technical flaws as well as providing dynamic and challenging drills that can often be taken away and practiced at home in their own time. I often hear posters on here mention that all a player has to do is juggle or kick a ball against a wall but a (good) private coach will be able to provide all sorts of different skills/drills for a player to practice at home that won't become monotonous after 5 minutes.

In all honesty, I don’t know where to begin, but let me try something.

First and foremost, soccer is a team sport, where the technical components don’t just exist in a vacuum, and tactical considerations influence even what might appear to be isolated technically-oriented facets of play . That said:

Anything the “strong private coach” can teach/show a player, any self-respecting coach can (heck, even YouTube can almost do it). Technique is individual, but tactics are team-dependent. 1-on-1, virtually by definition, entails technical work. 1-on-1 instruction will not and cannot address tactics, while technique can be and should be mastered on one’s own, with the team coach being sufficient to provide the guidance on what to work on and how best do it.

If a coach can’t impart technical concepts—every technical concept—to his players, then he should not be coaching. (By the way, I’m assuming we are talking at the club level, as obviously town can entail a reluctant volunteer). As I said, if my players…GK’s excepted…felt they need instruction beyond what I can provide, then I’m hanging up the fancy track suit. ;)

As for your last paragraph, why can’t a team coach do any of that? That is the coach’s purpose!!! Recognize and correct flaws. That is what we do. And if we want to keep the players interested—which we do!—we make the activities interesting and challenging, not just functional. And yes, as we’ve said countless times, the place to really improve with the technical skills is away from the practice field, on one’s own.

Are “all sorts of different skills/drills” the exclusive purview of private coaches? Really? I won’t even mention—nah, I actually I will—that with the internet, no decent coach has any excuse to learn about, incorporate, and adapt as appropriate some of the most proven and successful ideas being implemented across all age groups.

[Unregistered]

In all honesty, I don’t know where to begin, but let me try something.

First and foremost, soccer is a team sport, where the technical components don’t just exist in a vacuum, and tactical considerations influence even what might appear to be isolated technically-oriented facets of play . That said:

Anything the “strong private coach” can teach/show a player, any self-respecting coach can (heck, even YouTube can almost do it). Technique is individual, but tactics are team-dependent. 1-on-1, virtually by definition, entails technical work. 1-on-1 instruction will not and cannot address tactics, while technique can be and should be mastered on one’s own, with the team coach being sufficient to provide the guidance on what to work on and how best do it.

If a coach can’t impart technical concepts—every technical concept—to his players, then he should not be coaching. (By the way, I’m assuming we are talking at the club level, as obviously town can entail a reluctant volunteer). As I said, if my players…GK’s excepted…felt they need instruction beyond what I can provide, then I’m hanging up the fancy track suit. ;)

As for your last paragraph, why can’t a team coach do any of that? That is the coach’s purpose!!! Recognize and correct flaws. That is what we do. And if we want to keep the players interested—which we do!—we make the activities interesting and challenging, not just functional. And yes, as we’ve said countless times, the place to really improve with the technical skills is away from the practice field, on one’s own.

Are “all sorts of different skills/drills” the exclusive purview of private coaches? Really? I won’t even mention—nah, I actually I will—that with the internet, no decent coach has any excuse to learn about, incorporate, and adapt as appropriate some of the most proven and successful ideas being implemented across all age groups.

I seldom react to any posts I disagree with but I've rarely witnessed such small-minded views.

A player is going to improve more on their own than with a professional private coach who can provide a challenging and high-tempo session?? Do you share these views with a strength and conditioning coach as well? Are they better off running laps in their own time and doing the occasional set of push ups?

Like another poster said a team coach has 15-20 players to worry about, they can't take the time to stop practice and correct flaws in each player individually. Their focus is on the team not any one individual player!

[perspective]

In all honesty, I don’t know where to begin, but let me try something.

First and foremost, soccer is a team sport, where the technical components don’t just exist in a vacuum, and tactical considerations influence even what might appear to be isolated technically-oriented facets of play . That said:

Anything the “strong private coach” can teach/show a player, any self-respecting coach can (heck, even YouTube can almost do it). Technique is individual, but tactics are team-dependent. 1-on-1, virtually by definition, entails technical work. 1-on-1 instruction will not and cannot address tactics, while technique can be and should be mastered on one’s own, with the team coach being sufficient to provide the guidance on what to work on and how best do it.

If a coach can’t impart technical concepts—every technical concept—to his players, then he should not be coaching. (By the way, I’m assuming we are talking at the club level, as obviously town can entail a reluctant volunteer). As I said, if my players…GK’s excepted…felt they need instruction beyond what I can provide, then I’m hanging up the fancy track suit. ;)

As for your last paragraph, why can’t a team coach do any of that? That is the coach’s purpose!!! Recognize and correct flaws. That is what we do. And if we want to keep the players interested—which we do!—we make the activities interesting and challenging, not just functional. And yes, as we’ve said countless times, the place to really improve with the technical skills is away from the practice field, on one’s own.

Are “all sorts of different skills/drills” the exclusive purview of private coaches? Really? I won’t even mention—nah, I actually I will—that with the internet, no decent coach has any excuse to learn about, incorporate, and adapt as appropriate some of the most proven and successful ideas being implemented across all age groups.

I'm not going to disagree with your viewpoint, except to say that I think you are presuming a quality level for club coaches that may or may not always be met, and that beyond U13/U14, and sometimes even earlier, kids don't get much individual attention and instruction in the team context. Some clubs will provide additional skills training sessions over and above the team training, so perhaps that suffices in many instances. My kid had some very good coaches over the years, including a couple of coaches widely known to be quite good, and I don't recall much individual attention at all. Your points about in-team and in-game learning under pressure are well-taken, and it is true that much of the individual skills and touch stuff my kid did on his own.

But what I want to reiterate is this...whether you are right or wrong, private training has been going on for years and I'm guessing is even more prevalent today. "Back in the day," meaning 6-8 years ago, a good number of the very best players in the state did private training, including one now playing in Europe and consistently on NTs. And as I said, earlier, there were plenty of players a tier or half-tier below those players who also were secretly doing private training with the apparent hope that this would make the difference in getting them up another level. In this era where soo many are looking for an edge, it's really no different no parents getting private tutors for academics. Whether private training actually works or not is another matter.

[Unregistered]

years ago when I was looking a Weston's web site they had a blurb that said "Private coaches are not allowed to coach from sidelines"

At game there were coaches watching game and would discuss game afterwards with kids and parents....

[Unregistered]

I seldom react to any posts I disagree with but I've rarely witnessed such small-minded views.

A player is going to improve more on their own than with a professional private coach who can provide a challenging and high-tempo session?? Do you share these views with a strength and conditioning coach as well? Are they better off running laps in their own time and doing the occasional set of push ups?

Like another poster said a team coach has 15-20 players to worry about, they can't take the time to stop practice and correct flaws in each player individually. Their focus is on the team not any one individual player!

the coach's primary focus up ti certain age should be 1.the player 2.the player within the team.
Part 1 refers to the players individual technical development and part 2 refers to the players
technical/tactical development in a group/team environment.
I have seen kids with private coaches making considerable technical errors due to poor individual coaching and kids with good coaches and no 'privates' that have superb technical skills.
Finding quality individual instruction is so rare that you would be better of to grab a set of coerver tapes and work from there on your own.
The need of additional funds to supplement coaches incomes has created a glut of private instructors with absolutely questionable credentials.
I recently watched a demo video on a well attended private instructor only to find that poor
technique and body positioning was demonstrated. IMO

[Eagerestbloom]

If I had not read your posts before, I would have never believed that this comes from professional coach:

If I'm a coach—and I am—and one of my field players felt the need to seek out private instruction as means to get "better", I would promptly walk away from the game.

If I had the occasion to speak to anyone considering such, I would ask...why?

"Surely, God is with you, and there is none else, No other God." Isaiah 45:14

As I said, if my players…GK’s excepted…felt they need instruction beyond what I can provide, then I’m hanging up the fancy track suit.

"Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me." Isaiah 43:10

What is your name? Gerardo Martino? Jurgen Klinsmann?
Guess what is the first thing my son does when he opens his eyes every morning? He is looking for the ball! At some point three practices a week simply stopped being enough. He needed more.... Solution???? Right! Private coaching. His club coach is aware and supportive. And guess what? He( the kid) still spends 20-30 min with the ball almost every morning before school. I am not questioning how good you are as a coach, or your level of passion and philanthropy, sometimes you just can not satisfy everyone hunger (or why even try if you're a staff coach?). I bet people can give you dozen of different reasons for private training
I wonder if one of your players approached you and asked you as a favor to spend some of your precious time to work on his shooting or 1v1 etc, what would you say? would you help him? If yes, would you do it for free? On a long term basis?
What problem do you see if he asks another coach? Personal insult? Ultimate betrayal of God’s Will?
Here is a topic for critical thinking: Why people look for private math tutoring? or even better one:

should one trust the school teacher and curriculum if they want their child to be taught a speed reading? Memorization techniques?

[Unregistered]

1-on-1 instruction will not and cannot address tactics, while technique can be and should be mastered on one’s own, with the team coach being sufficient to provide the guidance on what to work on and how best do it.

While I totally agree with you, I do believe today's child-athletes, parents, and sports "environment" encourage specialized individual training. Back in the day (cough), when I played HS sports, we would determine our own weaknesses (speed, strength, technique, etc.) and try to develop a personal regimen to reverse the deficiencies. Granted I was older and perhaps better equipped to accomplish this, but young players today seem to need to be told what their weakness is and then apparently need outside "help" to solve the problem.

[Unregistered]

While I totally agree with you, I do believe today's child-athletes, parents, and sports "environment" encourage specialized individual training. Back in the day (cough), when I played HS sports, we would determine our own weaknesses (speed, strength, technique, etc.) and try to develop a personal regimen to reverse the deficiencies. Granted I was older and perhaps better equipped to accomplish this, but young players today seem to need to be told what their weakness is and then apparently need outside "help" to solve the problem.

I don't think that is the reason. The difference is not because kids have changed, it's because parents are more willing to invest in their kids personal training.