Best way to teach possession ball?

[Unregistered]

The Washington teams play long ball. The play long ball even more so than the Oregon teams.

The main difference between the Washington team vs. the Oregon team is their size and speed of play. They are usually more physical than the Oregon teams. It is not because they don't play bootball. The only club up in Washington that is slightly different is maybe Crossfire and to a much lesser degree Eastside. The rest of the clubs are arguably more long ball oriented than Oregon. Of course you don't live up in Northern Washington so your perception is that everything is perfect up there.

Nothing wrong with my perceptions I watch these clubs play almost ever weekend and there are a lot of good teams. Are you confusing the select teams with the premier? I can see if you are referring to select teams up north.

[Unregistered]

Possession

The original question was the following:

What is the best way to teach possession ball to young players?

The answer is all about creating an environment where players are in the proper progression of complexity and where care of the ball is emphasized. For example from 7-9 years old this would be a 3v3 environment in which players have a huge amount of contact with the ball and make many decisions about when and where it is best to dribble and when and where it is better to pass the ball. Not taking anything at all away from emphasis on isolated technique which is extremely important, but most possession is lost at the highest levels by poor perception and decision making and not by technique. Where to run, how to open the body properly to receive second foot, to look over the shoulder, to get into a lane to receive a pass (into the light) etc... Rondos (keepaway games) of which there are many variations are taught to Spanish youngsters as young as 6 years old. This comes directly from Barcelona youth coaches. The repetition of technique can be learned from a combination of wall work or through analytical exercises at the training session. When players are beginners there should be more time and space and this should be progressively taken away as they become adept at working in tighter spaces. So small sided games (less large team tactics and more important concepts) mixed with technical work away from the training session and during short periods during the training session. Just a reminder that the whole purpose of possession soccer is to move the opponents to one side of the field in order to switch play and attack on the other side taking advantage of 2v1 situations. This is important to remember because the game for our youngsters becomes more lateral rather than just a direct game. This in turn allows for more building of the game rather than just a run and gun approach.

[Unregistered]

Right on brother!!!

The original question was the following:

What is the best way to teach possession ball to young players?

The answer is all about creating an environment where players are in the proper progression of complexity and where care of the ball is emphasized. For example from 7-9 years old this would be a 3v3 environment in which players have a huge amount of contact with the ball and make many decisions about when and where it is best to dribble and when and where it is better to pass the ball. Not taking anything at all away from emphasis on isolated technique which is extremely important, but most possession is lost at the highest levels by poor perception and decision making and not by technique. Where to run, how to open the body properly to receive second foot, to look over the shoulder, to get into a lane to receive a pass (into the light) etc... Rondos (keepaway games) of which there are many variations are taught to Spanish youngsters as young as 6 years old. This comes directly from Barcelona youth coaches. The repetition of technique can be learned from a combination of wall work or through analytical exercises at the training session. When players are beginners there should be more time and space and this should be progressively taken away as they become adept at working in tighter spaces. So small sided games (less large team tactics and more important concepts) mixed with technical work away from the training session and during short periods during the training session. Just a reminder that the whole purpose of possession soccer is to move the opponents to one side of the field in order to switch play and attack on the other side taking advantage of 2v1 situations. This is important to remember because the game for our youngsters becomes more lateral rather than just a direct game. This in turn allows for more building of the game rather than just a run and gun approach.

This is dead on correct...you must coach.

[Unregistered]

The original question was the following:

What is the best way to teach possession ball to young players?

The answer is all about creating an environment where players are in the proper progression of complexity and where care of the ball is emphasized. For example from 7-9 years old this would be a 3v3 environment in which players have a huge amount of contact with the ball and make many decisions about when and where it is best to dribble and when and where it is better to pass the ball. Not taking anything at all away from emphasis on isolated technique which is extremely important, but most possession is lost at the highest levels by poor perception and decision making and not by technique. Where to run, how to open the body properly to receive second foot, to look over the shoulder, to get into a lane to receive a pass (into the light) etc... Rondos (keepaway games) of which there are many variations are taught to Spanish youngsters as young as 6 years old. This comes directly from Barcelona youth coaches. The repetition of technique can be learned from a combination of wall work or through analytical exercises at the training session. When players are beginners there should be more time and space and this should be progressively taken away as they become adept at working in tighter spaces. So small sided games (less large team tactics and more important concepts) mixed with technical work away from the training session and during short periods during the training session. Just a reminder that the whole purpose of possession soccer is to move the opponents to one side of the field in order to switch play and attack on the other side taking advantage of 2v1 situations. This is important to remember because the game for our youngsters becomes more lateral rather than just a direct game. This in turn allows for more building of the game rather than just a run and gun approach.

Great answer. So now i the question is at which club should one consider to take a young girl to to start learning this?

[Unregistered]

Nothing wrong with my perceptions I watch these clubs play almost ever weekend and there are a lot of good teams. Are you confusing the select teams with the premier? I can see if you are referring to select teams up north.

Sorry, but the guy you are responding too is right. Washington doesn't do anything different than Oregon and if you think there's some greater sophistication of play going on up north you probably don't know what you are watching.

[Unregistered]

Sorry, but the guy you are responding too is right. Washington doesn't do anything different than Oregon and if you think there's some greater sophistication of play going on up north you probably don't know what you are watching.

Thats why so many scholarships to northwest colleges go to the Oregon players?

[Unregistered]

Thats why so many scholarships to northwest colleges go to the Oregon players?

If you knew anything about women's soccer program then you would know that there are only a handful of women's soccer program that play possession soccer.

Girls up in Washington seem to be bigger, stronger, and faster than in Oregon. That is what I notice when I watch the games.

I didn't say Oregon players were any better at possession than Washington, so all things being equal... the better athlete will get picked.

If you take a look at D1 soccer schools in Oregon (UofO, OSU, and Portland) than there are more Oregon and SW Washington than N. Washington.

The schools up in Washington (UofW, WSU, and Gonzaga) have more kids from N. Washington.

[Unregistered]

Sk6YT2

Thats why so many scholarships to northwest colleges go to the Oregon players?

I'm not sure if this is a come back or just uninformed. Plenty of scholarships go the Oregon players. If you are still dead set in believing there's something going on up north beyond what's happening here and you are going to reference some inaccurate and uninformed statistic that Oregon players don't get scholarships and Washington players do, then discussing this with you is pointless. The same smash ball soccer is happening in Washington as here, pretty simple. The grass is no greener there than here.

[Unregistered]

O WISE one... Please tell us then what the BEST way to train kids are. And for an FYI in the majority of the countries around the world with established youth systems its all about individual development at those young ages. But hey you are going to tell all of us weaklings the proper way to train kids.

Read post 32. This guy did a pretty decent job explaining it. After you've read that post for the second or third time, it should start to sink in that your overly simplistic understanding of the game and player development is painfully obvious. It's not a simple linear process as you seem to think it is, where some specific skills are taught at 9 and 10 years old and possession at 15 and 16. Rather than some sort of mutually exclusive components of player development, passing and receiving (or possession) is just as big a part of development, just as big "a skill", as one v one training and dribbling. And passing and receiving must be a part of the early stages of player development just like dribbling must be. The primary reason why a "kid at 14,15,16 ... just boot the ball because they have zero confidence on the ball" as you say, is precisely because they have not been developed in this manner. Not emphasizing passing and receiving in a game at age 10 is like teaching kids one v one in training but then telling them not to take people on one v one in a game because they are 10 years old and aren't very good at it yet. You see, what you are advocating is precisely the cause of the problems seen at ages 15 or 16, not the solution.

[Unregistered]

Thats why so many scholarships to northwest colleges go to the Oregon players?

Hmm, well just checked the rosters of University of Oregon and University of Portland. Oregon has 10 players on the roster from Oregon and 1 from Washington. Portland has 5 from Oregon, 1 from Washougal, WA, which is just north of the border of Gresham, and 3 players from the Seattle area.

So for these two schools combined, you have 16 rostered players from the Portland metro area and 4 from the Seattle metro area.

Now what was it you were saying about Oregon players not getting scholarships?

[Unregistered]

Hmm, well just checked the rosters of University of Oregon and University of Portland. Oregon has 10 players on the roster from Oregon and 1 from Washington. Portland has 5 from Oregon, 1 from Washougal, WA, which is just north of the border of Gresham, and 3 players from the Seattle area.

So for these two schools combined, you have 16 rostered players from the Portland metro area and 4 from the Seattle metro area.

Now what was it you were saying about Oregon players not getting scholarships?

I am talking boys soccer on this one.

[Unregistered]

Thats why so many scholarships to northwest colleges go to the Oregon players?

Talking about the boys soccer.

[Unregistered]

Hmm, well just checked the rosters of University of Oregon and University of Portland. Oregon has 10 players on the roster from Oregon and 1 from Washington. Portland has 5 from Oregon, 1 from Washougal, WA, which is just north of the border of Gresham, and 3 players from the Seattle area.

So for these two schools combined, you have 16 rostered players from the Portland metro area and 4 from the Seattle metro area.

Now what was it you were saying about Oregon players not getting scholarships?

I am talking about the boys soccer on this. Not everything on this post is girls soccer related parents. Look at all the soccer schools in the Northwest area regardless and you will see the stronger players are Washington up north. Overall, if you went outside your geographic area you would see this. I bet if you looked at the schools north most would say Seattle players. Bottom line I guess is which teams do the best overall and that would have to be team up north boys or girls.

[Unregistered]

I am talking about the boys soccer on this. Not everything on this post is girls soccer related parents. Look at all the soccer schools in the Northwest area regardless and you will see the stronger players are Washington up north. Overall, if you went outside your geographic area you would see this. I bet if you looked at the schools north most would say Seattle players. Bottom line I guess is which teams do the best overall and that would have to be team up north boys or girls.

You make me laugh.

Univ. of Portland has 10 Oregon boys on their roster and zero from
Washington. U of O has no boys soccer team, but simply substituting Oregon State, you have 12 boys from Oregon (including one Vancouver) and 2 boys from Washington.

Combined, that's 22 boys from Oregon/Vancouver and 2 from Washington proper. That's even more extreme than on the girls side. I'm happy to send the links to the rosters if you're having a hard time.

I mean at what point do you accept that the facts are completely inconsistent with your statement?

[Unregistered]

Yes. F.C. Portland. Go view a practice at the younger age groups...

Was just out at an FC Portland practiced for U12s. No actual possession being taught. It was talked about, but it wasn't happening.