Best way to teach possession ball?

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You mean the percentage is even lower than that?

Yes, your kids rec games are atrocious. But since you are the one coaching them, it's understandable.

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Yes, your kids rec games are atrocious. But since you are the one coaching them, it's understandable.

Next game, take a pen and notebook. Keep track. You'll be surprised how inaccurate even the best 10 year olds are.

[Unregistered]

No coaching and crappy surface makes for sloppy little kids soccer

Next game, take a pen and notebook. Keep track. You'll be surprised how inaccurate even the best 10 year olds are.

Give me two weeks with any U10 team and let me have them on turf or THPRD #4/#5 quality grass and I'll have them making passes that are not stolen or hit to in to the void. Bare dirt would be better than some of the hay fields and or swamps we expect our players to develop on!

All you have to do is go to a tourney and watch the younger teams of the clubs who have a commitment to possession soccer to see what is possible with quality coaching.

BTW those are the same clubs/teams that dominate us when we face them in the older years....funny how that happens!

[Unregistered]

Next game, take a pen and notebook. Keep track. You'll be surprised how inaccurate even the best 10 year olds are.

I've seen your team play, you have the coach yelling "possession, possession,...." about to have a coronary on the sideline while the girls scramble to connect three foot passes around their own box. Meanwhile the parents are off to as far away as they can be, hoping that no one associates them with being on your team and enduring another 15-0 loss to the "Pink Picking Daisey's" team. And then, after the game you are running to try to catch up with the parents to speak to them as they go as fast as they can to their cars, hoping you will figure it out.

[Unregistered]

I've seen your team play, you have the coach yelling "possession, possession,...." about to have a coronary on the sideline while the girls scramble to connect three foot passes around their own box. Meanwhile the parents are off to as far away as they can be, hoping that no one associates them with being on your team and enduring another 15-0 loss to the "Pink Picking Daisey's" team. And then, after the game you are running to try to catch up with the parents to speak to them as they go as fast as they can to their cars, hoping you will figure it out.

And the most insane response to a post goes to.......wait for it.....this guy. Dude, huh? You must be one of those parents that grew up playing football, or something else, but your kid loved another Sport,in this case soccer, but instead of learning the game, in a meaningful way, you pick up sound bites and fill in the rest from your experience outside soccer- very bad idea. They aren't deep passes on a grid iron...Soccer is not a linear sport like Football. If its hard to grasp think about movement in terms of basketball....passing out, up court, back, around, constant movement, drawing players into a mistake or to one area, then shooting. Yes, breakaways occur, but that's far less often and is not a "full time" sustainable game day strategy. I don't know how else to get parents who think, "duh, through balls are ok" when what really happens is long balls become the bulk of play, the norm, and when physical skills plateau and even up at the higher ages, these poor kids are left without any idea how to compete, save for a few highly exceptional athletes. Please go back to your Monday Night Football and stop wading into an Ocean of knowledge and claiming you're an Olympic Swimmer...it's just embarrassing to watch.

[Unregistered]

I've seen your team play, you have the coach yelling "possession, possession,...." about to have a coronary on the sideline while the girls scramble to connect three foot passes around their own box. Meanwhile the parents are off to as far away as they can be, hoping that no one associates them with being on your team and enduring another 15-0 loss to the "Pink Picking Daisey's" team. And then, after the game you are running to try to catch up with the parents to speak to them as they go as fast as they can to their cars, hoping you will figure it out.

Frankly, you will likely last just a few y ears in this sport or any other. If all you are worried about is "how you look" at games, if losing while learning for the long run is beneath you, if you would trade an education for an instant honorary diploma, then nothing said on this blog will help you (or your DD) because you have already lost and don't know it yet. I feel sorry for your kid and whatever happened to you in your life that created immediate gratification as first priority over long term investment and education.

[Unregistered]

Frankly, you will likely last just a few y ears in this sport or any other. If all you are worried about is "how you look" at games, if losing while learning for the long run is beneath you, if you would trade an education for an instant honorary diploma, then nothing said on this blog will help you (or your DD) because you have already lost and don't know it yet. I feel sorry for your kid and whatever happened to you in your life that created immediate gratification as first priority over long term investment and education.

Sorry to burst your bubble there sparky but my dd plays on the top team in her age group, plays top teams from out of state including Washington, SoCal, NorCal, Utah, Idaho, Nevada and seldom loses. Her biggest concern right now is if D1 is where she wants to focus or prefers a less stressful, smaller program in D2, D3 or NAIA. She's getting interest from all of them. And that she has straight A's means we must have done something right. No, Sparky, I'm doing just fine, as is she.

[Unregistered]

The two teams in the video are the same team. The first 2 min clip is them playing U13 with their currnet club, Chivas USA. The second clip is them playing at U12 for Barcelona USA last year. Brian Kleiban has been the coach of that team since they were U9.

There are many clips of the team playing possession soccer. One, from when they were U11, has over 1 mil views.

Gary and Brian are just demonstrating that even the best team in the nation has crap moments. It's about consistency. How much time do they spend looking like the first clip compared to how much time they spend looking like the second clip.

You point is misleading. The video is about development and how possession soccer is consistent with development, not about the ebbs and flows of a team, which is what I think people will read into your post. He is simply using his team that is a work in progress to demonstrate the difference. In Gary's own words, here's a response that he wrote regarding the two halves of the video. He is responding to an anonymous "Coach's" questions. Note the comment that the boys are still being developed, but there should be no question that his point is about possession soccer, as misused as that term is, and how possession soccer is consistent with development,. Just read the intro to the video. AND I QUOTE:

Q: “Correct me if I’m wrong, but the 2nd half of the video was your National Cup Final versus Gldn St.??”
A: Yes

Q: “Were the boys told pregame to play differently than they normally do because of the opponent or the situation or did they just “get caught up in the moment” and revert to jungle ball?”
A: The boys are not ‘developed’ (they are being developed), so episodes of jungle ball do make appearances in our matches. I made a clip of the episodes in that game.

[Unregistered]

You point is misleading. The video is about development and how possession soccer is consistent with development, not about the ebbs and flows of a team, which is what I think people will read into your post. He is simply using his team that is a work in progress to demonstrate the difference. In Gary's own words, here's a response that he wrote regarding the two halves of the video. He is responding to an anonymous "Coach's" questions. Note the comment that the boys are still being developed, but there should be no question that his point is about possession soccer, as misused as that term is, and how possession soccer is consistent with development,. Just read the intro to the video. AND I QUOTE:

Q: “Correct me if I’m wrong, but the 2nd half of the video was your National Cup Final versus Gldn St.??”
A: Yes

Q: “Were the boys told pregame to play differently than they normally do because of the opponent or the situation or did they just “get caught up in the moment” and revert to jungle ball?”
A: The boys are not ‘developed’ (they are being developed), so episodes of jungle ball do make appearances in our matches. I made a clip of the episodes in that game.

And one other point. Gary has stated very clearly that "you will win" if you effectively develop players via possession soccer. He has not bought into the tired assertion that development means you do so at the detriment of results.

[Unregistered]

Ok, so I am a novice here reading this forum. I am trying to learn more about how to develop my DD to play possession soccer and what to look for in coaches (good and bad). I have seen coaches who tell young players focus one touch and then I go to a different field and see coaches telling players quick two touches? How much dribbling should a coach be encouraging at young ages?

[Unregistered]

What clubs in Oregon teach more possession style soccer?

[Unregistered]

Sorry to burst your bubble there sparky but my dd plays on the top team in her age group, plays top teams from out of state including Washington, SoCal, NorCal, Utah, Idaho, Nevada and seldom loses. Her biggest concern right now is if D1 is where she wants to focus or prefers a less stressful, smaller program in D2, D3 or NAIA. She's getting interest from all of them. And that she has straight A's means we must have done something right. No, Sparky, I'm doing just fine, as is she.

Ha ha ha....biggest lie I've read tonight...

[Unregistered]

Ok, so I am a novice here reading this forum. I am trying to learn more about how to develop my DD to play possession soccer and what to look for in coaches (good and bad). I have seen coaches who tell young players focus one touch and then I go to a different field and see coaches telling players quick two touches? How much dribbling should a coach be encouraging at young ages?

They should be encouraging lots of one touch, lots of two touch, lots of five touch, lots of twelve touch, lots of dribbling, lots more dribbling, lots of shooting, lots of scoring, lots of passing, lots of receiving, lots more passing, lots of penetrating passing, more dribbling, more passing, more receiving and then some more dribbling, and then some more one touch, and more shooting and scoring

They should not be "teaching" any, and I mean any, boot ball. And if they say they play "direct soccer" run as fast as you can, even faster, as this is a code word for "I don't know how to coach really so I like to claim that my team that's booting the ball up the field is playing direct soccer cause it makes it sound like I know what I'm doing when I really don't and am capable of teaching possession oriented developmental soccer"

[Unregistered]

They should be encouraging lots of one touch, lots of two touch, lots of five touch, lots of twelve touch, lots of dribbling, lots more dribbling, lots of shooting, lots of scoring, lots of passing, lots of receiving, lots more passing, lots of penetrating passing, more dribbling, more passing, more receiving and then some more dribbling, and then some more one touch, and more shooting and scoring

They should not be "teaching" any, and I mean any, boot ball. And if they say they play "direct soccer" run as fast as you can, even faster, as this is a code word for "I don't know how to coach really so I like to claim that my team that's booting the ball up the field is playing direct soccer cause it makes it sound like I know what I'm doing when I really don't and am capable of teaching possession oriented developmental soccer"

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[Unregistered]

Sorry to burst your bubble there sparky but my dd plays on the top team in her age group, plays top teams from out of state including Washington, SoCal, NorCal, Utah, Idaho, Nevada and seldom loses. Her biggest concern right now is if D1 is where she wants to focus or prefers a less stressful, smaller program in D2, D3 or NAIA. She's getting interest from all of them. And that she has straight A's means we must have done something right. No, Sparky, I'm doing just fine, as is she.

I glad to hear your DD has done so well at a sport she loves and hopes she picks a school based on academics first but, please could we stick to the topic of this thread.

I have a DD who just has started down her soccer path and I am not sure if the team DD is on is really developing her to play possession ball or not? Have coaches say only one touch, have coaches say only 2 touch fast passess, have coaches say dribble, have coaches say only pass up to forwards, have coaches say if you don't go after ball get benched. Crazy how much advice DD is getting and how frustrated DD has become.

Some of the post have been very helpul to read. I am hoping to get more objective input.