How To Teach Football To 6 Year Old’s!
Let's Play The Game
by Coach Kurtis
2y ago
Do you remember the first time you tried to teach a child under the age of 6 how to play football? I remember it like it was yesterday and it was the most difficult thing I had ever done. I was just 20 years old at the time and thrown into the deep end by another coach who had more experience than me at the time. I had my session prepared from the night before and I thought it was a good session at the time of writing with me adding lots of skill development and coaching points throughout. How could this go wrong I had the perfect plan, or so I thought. So I began my session, first I started ..read more
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3v3 SSG: 2 Triangle Possession Game!
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by Coach Kurtis
2y ago
In this 3v3 SSG practice, we look to focus on encouraging the players to be aware of the space and players around them, movement off the ball, and looking for the gaps to play other players in. You play the game with two teams of 3 and two triangle-shaped targets that players must pass the ball through in order to score points. The area is normally 30×30 but I recommending adjusting it to suit your players. How To Play The players should look to work the ball in the area waiting for moments where they can send the ball to a teammate through a triangle! After a goal is scored (a goal is only sc ..read more
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Receiving and Turning Under Pressure!
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by Coach Kurtis
2y ago
In this practice we look to focus on the players receiving and turning whilst under pressure from opposition! As you can see in the diagram there are 8 players that play in a 20×20 area. The players are in two teams of four with 2 from each team placed on opposite ends of the area. The rest of the players will play inside the area. How To Play! To player the game one player starts with the ball on the outside and the aim is to pass the ball via at least one of the players who are on their team to the other receiver on the opposite side of the area. The other team must try and win the ball back ..read more
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A Game of Two Halves: Dribbling SSG!
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by Coach Kurtis
2y ago
In today’s practice, we look at helping our players improve their dribbling/running with the ball within this small-sided game. You will need a 40×30 area set up that is split into two equal halves as shown in the diagram (Flat spot markers I find are best to use when splitting the area). For the practice I am showing you we have 12 players in total (6-a-side) but work with the numbers you have, this game can be played in other formats i.e. 5v5, 4v4, etc. A Game of Two Halves: Dribbling SSG!How To Play! There are 6 players on each side (just adjust the game to suit your numbers) both teams hav ..read more
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How To Improve Movement Off The Ball (Session)!
Let's Play The Game
by Coach Kurtis
2y ago
In this practice, we aim to improve the player’s movement off the ball. You set up a 15×15 area and have a triangle in the middle (about 4 yards between each cone for the triangle). You will only need 5 players (4 trying to maintain possession and 1 defender) if you don’t have 5 in a group you can adjust and play 3v1or 4v2 or just play with numbers and see what works for your players. How To Play! The players look to maintain possession whilst also looking for moments to score points by playing the ball through the triangle to another teammate. The defender cannot go inside the triangle and mu ..read more
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Why Do My Players look Great in Training But Not in Football Matches?
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by Coach Kurtis
2y ago
In today’s article, we will look at a question I hear crop up on numerous occasions which is “why do my players look great in training but not in matches?” good question.  It must be frustrating for many coaches around the globe involved in youth football, you train once or twice a week and the players are doing everything that you ask of them so you are thinking “great we are ready for the game on the weekend”.  When the game arrives you see a completely different set of players and you are left scratching your head thinking where have you gone wrong?  Truth is, there could be ..read more
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How a Child Learns in Football – The Messy Path of Player Development!
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by Coach Kurtis
2y ago
What I have learned after 16 years of coaching with youth teams, schools & the community is that player development in grassroots football is never straight forward. Since I became a football parent myself, I have been able to take more of a backseat and just observe the actions of many grassroots coaches. Seeing them tackle the many challenges that kids sometimes throw at them is an interesting watch. The thing with most adults is that we like order, and we like things to be done by the book no matter what we are doing. You must realize quickly that this will unlikely take place when you ..read more
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Does Height Matter in Football? Why Our Youth Players Are Cast Aside in Football!
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by Coach Kurtis
3y ago
Does height matter in football? It still makes me cringe to hear stories from parents that have had their kids turned away from academies due to their size, strength, or being too slow. Really, is this still happening in today’s game? Does height matter at that age? Haven’t some of our greatest players had one of the things mentioned against them throughout their development but because of their superior technical ability and game understanding succeeded anyway? Off the top of my head, I can think of countless stories of great players who never had one of the attributes above in their favor or ..read more
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Equal Playing Time: What to do When Your child is not Starting!
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by Coach Kurtis
3y ago
At the development stage, the result should never be the most important thing but unfortunately this is still the case for the majority in grassroots football. It’s the baseline for measuring all progress for many and it tends to hinder the judgement of many coaches that are involved in youth football. Most notably, coaches are known for only starting their favored players and giving their ‘weaker players’ minimal playing time. I can imagine this can be very frustrating as a parent, I too am a parent of a child who plays for a team and fortunately I have never been in this position but if I we ..read more
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Stop Shouting Get Rid Of it! How Parents & Coaches Encourage Fear in Youth Football!
Let's Play The Game
by Coach Kurtis
3y ago
In my son’s last football match, I thought it would be interesting to see how many times I heard the term ‘get rid of it’ or something along those lines and count them. I heard the term mentioned 38 times!! And that was with me going to the bar in between so it could have been more. And I have been told grassroots football has improved over the years? Still waiting to see the evidence of it. Besides the fact that the FA has introduced various campaigns to restrict the involvement of parents during matches, nothing much has changed. So, what is the answer you might be thinking? In my experien ..read more
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