29/11/07

Following correspondance with the manager, coupled with his attendance in training, the decision to punish offending players by leaving them out of the team for future games was implemented. Because of these persistent interruptions by a minority of the squad, the decision that another course of action to take would be to allow the players to incorperate the first 5 minutes of training with communicating on a social level. It was explained to the squad that if any interruptions occured past the allotted time then the reprecussion would be a suitable punishment depending on the severity. This consisted of either the offender or the innocent parties partaking in menial exercise such as shuttles or sit-ups. Also the threat of being excluded from the remainder of the session or dropped from any forthcoming games were employed as a scare tactic. With punishment comes understanding and a sport discipline to athletes and teams to help them learn and grow as people and players (Lynch, 2001).
The playing side of the session looked at developing the drill worked on previously whereby the attacker and defender worked 1v1. The adaptation was the inclusion of another attacker and defender. The main areas of progression were the closing down and marking by defenders, and the intricate, tight passing, and use of agility by attackers to lose their markers. For the defenders, I introduced zonal marking which requires communication as standard in order to work effectively. It is seen by many as a more efficient and effective technique than man marking, as less players are dragged out of position ensuring that structure is maintained (Bangsbo, 2002). The mandatory requirement of the drill was the use of simple verbal commands by both parties in order to succeed. This required the children to use learned techniques ranging from technical ability, spacial awareness, and communication. As Reed (2004) stated ‘Communication is a vital component in football as it assists players in making vital decisions at decicive times and maintains motivation. A team lacking in simple communication skills are less likely to progress together, therefore ensuring that the team have a cohesive understanding is essential’.
Despite the weather having a bearing on players balance, the drill was conducted in a positive manner. The aim of the pep talk at the beginning of the session was to spark a response by the whole squad, and to hopefully restore some degree of professional output by individuals whom we felt required a decent performance to justify their inclusion in the team.

Bibliography;

Bangsbo, J.(2002) Defensive Soccer Tactics: How to stop players and teams from scoring. Human Kinetics.

Lynch, J. (2001) Creative Coaching: New ways to maximize athlete and team potential in all sports. Champaign Ill: Human Kinetics Publications

Reed, L. (2004) Basic Team Coaching, The F.A. Learning Ltd., Hodder and Stoughton Educational