Club Coach, Alan Caffrey, ably assisted by SSG Director, Wayne Groves, held a Coaching Day for the Small Sided Games Managers during January.
Alan wanted the Managers to concentrate on coaching three points in any session with our younger players. The idea is to ensure that the players are not overburdened with information and by instilling just three pointers in any session he says that players retain the information better. This works like building blocks whereby the player retains a small amount of information and over the months and years can add pieces to it.
He wanted to create a system where there are targets per age group within the club so that a player going from Under 7 football onto Under 8 will have covered a certain amount of basic skills and a coach will know that the player is capable of bringing those skills to the next level.
His session with the players concentrated on ball protection. The three points of the exercise were developed with the players to the extent that at the end of the session the players were able to quote and explain the three points themselves.
That afternoon he discussed match day preparations with the Managers and advised them on how to explain pointers to the players before or during the game. He stressed the need to use a tactics board so that the player can visualise the point involved.
Speaking afterwards Alan said that he was delighted with the participation of all those in attendance and thanked them for their support and enthusiasm. He is currently planning a session for our 11-a-side teams.
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