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Food for thought – how to boost your players’ IQ

Coaches of very young players spend almost all of their time teaching their players how to kick, tackle, pass and shoot.

As their players get older and more experienced, most coaches focus a little more on their players’ physical fitness and they also teach them basic football tactics. What to do at set pieces, for example, and how to defend and attack as a team.

Few youth football coaches, however, help their players exercise and develop the most important part of their anatomy: Their brain.

In fact, most coaches actually discourage their players from independent thought by constantly telling them what to do during coaching sessions and matches.

And that’s surprising when you consider that the ability to read the game – to anticipate what is going to happen during a match and react appropriately – is probably the most important ability that any player, whatever their age, can possess.

“But my players are much too young to think for themselves. They can’t read the game! They need to be told what to do.”

Even very young children can, and should, be encouraged to become good readers of the game because as they get older and more experienced, they’re going to need a bit more than technical skills, tactical awareness and fitness.

In a team of U5s, for example, a player who can dribble, pass and shoot will dominate matches. But five years later – given good coaching – her peers will have caught up in terms of skills and they will all have some tactical awareness. At that point, the ability to read the game becomes as important, if not more important, than the ability to pass, shoot or play “tactically”.

And that’s when children who have been encouraged from an early age to think for themselves when they step on to a football field will begin to stand out from the rest.

But no child is born with “soccer intelligence”. It requires repeated exposure to match-related situations in training as well as many hours playing in competitive matches.

What does an intelligent football player look like?

1. She doesn’t have to rush.

2. She knows when to keep the ball and when to pass.

3. She likes to takes the simplest option but can also take calculated risks.

4. She puts in a consistent performance every week.

5. She knows what she is going to do with the ball before she receives it.

How to develop soccer intelligence in your players

Games that boost the IQ of young football players

The last characteristic in the list above – knowing what to do with the ball before it arrives – can be encouraged with coaching games such as Number Passing:

Take a group of four players, give them each a number (1 to 4) and spread them a good passing distance apart. Place a cone a few yards from the group. The players pass a ball to each other in numerical order and immediately run to the spare cone.

Once the basic principle has been mastered, you can reverse the number order and/or reduce the number of touches each player can have before passing. If your players are good enough, progress to one-touch.

Similarly, you can help young players to think while they are playing by putting different coloured training vests (e.g. white, red, green and blue) on four teams of two players and playing 4v4. To begin with, red and blues could play against whites and red. Then change the teams by calling out, for example, “green and red v white and blue”. After a couple of minutes, change the teams again.

All small-sided games (SSGs) will help develop your players’ brain power and even something as simple as placing two goals at each end of the pitch in the end of session scrimmage, so that players have to decide which goal to attack, is sufficient to get their brains working as well as their feet.

General principles

Play coaching games that resemble football matches.

Don’t instruct. Suggest ways of doing things.

Don’t give answers. Help players find the answers for themselves instead.

Conclusion

As coaches we have to teach our players skills and, if they’re old enough, help them understand football tactics.

But it’s also vital to help them become confident, independent thinkers by playing games that involve choices and, crucially, not making the choices for them, either during coaching sessions or on match days.

Find the target player

This very simple small-sided game is one of my players’ favourites. It works on keeping your players’ heads up, good off-the-ball movement and quick decision making. It is suitable for all ages and abilities.

Set-up: set up a playing area 30 yards long by 20 yards wide for every eight players in your squad. Divide your players into teams of four and put two teams in each playing area.

Tip: if you have one or two spare players, have one or two teams of five. If you have three spare players, make them into a team.

How to play: one player from each team wears a distinctive bib. He or she is the target player.

Play “normal” football with one condition: goals can only be scored by the target player.

Change the target player after every goal.

First to four goals wins (or, if you have a team of five, first to five goals).

A practice plan for very young soccer players

Duration 45 – 60 minutes

Equipment required: one ball for every child

Warm-up

Every player has a ball. Use the center circle or penalty area, or place cones in a 20 x 30 yard area.

Body Part Dribbling (3-5 min): Place the players in random formations within the space and have them dribble without touching other players. When you call out a body part (left foot, right foot, thigh, head, etc.) the players must stop the ball with that body part.

Ball Stretching (2-3 min): Have players stand with legs apart and roll their balls with their hands in a figure eight in and out of their legs. Then, have them place one foot in front of the other and roll the ball around the front foot ten times, then switch. Have them sit down, legs extended in front, and roll the ball towards and around their feet and return along the other side of the leg. Have them sit in a V and move the ball in an outline around their bodies, including their backs. This activity makes the players stretch without realizing it; players at this age tend to just “count” when being led through stretching exercises, they don’t realize what a stretch feels like. Activities like this warm up their muscles and keep them occupied.

I Can Do Something With the Ball, Can You? (3-5 min): Lead this game first, saying, “I can do something with the ball (dribble with your left foot, kick as far as you can, etc.) can you?” and then the players have to mimic you. Then call the players up one at a time to the center to lead the activity.

Water Break (3 mins)

Main Activities

Individual Ball Retrieving (5-7 min): Have the players hand you their balls one at a time. Toss each ball away, and the players must retrieve their balls as quickly as possible and bring them back any way they want (carry in one hand, both hands, hold on top of head, etc.) Let them come up with their own ideas. A variation is to call out a number while the players run away and they must touch the ball that many times on their way back to you.

The Glob (5-7 min): Select one player to be ‘the glob’ with you. Have the players line up on one side of the goal box and the glob stays at the other side. The players should start running to the other side and try to avoid being tagged by the glob. If tagged, the players should practice dribbling behind the goal until the glob has tagged everyone. Select a new ‘glob’ partner and start over. Variations are to have the players dribble past you.

Water Break (3 mins)

Off to the Zoo (3-5 min): This drill starts without a ball. Have the players gather randomly in an area, then call out an animal, and they must walk around mimicking that animal. After the players get the hang of it, add balls, and they must dribble while being an animal.

Attacking and Defending Gates (5-7 min): Create 6-8 ‘gates’ or small goals with cones in an area of the field. Place one child in each gate—this is team A. Another child lines up facing the gate on either side with the ball (Team B) and tries to play the ball through the gate. If the Team B player wins, the players switch roles.

Water Break (5 min)

Game Time (10-12 min)

Play a small-sided game or two at a time, no more than 4 v. 4 with no goalkeepers. Have balls available out of bounds to kick in if the ball goes out (kick to players not as active in the game).

Cool-down (3-5 min)

Toes (2-3 min): Have the players sit on the ground legs extended and grab their feet with each hand. Through all of the following instructions, their hands cannot let go of their feet (this is another creative way to make the kids stretch a bit).

Can you make one leg longer than the other? Now the other leg?

How wide can you stretch your legs?

How small can you make yourself?

How large can you make yourself?

Can you get your feet higher than your head?

Can you get your feet behind your head?

Can you stand and walk without letting go of your toes?

Everyone’s a goalie!

Objective: To practise goalkeeping, teamwork and scoring goals.

Age group: U7s to U10s.

Set up: Divide your squad into two teams.

Place a cone goal for each player on one of the teams inside a 40-yard square.

How to play: One team guards the cone goals.

The players on the other team have a ball each and try to score as many goals as possible in a set time.

The attacking team can shoot from either side of the cone goals so the keepers need to be very aware of what is going on around them.

Coaching tip:

Ask your players if they can score more goals by working together instead of each attacking player working on their own.

Progression:

Play with uneven teams (6v3, etc.).
Take away some balls so there is one ball between two players on the attacking team.
Make the goals bigger or smaller.
Create more goals than there are defenders so that each player has to defend more than one goal.

Through the wall

Objective: Encourages young players to pass the ball (rather than hold on to it for too long) and create space.

Age range: Six to 10.

Number of players: Eight to 14.

Equipment: Six balls, training vests.

How to play:

Divide your squad into two teams and create a 15×10 yards playing area.
One team becomes a wall and must link arms with each other facing the attacking team in the centre of the rectangle.
Once the attack has touched the ball, the wall can move forwards or sidewards but not backwards.
The attackers take their turn to dribble the ball past the wall and the wall has to stop them.
The wall is not allowed to break up – players must keep their arms linked.
Then the attackers have one ball per pair and must pass their way past the wall.
Once again the wall can only move forwards or sidewards and must not break up.

Progression:

Add more players to the wall.

Use three attackers to pass with one ball.

Magic boxes

Age range: U6s to U10s.

Number of players: Eight or 10, divided into two teams.

Set-up: For U6s to U7s, create a 20×15 yard playing area with a goal at each end (used in “progression”). Older children can be given a larger area to play in.

Mark out a 5×5 “magic box” about two yards in front of each goal.

How to play: One player from each team (the magician) goes into the magic box.

The rest of the players try to pass the ball to their team’s magician.
One point is awarded for each successful pass.

Note: A “successful” pass is one that is controlled by the magician within the magic box.

Magicians who earn a point for their team return the ball to a player on the other team.
The first team to earn five points wins.
Change the magician regularly.

Rules:

Only the magician is allowed in the magic box.

Magicians cannot be tackled.

Progression: The magician can score an extra point for their team if they can score a goal without leaving their box.

Dribbling for 5 to 15 year olds

This is a practice plan that can be used with children from four or five years of age up to about 15. It includes activities that will improve your players’ ball skills, speed and balance.

Warm up

1. Inside to insides

All your players have a ball between their feet. Encourage them to tap the ball from their left foot to their right, using the inside of their feet. Start at a slow pace and gradually increase the speed.

Progression: allow your players to look at the ball to begin with but it’s important they can do this exercise with their heads up. It’s not as easy as it looks!

2. Hat dance

Your players tap the top of the ball with the sole of their left foot then their right. Again, start slowly and increase the speed of the taps as your players gain confidence.

Coaching note: both the previous two exercises should be done without moving off the spot.

3. Every step touch the ball.

Ask your players to walk with the ball, touching it with various parts of their feet as they go. The objective is to take a touch on the ball with every step and not to move quickly.

Inject a bit of fun by telling your players to leave their ball (shout “leave it!”) and find another one. You can also instruct your players to stop the ball with different parts of their body – call “head” or “elbow” or “knee” etc.

Progression: Heads up, don’t look at the ball. Try to feel it with your feet.

Games

Don’t ask your players to dribble round cones. It just isn’t realistic (when did you last see a line of cones on the pitch during a match?) and there are much better ways to work on their ball control.

1. Crossover dribbling

Use a small, square playing area. Half of your players line up on one side, each with a ball, and half on the opposite side also with a ball each.

On your command, both sets of players dribble their ball across the square, turn and dribble back. Make it competitive by seeing which player can cross the playing area 10 times in the quickest time.

Coaching notes:

This is a great way to encourage young players to keep close control of the ball in traffic and keep their heads up.

Encourage your players to take lots of small touches and pause (stop/go) if a collision looks likely.

Progression: Demonstrate a number of different turns and ask your players to complete a different one each time they cross the playing area.

Tip: small, low bounce balls (futsals are ideal) are slightly heavier and seem to “stick” to the foot better than normal footballs. This helps build young players’ confidence quickly.

2. End Lines

Play 4v4 or 3v3 in 20 yards by 30 yards area. Players score by dribbling over the end line with the ball.

Coaching note: you can encourage your players to use the full width of the playing area by dividing the end lines into thirds and awarding one point for a “goal” scored in the centre section and two points for a goal scored in one of the outside sections.

Finish the session with at least ten minutes of free play. No coaching!

Dribbling for U9s

Equipment: 1 ball per player, cones, pennies

Warm up

Running Bases – Players try to dribble their ball without being tagged. If they get tagged, they exchange places with the tagger. Have taggers carry a pinnie to distinguish themselves. Hand pinnies over to the player that is tagged and use their ball to dribble. Players are save in any one of the 4 bases. Only one player allowed in a base at one time. If a new players enters a base, the old player must leave.

Body

Conquer the Pyramid – Dribblers (in Red) try to dribble through the three zones occupied by the blue defenders. 3 defenders in first zone, two in the next zone, and one in the last zone. Defenders must stay in their zones and try to kick any ball they intercept out of bounds. Dribblers go three at a time. If the dribbler ahead of you in your line gets their ball knocked out, you may start right away. As soon as the dribbler in front of you moves to the next zone, you can also go.

After beating the last defender, the dribbler must shoot the ball into the goal to get a point for their team.

Coaching Points: Good dribbling technique. Look for an opening.

Team Knockout – 15 minutes, 20×30 yards, half the players with balls, the other half need to be around the outside of the grid, the players outside the grid will come into the grid and work together to steal balls away from the dribblers and dribble the outside of the grid, once a player loses their ball they can help their team mates out by passing with them, time the team that started with out with the ball on how long it takes to get the ball out of the grid

Application

4 v. 4 Line Soccer – Each team has a line to defend and attack. Score a goal by dribbling the ball over any portion of the line that your team is attacking. The size of the field is the same as a standard 4 v. 4 game, but it is turned sideways. The wider, shorter field creates many good 1 v. 1 situations which challenges the player’s dribbling skills. Players need to evaluate and identify when to dribble and pass. This variation highlights: The correct attitude (when to take a risk aggressively) and the technical development and execution of dribbling.