Articles
The Paradox of Choice: Coaching with Option Making
In order to make correct decisions, one must master the skill of knowing where to look and what to pay attention to in order to satisfy the constraint or objective. When speaking about this topic with Chris Bentley, he introduced me to this idea of option making instead of decision making.
Environment Design without Expectations
Sometimes the best lessons on environment design, ego, and expectations come from a screaming newborn.
It's All Just Noise
Noise can be an alluring, debilitating, dizzying, song that can slam your boat against the rocks. Keep your ‘Why’ close and you’ll be fine.
TOVO's Strive for True Development: Interview with Todd Beane
I sit down with Todd Beane, TOVO Academy’s founder. We discuss TOVO’s methodology, developing intelligent footballers, the importance of having a clearly defined ‘why’ as a coach, how to avoid the noise of youth football, and more.
Positional Play’s Need for Ball Handlers
When a player, no matter what age begins to play football, the first relationship they must discover is their relationship with the ball. A novice player must explore what it means to manipulate the ball. This means being capable to manoeuvre the ball in any which way.
FC Nordsjælland's Revolutionary Approach: Interview with Flemming Pedersen
I sit down with Flemming Pedersen from FC Nordsjælland’s. We discuss the importance of a style of play, developing intelligent players, FC Nordsjæelland’s academy success, and modern football.
Child Psychology 101 for Every Youth Coach
I know what you might be thinking, ‘I’m just a football coach. I don’t have the time or energy to study psychology in my free time.” Well, this article is for you.
The Edge of Chaos
At this point, I had to stop Mark and jot down this insightful quote. “We train at the edge of chaos.” Poetic, simple, and wise.
Living a Coach's Dream: Interview with Antonio Barea
I sit down with Antonio Barea, professional analyst, youth club sporting director, educator, and much more. We discuss modern football, our role as coaches, and gives us his advice on how to make a living off football.
Play the Game, Not the Rules
As coaches, we have the creative responsibility to foresee the circumstances a player will face in upcoming matches, and construct exercises which will deliver high quantities of the desired match situations.
Positional Play: Crash Course Part 3 of 4 – Players' Relationships
These interactions are what we must improve as coaches through the use of a holistic, all-encompassing approach which takes into account the complete structural make-up of the athlete...
Positional Play: Crash Course Part 2 of 4 - Organized Structure
Nowadays, many coaches presume that by utilizing a certain formation and fixing players to a certain position, they will have the same results as they see elsewhere. Lillo’s statement indicates otherwise...
Positional Play: Crash Course Part 1 of 4
Within the subtleties of positional play, we can divide this style into three objectives which need to be met in order to achieve success. In each of the upcoming parts of this positional play series, one of the objectives will be discussed comprehensively...
Learning to learn: How football can teach us
Our failure to approach coaching sports as an educational activity leads young players to not take full advantage of the game. We have the opportunity to teach our players, not only about football but how to learn...
Football doesn't need individual training, U.S. Soccer does
As coaches, why would we waste our valuable time and resources training a sport, which by definition is a social sport, in an individual manner? We are not training athletes to run or swim in the Olympics...
The Morality of Youth Football
Alejandro is a typical 11 year old Spanish boy. He attends the local primary school, he hangs out with his friends, he watches Real Madrid on the weekends, he plays for the local football club with all of his friends. But there is something very special about Alejandro...
Progression: Why Simple Doesn't Mean Easy
Progression: easy to complicated, simple to complex. In reality, do we really know what this means?...
Coaching in Context: Teaching Tactics and Technique
When examining the tiquitaca playing style at a superficial level, it appears that it is just short, pointless passing. But in fact, there is so much more to it...