Football coaches often gain their first experience on the sidelines with younger age groups. The motto "The proof of the pudding is in the eating!" usually applies - also because there is not enough time for further training alongside work and family or the funds for a coaching license are lacking. So that you don't start unprepared, we have put together 5 tips for your children's football training.
On sports fields, you often see youth coaches giving players precise instructions for every action and explaining everything down to the smallest detail - as if the players were connected to a controller controlled by the coach. Although this is well-intentioned, it is not in the interests of children's football development.
Due to the development of children's brains, tactical information from the touchline offers no real added value anyway. The prefrontal cortex is a part of the brain that is responsible for planning actions or weighing up risks, for example. This prefrontal cortex matures at the age of 11 - 12 and is a prerequisite for tactical thinking.
In childrens's football, it is more important for players to make their own decisions in order to develop good intuition- this requires freedom of choices and complex situations. Complex situations are scenarios with a variety of options for action under constantly changing conditions. This can be createdt in game forms.
"Various studies have shown that children between the ages of six and eleven develop their game intelligence - and thus their strategic-tactical understanding - to a great extent when they practise in cross-sport game forms without instructions. "1
The word "cross-sport game" already gives away the next tip for your children's football training. It may be an obvious thought that an athlete will become good at his discipline if he focuses exclusively on his sport at an early age. This is also true in some sports. In team sports, on the other hand, it has been shown that children benefit from broad movement experiences - both in terms of long-term performance development and the athlete's health.2
Passing and drills often involve a lot of explanations and long standing times, with almost the entire team waiting while only a few players are active.
In game forms, on the other hand, all players are constantly active. And this is also in the interests of the children, who have a natural urge to move at this age. It is therefore better to make use of this characteristic instead of fighting against it. After all, this urge to move is already neglected in everyday school life.
However, this does not mean that forms of exercise have to be cut out completely. However, forms of play should make up the greater part of training. In addition, excessive explanations should be avoided and care should be taken to ensure that as many children as possible are in action.
When the children are in action, everyone should have regular access to the ball. This is why it is a good idea to play games with small team sizes in the younger age groups. Instead of playing 7 vs. 7, you can also set up 2 fields for 3 vs. 3 and 4 vs. 4. This means that each player will have collected more ball action by the end of the training session - no complex math required.
The small team sizes have two direct advantages. Firstly, more ball actions also ensure better technical development. Secondly, the players experience more success as they get the ball more often and more goals are scored with small team sizes.
This tip sounds obvious, but is sometimes neglected in practice. Fun is the most important thing in children's training. Only those who enjoy going to training will remain loyal to club football in the long term. Ensuring fun in training and in the game is the best way to combat declining membership numbers in the club.
Simply follow the first 4 tips, which are not only good for the children's football development, but also make training fun.
Sources
1] Memmert, D., & Roth, K., (2007). The effects of non-specific and specific concepts on tactical creativity in team ball sport. Journal of Sports Siences. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6053237_The_effects_of_non-specific_and_specific_concepts_on_tactical_creativity_in_team_ball_sports
[2] Granacher, U., Höhne, J., Puta, C., Büsch, D., (2020). Frühspezialisierung vs. multisportive Ausbildung: Modelle der köerperlichen Leistungsfähigkeit im Nachwuchsleistungssport. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/345742711_Fruhspezialisierung_vs_multisportive_Ausbildung_Modelle_der_korperlichen_Leistungsfahigkeit_im_Nachwuchsleistungssport
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