Soccer Coach Weekly Issue 129

In England, we are really starting to hit cold season now.

The implications for soccer can be pretty big. Often, pitches in the UK can be waterlogged or frozen during autumn and winter, meaning games can’t be played or sometimes the conditions are too much to expect players to go out in.

When sessions do go ahead, the cold weather can help to shape what they might look like. 

If it is cold, you want players moving around as much as possible to make sure they stay warm. 

Sometimes, you will find they are less enthused about being at a session in the cold so you might need to alter your focus – making sure that whatever you run is as engaging as possible and gets them all involved.

We have got four sessions in this week’s issue – three standalone practices and one three-part session. All of them are useful – but they all have a time and a place. 

While often that time and place is dictated by the group we are working with, the venue and the topic we want to work on, the weather may be an additional consideration at this time of year, especially if you're in colder parts of the world Try looking at and reviewing this week’s sessions from that lens.

This issue we’ve also got another great article from Women’s Soccer Coaching editor Hannah Duncan. This time it is about what you do if you have second thoughts on the session you have planned.

As she explains, there is no harm in going back to the drawing board if you realise what you had planned isn't going to work - whether that's because of weather conditions, different numbers turning up or you just lose confidence in your plan.

We also have some notes from Ranji Ragbeer on the factors that make a good coach.