It’s always a good idea to finish your first half of the season with some festive fun. That will make sure your players go home with a smile on their faces and look forward to coming back in the New Year.
Sometimes the break can be annoying for teams that have been playing well – first the coronavirus has stopped the season then along comes the winter holiday. But to give the kids a break it is always a good idea to do things they love to play and have fun at the last training session of the year.
Festive games are great fun but there’s a lot of other things you can do with your players. 12 ways to make training festive has some fantastic ideas to help you design your training session around the Christmas festivities.
Playing fun themed games is a festive way to get across some of your training ideas and skills ideas that you have been working on. Christmas crackers has three games to improve teamwork and build a winning mentality.
In Stocking fillers there are three quick games that work on dribbling, turning and teamwork which are ideal for getting players to use the techniques and skills in an environment where they are thinking more about the game than perfecting the soccer skills – an ideal way to hide the repetition.
If you want a more focused session try this attacking session with a festive theme. Christmas trees and presents gives a light training session using basic skills
Ding dong merrily on high, it’s time to inject a little Yuletide spirit into your next training session with this collection of Christmas-themed drills. These festive exercises should being plenty of fun to your end-of-year practice. MORE
Make your last training session before the Christmas break a memorable experience for your players by giving it a festive theme and by trying some of our 12 fun tips… MORE
It is a very difficult time to be coaching our players around the world. So to help you I have created the Coaching Classroom where you can download lessons to give to your players online. Here I have focused on Compactness and Penetration MORE
I was out walking on the local golf course where I live this week and in the distance I saw a child running from what seemed miles away at top speed. As the child got closer I realised that it was someone dribbling a ball. Of course on the fairways it was like being at Wembley on a well cared for football pitch! It was great to see a child enjoying dribbling a ball, chipping over the bunkers and swerving around the patches of heather that catch out an unwary golfer. MORE
At the United Soccer Coaches Digital Convention yesterday I was in the presentation by Dan Abrahams on performance of your team with well being in mind. He explored three environmental approaches and combines them to help you establish a healthy and safe coaching environment for players of all ages and levels. MORE
I'm usually high up in the sky on my way to the United Soccer Coaches convention in America at this time of the year – last year I was at the convention in Baltimore and there was loads of coaching education on offer. Yet it is still exciting to be entering the United Soccer Coaches Digital Convention 2021 on my computer in the home office. MORE
Turning with the ball has always been a skill that draws names from the great players through the ages – think of the Cruff turn or Zidane spin turn. It used to make me wonder how players like Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta, Zinedine Zidane or Johan Cruyff could turn their opponents inside out, game after game – I now know it needs practice and from a young age. MORE
One of the ways to improve your team in 2021 is to get them communicating on the pitch. Players do this by verbal and non verbal actions, like pointing where they want a ball to be passed or calling for the ball when overlapping from behind like a fullback running outside a winger. MORE
