Comments on: 10 Mistakes Soccer Coaches Make When Coaching Youth

By: Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:56:24 +0000

Great article Coach.This will be a eye opener for lots of coaches in India.I would like to visit your camp to learn more.

By: Nich Barron

Nich Barron — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:45:03 +0000

We have used your 10 coaching mistakes to our BTEC Sport students. Good work fella

Epping Forest College London UK

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:22:32 +0000

Great article. Universal have gained from your wisdom. I hope other youth coaches in Kerala read this. I completely agree that coaching kids should be about their enjoyment and the coach being positive at all times.

By: Jason Morais

Jason Morais — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:21:10 +0000

Great tips, Deepak!

However, I do no completely agree with Point 5. It holds good mostly if you are running a recreational training camp. What i believe is when training players with the endeavor of them stepping into the big league in a few years, it is important to keep the players challenged.

The ability of the players to repeatedly perform physically demanding movements can be the difference between winning and losing.

But from what I hear, you are doing a great job!

Keep up the good work and look forward to more articles from you.

By: Pavl Williams

Pavl Williams — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:38:54 +0000

Thanks for these tips Deepak, they include some valuable advice.

However, I disagree with you on number 5. Artificially forcing all your players to perform the same task at the same level will lead to frustration in the better players and puts pressure on the weaker players to perform. You will effectively bring the quality down to that of the weakest player.

Rather than such a ’square pegs in round holes’ approach, sessions need to be tailored to the individual so that they are most motivated. This means including different challenges for different abilities, allowing every player to improve their skills regardless of their starting point.

There are some good examples of small-sided games with varying challenges at http://www.betterfootball.co.uk

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts?