herewegoagain

Here's what I said in response to your first post:



I hope the message that we focus to a far greater degree on deceptive dribbling and finishing than any other program I have yet seen, (Including Tim's who I respect very much!), explains why all our players are usually excellent at those two specific skills.

My experience is that I could sacrifice some of this dribbling/finishing time for passing but eventually (in the long run) my players would be weaker dribblers and finishers, and no better at passing, if I did.

There's no magic formula to anything we do. We teach the techniques the right way, we get our players to "deep practice" (Daniel Coyle - The Talent Code), those skills and gradually transition the advanced technical skills of our players into the game situation in very unique ways so that the technical, tactical, physiological & psychological potential of our players is maximized.

The only way to fully understand the whole incredibly logical, yet very different, method is to read my first book "Training Soccer legends".

If you want a free PDF copy of "Training Soccer Legends" please call me at 913-636-4073 or email me at andy@kclegendssoccer.com

I will warn you that the book is 320 pages long and will make traditional coaches feel very uncomfortable, (It was uncomfortable to write!), so it's not for the casual reader or faint hearted. It contains all the conclusions from 35 years of soccer coaching. The first 15 years I did things the traditional "wrong" way. The last 20 years I learned what didn't work and applied study of soccer in Brazil & other world cultures, educational theory, phys'ed' theory, logic, rationale and trial/error to soccer's urban myths. During this long process I wrote the book. Because of this time and dedication what the Legends club now practices is significantly better for each and every child than most programs. This is because others haven't gone through this long arduous process and tested evey theory extensively.

If you read the book I think you'll find it hard to argue most of the points.

Here's what some incredibly knowledgeable people have said about the book:

“Andy has figured out the core of what makes players valuable. He has boiled the game down to its critical essence. He captivated and motivated me with his intelligent use of inspiring and meaningful quotations. It’s a book not just about the technical foundation of the game but also about the elements that define the margins of soccer greatness i.e. aggressive creativity, self-discipline, competitive fire and self-belief.

Wonderfully original!! It should be an essential component of any soccer coach or parent’s library. It’s outstanding!!”

Anson Dorrance – Head Women’s Coach at the University of North Carolina (18 NCAA Division I Championships) & 1991 FIFA Women’s World Cup Winner.

"A must for youth soccer coaches. Read it. Think about it. Then, reconsider everything you do. If you can't take away something - quite possibly a lot - from this book, you are doing a disservice to your players."

Jim Sheldon – Executive Director of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America

"Andy has summed up his unique philosophy of player development in this fascinating book. His methodology, along with his high-energy teaching style has consistently produced dynamic, creative, attacking players. Just as his coaching is a careful balance of reason and passion, so is his whole approach to the game; quite simply, he grows better players who make better teams. His players have impacted NCAA Div.1 programs and are now poised to impact MLS."

Sean Holmes - Head Coach - Drake University - Nationally Ranked 2004 & 2005 - Region II ODP Staff Coach - Three Players Drafted By MLS In Last Two Years

"I attended one of Andy's practice sessions in the Fall of 2004. I watched his two U11 girl’s teams practicing. I have never seen such a large group of 10 year old girls where every player had such advanced dribbling and shooting technique under pressure."

Jeff Tipping - National Soccer Coaches Association of America Director of Coaching. Previously Assistant Coach for the U.S. Women's National Team and Head Coach at Muhlenberg College

“My first-hand experience with Ryan Raybould, a Legends-trained player who plays professionally with Kansas City Wizards in MLS, was evidence that Andy’s methods are effective and long-lasting. Ryan was an All-Ivy selection for us at Yale and an industrious and creative big play performer for all four years. The Legends program clearly developed a high level of competitiveness, field savvy and technical excellence in his game. Andy’s book enthusiastically and effectively challenged my long-held mainstream coaching notions about how to develop creative and skilled players.
I incorporate his methods in my college training and encourage coaches at all levels who are truly looking to bring out the very best in their players to do the same.”

Brian Tompkins – Head Coach Yale University Men’s Team

Andy

Perhaps a different discussion, but because so much talk of skills and passing, I thought it might be appropriate here. I am interested in how to develop great passers.

Confident dribbling, etc. is critical. It is clearly critical for great passers. A player must be comfortable with the ball, able to protect it in order to create time and space while scanning the field or even making the obvious simple play. I get that. So, no need to tell me that being a great dribbler enables great passers. Conceptually correct, but often not the case in practice.

Passing seems to be a very underappreciated art. It seems to be viewed as something that can be learned "later" and is somehow not as "skilled" or "practiced."

There are clearly some very talented passers. These kids are confident with the ball, keep their head up, have a MUCH better sense of timing, angles and generally better understanding of the movement of the game.

How did they get this way? Is it just stronger natural talent or a different personality that does not need to be the center of attention constantly? Or, is it something that must be taught at an early age like other skills.

I have watched some of the very strongest dribblers/athletes that really miss the point when it comes to passing. Beating someone 1v1 is great (particularly if they are the last defense). But, many seem to do it everywhere without purpose. It is a little bit impressive I guess, but it would be so much better if they used their skills and instantly scanned the field in order to be dangerous rather than "impressive."

I suspect really good passing is quite a bit harder to teach than dribbling. Dribbling/moves requires tons of repetition and is absolutely important. Great passers require a confidence/vision/game smarts that is harder to explain/teach. Again, is this easy to develop later in life? Possible, but I suspect not for most kids.

This is not meant to diminish dribbling. I have a kid that spent a couple of years with the Legends at one time. I believe in some of the concepts. But, I think there is an underappreciation for really good passers (generally) - not just a quick touch pass, etc., but really having the vision to be dangerous.

Great dribblers are often like young guitar players. They love to play fast and show off, but often don't play great music.

Next - defense and how it often underappreciated as an all-over-the-field skill rather than just for defenders. Why do some of "kings-of-the-dribble" decide it is not worth their effort and easily get beat by other dribblers? lol.

Mude

Great questions!

I came from a very traditional team/integration approach to playing and coaching soccer, therefore it took many years of intense sports study to understand that individual pursuit of soccer excellence relies on taking ever greater risks and continually stepping outside of ones’ comfort zones. In one of the strange contradictions of life and sport this is a vital pre-requisite to developing incredible team unity and harmony. Nowadays Legends coaches spend years developing very independent risk takers who later become a harmonious part of a much more talented team, (team of brilliance), than when team unity and harmony was the initial focus.

'Felicidad' - happiness - is a word Ronaldinho uses often in conversation. He was born in 1980 in a working-class district in Porto Alegre, in the south of Brazil, the youngest of three children. His father, João de Assis Moreira worked in the shipyards. “I loved dribbling as a boy. The way we used to play, in the street, was no good for anything of course. If you're playing for five hours you don't want to score goals all the time and I loved dribbling. I could score a goal, but I preferred to dribble.”
Ronaldinho

Later on we concentrate more on team unity and harmony. In this team “combination play” phase much time is spent teaching our players to work in harmonious units and to improve their focus on how to penetrate in tandem with teammates, while continuing to use deception and improvisation to beat players in dribbling situations. This first individual and later team emphasis, is very much how traditional educational philosophy works. However, because there is no team emphasis to confuse the issue, it is much easier to support in an individual environment such as the classroom or swim team. First the “Training Soccer Legends” method centers on developing a technically, physiologically and psychologically strong, capable, independent individual. This is because our experience has shown us that, when we focus on team building before the child has developed independence with the ball, the long-term result is complete dependence on teammates. Players trained in this “pass and receive” manner fail to develop the ability to make the big plays that differentiate them from the masses that refuse to take the risk and responsibility to make great things happen. Life mirrors this because it is those who have either the genetic or learned confidence to step up and attempt the big play that will eventually become leaders.

“Be brave enough to live creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can't get there by bus, only by hard work, risking, and by not quite knowing what you're doing. What you'll discover will be wonderful: yourself.”
Alan Alda

Andy

Jo

As has been discussed in other parts of this thread/forum we made some structural and support mistakes between 2 & 5 years ago. We fixed these errors. They taught us how to be better but cost us some of our more experienced teams & better players.

As a club we added over 20 teams last summer. We also grew significantly the summer before. This means that many of our current Legends teams aren't yet displaying mature dribbling skills. Too many players are relatively new to the approach for this to occur. When our current players have been with us for between 3-8 years you will see excellent deceptive dribbling and finishing skills from all those players.

Every Legend plaers and team's current dribbling performance will reflect the amount of time that specific individual or team has spent in our program.

I hope this clarifies why some of our players aren't

Andy

Mude



Because a 1 v 1 & 2 v 2 dribbling and finishing emphasis offers the greatest defensive challenges to opponents, this approach has the added advantage of training tremendous clutch defenders. The second & third long-term phases of the “Training Soccer Legends” approach, involve attacking and defending opponents in both 1 v 1 & 2 v 2 situations. Consistently defending against players capable of performing moves such as the Maradona Turn, the Cruyff Turn, the Rivelino, the Beardsley, the Matthews, the Puskas etc, makes the defender more capable of focusing effectively upon the ball and less susceptible to the deceptive movement of the attacker’s body. Such experience results in what can only be described as an intuitive defensive ability to almost “mind read” the intentions of attackers. Because Legends trained defenders face 1 v 1 and 2 v 2 defensive clutch situations thousands of times, the right defensive decisions and responses become intuitive and instantaneous. The most important tactical units of the game are 1 v 1 & 2 v 2 match-ups. Any team capable of dominating 1 v 1 & 2 v 2 situations offensively and defensively will win many more games than they lose.

Because the “Training Soccer Legends” approach trains the best dribblers and finishers, the logical consequence of defending against the best is a learned ability to defend more effectively at a higher level than a player who learns to defend against average dribblers and finishers. 1 v 1 & 2 v 2 defending against great attackers forces the defender to get tighter and deny shooting time and space to a much greater degree then against the average, “passing oriented team player”. The better the striker, the tougher the defensive job, so defenders have to become better to compensate. For example, when attackers are better the defender has to learn the optimal distance and angle of jockeying, delaying and channeling the opponent in order to restrict goal scoring chances. Children learn these crucial defensive abilities to a far greater degree in the “Training Soccer Legends” approach than in other coaching philosophies where dribbling and scoring isn’t emphasized as much and the ball to player ratio is higher.

Andy

Andy -

Again, conceptually I think you have some great concepts. The issue is how it translates into reality. Like many things, good ideas taken to the extreme don't always work. I do think much of it does work actually, but here are a few questions:

1. How do you combat the selfish mindset that can be a part of the player that is not pressed to really look for creative options beyond themselves? This take more creativity (IMO) than simply trying to beat one person that is standing in front of you.

2. Passing is not a secondary skill IMO. How do you make the change happen in kids' heads that passing and looking for the open person that has better chances?

3. I disagree about playing 1v1 makes the best defenders. Most dribblers are much easier to stop in a game setting than groups of players that can combine well. How do you teach "reading a game" and "smart positioning" when so focused on stopping a single player? The best defenders stop development well before they develop into 1v1 chances in front of the goal?

4. It seems like you might be underestimating the mental aspect of passing and creative soccer. For me, it is not all about 1v1 confidence. That is important, but how do you instill true game smarts rather than simply repetitive skills training? I find the dribblers/skills players are often more predictiable than the kid that might take you on, but just as likely has his/her head up and could give-and-go just as easily.

You will likely provide an answer along the lines of moves/skills allows the player to do all of the above, but.........I find the reality is that many seem to struggle to divorce themselves from selfish play. Instead of being creative, some can be quite the opposite if not careful.

Again, please take this in the spirit that I mean it in that I am very happy with the skills training my kid got with the Legends.

Mude,
Your questions about passing are relevant to this thread. That is why I brought up Tim and his teams above. In order to have good passers, you have to work on it at an early age also. I agree with Andy's theories about dribbling; the same goes for passing. You have to work on that muscle memory the same way in order to make it second nature. You don't start working seriously on passing at age 14 and expect to be as good of a passing team against some teams that have already been working on that since possibly U8. Here is the disconnect; some of those dribblers have their head down so much that they have tunnel vision and they are not taught to look up and see the whole field. They are taught to keep making their moves. That is a habit that is hard to break. Does anyone know how many repetitions it takes to break a bad habit? That is why most parents have been smart enough to train the Legends way on the side and maybe do the academy for a year or two and then move on. You can learn the moves and work on those yourself or against another player in your backyard just like you would play 1 v 1 against a neighbor in basketball. I think it was Andrew that stated that is why one of his younger players was so good in the video that was posted on one of these sites. It takes repetition to become that good. It is the same with passing. It takes a lot of repetition to get that learned muscle memory and it is kind of hard to pass to yourself at home. That is why you will always have coaches working on passing and hopefully deceptive dribbling during practice. (The deceptive part was added for Andy).

Herewegoagain,

To be clear, I mean more than the basic physical technique of passing, but rather the creative decision making and playmaking associated with really believing in involving other players.

I think people forget how important and difficult it is to teach this style of play. How many times have you seen a basketball or soccer player that seems extremely talented, but does not know when to give it up? Everyone says that the kid will be great when they understand the game better, etc., but it never happens. That super talented dribble (often a kid that was fast early) looks great and then really fades as they face athletic defenders. Or, how to really move away from the ball? Moving away from the ball seems to be another one of the weaknesses of young players.

Again, I don't want to diminish Andy's thoughts as he has a lot right IMO. But, it seems to me that the results would be even better with a recognition of the importance of some of these other skills. Thinking they will naturally come about does not jive with my experience in watching the top kids age 14-19 in the country.

mude, herewego - we been there, done that. This thread didn't get to 179 pages all on Andy bashing.

Good game on today between the Nigerian and Swiss U17s in that world cup finals. Classic example of teamwork versus athleticism, which can go either way. This time teamwork along with some hard-nosed defending won. But don't get me wrong - the Nigerians weren't a bad team. They had some nice ball movement too (just not as nice as the Swiss today), and probably win that match up more times than not.

I think when Andy gets in his soccer vehicle and comes and watches some games, he will see living proof that you can have tremendous tactical training, without your technical skills suffering.

By the way I did see a Legends team made the finals in the HIT. Now you are getting somewhere Andy!!!