The Soccer Coaching Podcast

In this episode we chat with the wonderful Michael Hamilton (@mikehamilton_14) from AFC Wimbledon (@afcwimbledon) and discuss their approach to coaching at the Foundation and Youth Development phases. Michael shares with us his thoughts on working with coaches, the AFC Wimbledon philosophy and the importance of player ownership and working `outside` the session for both players and coaches...as well as lots more!It was a privilege to spend time with Michael and to get an insight into the wonderful work hes doing with all the academy team to support their players development.We hope you enjoy the episode and please share your thoughts.@SoccerCoachCastinfo@thesoccercoachingpodcast.com

In this episode we discuss the importance of ball mastery and technical work with the wonderful Saul Isaksson-Hurst from the My Personal Football Coach (www.mypersonalfootballcoach.com). The conversation includes thoughts on homework, SSG's, layering sessions, linking physical literacy with ball manipulation practice, making technical work fun and lots more! We also try and clarify our thoughts on if you should prioritise 1v1 or passing and why we prefer a dual approach.Thank you to Saul for giving up his time and his superb contribution to this important topic!We hope you enjoy the episode and if so please give us some feedback and share.Email - info@thesoccercoachingpodcast.comTwitter - @SoccerCoachCastThanks and enjoy!

In this episode we are delighted to be joined by the wonderful Stuart Armstrong. Stu discusses his podcast (www.thetalentequation.co.uk/podcast) and tells us why he started it and what he's learned on the journey so far. As huge fans of the podcast ourselves we were delighted to have Stu on. It was great to get to know more about him, get an insight into his coaching principles and find out about his hopes for encouraging all us coaches to always be thinking "is there a better way?".The audio is a bit `wobbly` in parts so please bear with it.We hope you enjoy it!Twitter - @SoccerCoachCastEmail - info@thesoccercoachingpodcast.com

In this episode we welcome Lewis Bloom from Wycombe Wanderers FC to discuss coach CPD, what makes a great session and player reviews. Lewis explains his role in supporting the Wycombe Elite Development Academy (EDA) and shares his thoughts on a number of topics relating to coaching at this level.@SoccerCoachCastinfo@thesoccercoachingpodcast.com

In this episode we talk with James about making the transition from playing to coaching and some of the challenges in changing your mindset from being `result` focused to being `development` focused and how these impact on your coaching principles.

In this episode we discuss the different types of interventions, how they impact on a session and the difference between using them in training and matches. We also discuss the idea of `counter coaching` as well as the benefits of a 2-2 formation at 5 aside, England FA DNA and collaborative training games.

In this episode we chat with the super knowledgeable and wonderfully accommodating Kieran Smith about his time in Spain and his passion for Spanish football. We discuss how this influenced his coaching methodology and take a closer look as how to use `rondos` and the importance of `Positional Play`. Kieran also explains how he uses `layering`, the difference between difficulty and complexity and the importance of having an `end goal` as a coach. I hope you enjoy the episode and thanks so much to Kieran for giving us his time!!

In this episode we discuss a question sent in from Santi (who is coaching in the Philippines) around the difference between ball rolling time (BRT) and Active Learning Time (ALT). We then discuss the idea of Collaborative Training Matches (CTM`s) as a tool for supporting training and providing a bridge between training and matches.

So why is it not about `winning v’s development`….?Football (soccer) is a sport.And sport is by definition: “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.”Compete: “strive to win something by defeating or establishing superiority over others.”This means that `wining` (and losing) are intrinsically built into sport and therefore are built in to football (soccer)…you can’t remove it or chose whether or not to have it! It’s not and it can’t be NON-COMPETITIVE! It’s a sport! It can be child/player centred competition!If we can accept that ‘wining` is part of the game, then we can stop the debate on if `wining` (especially at the foundation and developmental phase) is a good or bad thing. It’s neither, its simply part of the sport, just like the ball or the goals! So if it’s not a question of winning v’s development, what is the real question...All sports need a way to measure the success of the game, so in turn will conclude

Episode 3 – What is the `coaching environment`… and how important is it?·         What do we mean by the environment? -          Not the weather or physical conditions.-          It is the combination of Culture, Philosophy, Values, Expectations and Habits.-          Its the intangibles (and tangibles) that impact on the practical and physical aspects of the session.·         Is it important to consider these elements and if so why?-          YES!!! – The environment is the engine that drives behaviour and behaviour drives development/performance and in turn development/performance drives outcomes!Understanding your environment allows you to…-          Clear idea of what the team/club is about.-          Clear idea of what the ambitions of the team/club are.-          Clear idea of how the team/club will try and meet these ambitions.-          Provides a clear message to players, parents, coaches and everyone involved or impacted (including the opposition).-          Help provide consistency.-          Help t

In our last episode we spoke about the key ingredients that can make for a fun and effective coaching session. We came up with 10 elements that we felt should be considered and tried to explain why we believed they were important. If you haven’t already done so please do listen to episode one and let us know what you think.As equally important as what goes into the training, is what goes into the match days. So for this episode Mark and I are delighted to have the super talented and experienced Mr Chris Fraser joining us to share his thoughts on this key topic! Chris has been preparing players and teams for match days for over 10 years and we know he feels passionately about the rights and wrong ways of going about it. I’ve had the privilege of seeing Chris coach and manage teams on numerous occasions and am always blown-away by his technical understanding and the manner and style in which he communicates and delivers this with players, parents, coaches and all those he’s impacting. I also know that Chris is

In this episode we discuss the ingredients that help make for a fun and effective soccer coaching training session. We explore the ten things to consider for your sessions that may help maximise the learning and development potential of the session, and ensure your players are challenged, enjoy and get the most out of the training. 1) PLANNING – Session plans / Structure / Challenges / STEP / Progression / The Unexpected2) A CLEAR THEME - Coaching points / Curriculum / The Why / LTDP3) FREE-PLAY – SSG’s / Ownership / Warm-up / Coach Observation4) TECHNICAL WORK – Having strong fundamental skills / Opposed v’s Unopposed5) PHYSICAL LITERACY – ABC’s / Embed or Separate6) GAME BASED PRACTICES – SSG’s / Whole-Part-Whole / Constraints / Challenges7) BALL ROLLING TIME – Why / How much (80%?) / How 8) DECISION MAKING – Problems (not solutions) / Guided Discovery / Trial & Error9) THE ENVIRONMENT – Culture / Philosophy / Values / Communication / Habits10) REFLECT & REVIEW – Feedback / WWW / EBI / Repeat?Here w