The Neglect of Technique In Modern Coaching

There’s a serious trend emerging where the idea of teaching and practicing technique to young players is seen as a problem

If you’re reading this then the likelihood is that you spend some time on Twitter. If you’re into sport and coaching then I’m sure you follow plenty of insightful, intelligent and thought-provoking people who test your thinking and give you new ideas. There’s a fantastic community of people which are helping to support and educate coaches and parents particularly in youth development. 

There’s no doubt that in recent years the quality of coaching methods and coach education has improved vastly to what used to happen in years gone by. And with the emergence of the youth modules from the FA there is a real sense of progress being made at youth level with the development of young players. It’s helping to develop a new generation of players who are creative, expressive, positive and who enjoy playing football. This hasn’t always been the case and many young players have suffered because of poor and negative coaching experiences. 

Yet for all these positives, there’s a worrying trend I’m seeing emerge in regards to how the development of technique is viewed and the influence this is having on the development of young players.

I was watching a grassroots U12 "pre-season" session recently at my local park and stayed to observe the kind of methods the coach (parent) was using. They did a few laps around the pitch to ‘warm up’, then a 1v1 speed drill where the fastest player got to the ball and drove at goal to shoot. The turnover time between the players turns was worryingly long and those 10 players who weren't involved didn’t do anything between goes except watch. 

There were a few other support parents there, one was in goal, the others watched. One ball, one goal, one go at a time. Simple planning could have allowed for stations to allow varied practices with plenty of repetition. Instead this one practice lasted 25 mins in which time an individual player had only experienced 6 attempts. Each go lasted about 20 seconds at the most so they got about 2 mins of 'action' in almost 50% of their session. It wasn’t pleasing. 

The need to maximise contact time

They ended with a game which brought out more enjoyment and energy from the players and I wondered why they’d spent 25 mins on that practice with plenty of other possibilities which could have replaced this. An hour session goes by very fast and if that’s the only session of the week it’s very important to make sure the players experience a lot of contact time with the ball and experience the practice, rather than spend more time ‘watching’ the practice. 

The idea of ‘ball rolling time’ doesn’t always lead in to an individual player being active within a particular practice. It’s far more beneficial to consider how many touches, opportunities and activity an individual player actually experiences to gauge how beneficial the session is for the players as individuals in their own development. As I said, the use of stations can provide a lot of contact and provide varied challenges to the players, keeping them active and engaged, rather being spectators. 

Many will be considering that the obvious option is for the coach to turn up, set out a pitch and let the players play a match. It’s what they want to do, they will ask “when are we playing a game?” all the way through, as the players want the easiest and most fun option when they arrive, playing a game. It amazes me how many coaches don’t provide this for their players in terms of time spent in game/matches or if they even consider it at all. Playing the game is what kids enjoy and what they want to do. As adults we turn up at Powerleague for an hour with our mates and go straight into a game and we love it. Yet we deny our kids the same enjoyment and freedom? You see I fully believe that players need to experience playing games. 

Playing a game which looks like a game of football; preferably with two goals, a marked out pitch, the ability to keep score etc. Working on the basic principles and rules of football players can enjoy the wonder which football brings. That helps educate players on the game. It keeps them motivated, engaged and happy. Games offer the development of decision making, variability and challenge. Games also mean not standing around watching but actually being involved. No wonder the players prefer it to the 2 mins of action in 25 mins practice. But, and here’s that but you’ve being waiting for, the truth is that games aren’t enough to develop high quality players.

The de-valuing of technique over 'games'

People will tell you that games and only games is what players need, but I don’t believe it. I do believe that games are extremely beneficial for players development yes, and I think some coaches should sometimes just ‘let them play’ because what they are doing in the limited time they have with their players is often a waste. But ultimately, I don’t believe a player can excel and become elite without practicing their technique.

It seems technique has become a bad word these days. As though practicing without an opponent, not being in a ‘real game situation’ isn't allowed anymore. I don’t agree. I believe there is actually a technical deficiency with many young players in today’s game, mainly not in their 'skill levels', such as ball mastery and 1v1 skills, as these are trained almost obsessively now (most often done in a ball mastery box, a ball to themselves, working on their skills and 'moves'. Not necessarily a bad thing. But unfortunately with this approach it is often executed without the right technique and importantly without the knowledge of the why when doing a move - such as keeping it safe side from the defender, and using the body to create space and push the defender away).  

No, there is a lack of quality in the technique of ball striking and ball control. The element of precision accuracy of striking the ball seems rare, and this is a concern. It’s amazing to me how many young players seem unable or incapable of striking the football effectively today. And a lot of this I believe is due to the lack of practice they are getting on their technique. 

Now this is not aimed at the coaches necessarily, particularly at grassroots, how much can you realistically achieve in an hour session per week? Ultimately kids today don’t practice on their own, in their ‘free time’ enough. There is a skill deficiency because young kids are working on developing their skills. And this is a problem within and because of our culture today. Kids use up their free time with social media and game consoles. They live on technology in a sedentary lifestyle. Our kids aren't physically active enough, and ultimately aren't taking advantage of the hours available to them. Not to generalise but compare to the communities where players like Riyad Mahrez grew up near Paris; growing up in a Moroccan/Algerian community which didn't have a lot and where the kids played outside at all hours. Unknowingly refining their skills on the streets. The same is happening in Holland and Belgium in these communities. The kids play, and develop. It's starting to show now in London, where street football is emerging once more as a development tool for young players. 

The streets - a place to refine technique

When we talk about street football our minds conjure images of 12v12 in the middle of the street, jumpers for goalposts etc. But in reality it often means 1,2 or 3 kids going outside kicking a football, juggling the ball, trying skills they’ve seen on TV/YouTube and playing accuracy/finishing games. At their best these moments could last for hours, the constant re-enforcement of technique, refining the accuracy, trial and error of technique to get the right trajectory/curl on the ball to the target. Practice without the eye of a coach instructing, clock watching, moving on to the next practice with army efficiency. 

I’m worried our culture for young people has changed so much that this no longer happens, and that in our coaching culture it has moved so far away from the idea of practice, repetition and technique that is is now a place based solely on games and no time for developing and practice technique.

You see my argument is that without practicing on your game, refining your technique, improving your skills and building your skill-set as a player, you won’t be as effective in game situations. Look at David Beckham's story and the amount of time he put in to develop his ball striking technique. These things don't just happen. And games aren't enough to help develop these skills enough. 

I feel the world of possession based practices limit the chance for forwards to practice their finishing adequately, a key skill for success in football. And when finishing practices are carried out I am still amazed and disappointed to see the one line, pass to coach and set to finish 'drill'. It's infuriating how people can't develop a more progressive finishing practice. And of course the lack of chances to actually practice finishing is a concern. Most often a player gets 3/4 chances in these drills, is that sufficient? Of course not! Players should be getting at least 100 shots, offering varied type and techniques a week to help develop their finishing skills, efficiency and confidence in front of goal. It's a neglected skill which too many attribute to being 'natural' but in fact needs to be learnt, refined and practiced constantly. If the pro's still work on finishing, technique and un-opposed practices then it should be ok for young players also. Even more so!

The constant use of small areas may develop the tight area skills, but players aren't developing the skills to succeed in larger areas, areas which mirror the real game? Coaches need to be more creative and understanding of what they are trying to achieve with their players, because I'm seeing limitations being put on the kids because of the session plans developed. 

If you just played games all the time you would get the interference, decision making, realness of the game, but may lack the skills and execution of technique to succeed in these situations. Like with anything there is a balance, but the concern is that many voices are appealing for less un-opposed technical work for young players, when in fact they need it more. Surely it’s better to lay a strong foundation of technique to build on rather than a weak foundation which is limited and lacking? Long term I know which I’d prefer to build my future on.

I’ve just felt in recent months a growing trend against technique and un-opposed practice and I for one cannot agree with it. I believe technique development, repetition of skills and individual practice has a major role to play in the development of young players. By making out these elements aren’t important, I am worried we will produce sessions/environments which have of lots of games involved, but which may only develop average players. 

My ambitions and hopes for young players today is to have the high quality tools to succeed in the future to be great players. The future will require a high quality technical skill-set, which without un-opposed work and repetition, will struggle to be achieved.

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