“Without technique, there are no tactics” This is a soccer axiom that few in soccer would dispute. Put another way, a team can’t function collectively unless every player is able to properly pass and receive the ball, as well as dribble, head, shoot and tackle with a reasonable degree of effectiveness.

As the club has grown there has been a need to provide additional training environments for the players. To that end the club has gone to a mandatory system of providing technical training for our younger teams (U-9 through U-14).

While it may appear as if technical training is the same as regular training it is not. The basis of player development is a focus on development of individual skills under pressure of time, space and an opponent. The objective is to increase the player’s technical speed in a progressive training environment that concentrates on the player with the ball and his/her immediate surroundings.

Coaches who try to skip development steps or “fast track” their players into large group activities are doing their players an injustice. It is far more important to ingrain good technical habits and develop comfort on the ball with younger players. Thus, the introduction of tactical considerations should be done in the context of individual and small group situations.

The most appropriate activities should range from 1:1 games to 4:4 games. The main theme of coaching should be fixed on individual attacking and defending, as well as the introduction of combination play involving two and three players. At the younger ages, it would be premature to work on aspects such as a zonal back four defending and long diagonal switches, or spend too much time on set plays. Even if 10 to 12 year olds are already playing their official games on larger fields within 8:8 or 11:11 formats. Without a solid individual technical and tactical foundation, the game’s individual duels, that are critical for team success, will be lost. As the player gets older, tactical topics can shift towards large group and team tactics.

It is the objective of the technical training program to become a tool for the enhancement of four discrete phases of soccer development which are:

Age’s 6-10 Preliminary Stage- Basic technique must be acquired during this phase. Skill oriented games, feel for the ball, ball control, the ball and me developed within the context of a specific playing area and the introduction of resistance and opposing players.

Age’s 7-12 Basic Proficiency- learning how to solve soccer problems, with an emphasis on adapting to the situation. Insight and technique emphasized. Playing the game in a number of simplified soccer situations.