HEADS UP!

April-May, 2011

E Coaching

Magazine

Contents

Indiana Soccer Coaching Education Opportunities

Pelada Movie

US Youth Soccer Region II/Indiana Soccer TOPSoccer Coaching Manual

National Youth License-July 2011

“Using Guided Discovery for Intermediate Players”-Michael Aycock-Indiana

Soccer Hall of Fame Inductee 2011

Teaching More Than The Game-Activities that promote life lessons

Playing from the middle third to the final third

Coping With Too Many Games-Soccer America Article

Picture of the month

Present this coupon in any Avon Sports Apparel store and

receive 20% off regular-priced in-stock merchandise.

Expires April 30, 2011 ● Cannot be applied to previous purchases

Indiana Soccer Coaching Course Opportunities To register for courses, please visit the Indiana Soccer website: http://www.soccerindiana.org/service/coaching_courses.aspx

Course offerings (note: there will be more courses added throughout the spring and summer)

"Youth Module 2-Bloomington, IN Karst Park-April 8th, 2011

"Youth Module"-Indianapolis, IN-Sahm Park-April 9th, 2011

"D" License Course-Mishawaka, IN Bethel College-June 17th-19th and 24th-26th

"E" License Course-Indianapolis-Indiana Soccer Office-June 24-26th

USSF/US Youth National Youth License-Indianapolis-Indiana Soccer Office-July 25-29th

National Youth License flyer and registration form

"D" License Course-Indianapolis-Indiana Soccer Office-July 29-31st and August 5-7th

"E" License Course-Batesville-August 6th and 7th

"E" License Course-Fishers-August 19-21st

Looking for a gift idea?

This movie is a must see for all soccer players, coaches, administrators, and parents. The movie

shows why the game is so beautiful and meaningful around the globe.

Website Link: www.pelada-movie.com

Indiana Soccer and US Youth Soccer Region II has created a TOPSoccer Coaching Manual. This resource is

to aid all who help coach these special athletes.

To access the TOPSoccer Coaching Manual visit the Indiana Soccer website or use this link below:

http://issuu.com/indianasoccer/docs/intopsoccer_manual_2011smaller

National Youth License 2011

Indiana Soccer, along with US Youth Soccer, is pleased to offer the National Youth License course this winter.

The curriculum of the course is based in proper educational methods for coaching children twelve years old

and younger.

Coaching Coordinators, Directors of Coaching, Coaches, and Administrators involved with children’s soccer

should attend the course. *This course is also good for CEU’s with US Soccer. A total of 8 CEU’s are given

upon successful completion of the course.

Dates: July 25-29th, 2011. You must attend all dates in order to complete this course. A detailed schedule for

the course is below.

Location: The course will be held at the Indiana Soccer Office. Address: 5440 Herbert Lord Road Indpls, IN

46216 Website: www.soccerindiana.org

Accommodations: Candidates arrange for their own lodging.

What to Bring: You will participate in this course on the field. Please bring proper (indoor and outdoor)

shoes and proper attire to play in. Please bring your own ball. You will be given the course manual, t-shirt,

and other handouts. Please bring your own notebook for notes.

Course Description: This course is a tested course and you will be evaluated 3 ways. Written, Verbal and

Coaching Practical. Indiana Youth Soccer will provide the players in each age group (U6/U8 & U10) for the

practical testing. Each coach will be videotaped during a practice session and evaluated prior to testing.

Meals: Lunch will be provided for you.

Costs: The course fee is $600.00 Checks or Visa/MasterCard will be accepted. Course application will be

available online. The application is also included in this document. Applications can be mailed to:

Indiana Soccer 5440 Herbert Lord Road Indianapolis, IN 46216

This course usually fills up quickly, so do apply right away.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Indiana Soccer office (Vince Ganzberg) at 1-800-347-4972 extension 101 for

questions or to apply. You can also email at vince@soccerindiana.org

To apply online, visit the Indiana Youth Soccer website at: www.soccerindiana.org

See Schedule and Application Below

July 25th-29th

2011 Five Day NYL Schedule

Date Start Finish Topic

DAY 1

July 25thAY

Day e Please do wear the new gear as assigned

30 min 5:30 6:00 Registration – Turn in Laws Exam

45 min 6:00 6:45 Orientation and Opening Lecture

30 min 6:45 7:15 Jean Piaget

30 min 7:30 8:00 Guided Discovery

30 min 8:00 8:30

Learning Theories

(Expansion, Slanty Line, Flow)

30 min 8:30 9:00

-Review Coaches Connection Spot-Light

-Developing Your Coaching Philosophy

-Review and Assign Groups Topics

-Review Methodology Exam, Field Practical Exam,

Oral Presentation and Assign Topics, U12 Model Session

Observation Form, NYL Feedback Forms and Lesson Plans

DAY 2-26th

15 min 8:30 8:45 Staff Review Law Exam with Candidates

1 hour 8:45 9:45 U6 Lecture

1 hour 10:45 11:45

U6 Field with Candidates #2

(Candidates Practice)

1 hour 30 min 11:45 1:15 LUNCH

1 hour 1:15 2:15 Ethics

1 hour 2:15 3:15 Youth Fitness

1 hour 3:30 4:30 U6 Field Practical

1 hour 4:45 5:45 U6 Practical Video Review

DAY 3-

27thDAY e

1 hour 8:00 9:00 U8 Lecture

45 min 9:15 10:30 U8 Field with Candidates #1

1 hour 10:30 11:30

U8 Field with Candidates #2

(Candidates Practice)

2 hour 11:30 1:30 LUNCH

15 min 1:30 1:45 Street Soccer Lecture (Play Day) (Go to PPT# 13)

1 hour 2:00 3:00 Candidates Field Street Soccer and Review

1 hour 30 min 3:00 4:30 U8 Field Practical

1 hour 4:45 5:45 U8 Practical Video Review

DAY 4-28th

Four

1 hour 8:00 9:00 U10 Lecture

45 min 9:15 10:00 U10 Field with Candidates # 1

1 hour 10:00 11:00

U10 Field with Candidates # 2

(Candidates Practice)

1 hour 11:00 12:00 Youth Goal Keeping

2 hour 12:00 2:00 LUNCH

Turn in Methods Exam, Coaching Philosophy,

Coaches Connection Spotlight Nomination

1 hour 2:00 3:00 Group Presentations

1 hour 30 min 3:00 4:30 U10 Field Practical

1 hour 4:45 5:45 U10 Practical Video Review

DAY 5-29thy

Five

1 hour 30 min 8:00 9:30 Oral Exam

1 hour 9:45 10:45 Club Development

1 hour 10:45 11:45 U12 Lecture

1 hour 15 min 11:45 1:00 LUNCH

1 hour 1:00 2:00 U12 Model Session

1 hour 30 min 2:15 3:45 Practical Coaching Exam

15 min 3:45 4:00 Closing Ceremonies (on the field)

Using Guided Discovery with Intermediate Players

Michael Aycock

Indiana State Staff Coach

For coaches of players U12 to U14

The Problem

We’ve all done it. We stand on the edge of a kids’ training session and shout what a player should be doing.

It’s obvious, isn’t it? If we just yell the right instruction, George will pop back and show to the ball, Francie will

carry the dribble at a defender to commit her, Larry will open his hips so he can see Bill for his next pass, and

so on, right? In many cases, wrong. In fact, we’re lucky if we get a quizzical glance. It’s very rare that a player

knows what we mean and does it right away. And we just got through demonstrating this! In fact, we spent

the first part of the practice doing something like it over and over.

Why does this happen? Maybe we remind ourselves that it’s very hard for players to react instantaneously to

commands when most of their attention is taken up with the ball and the situation. That’s fair. So we freeze

play, rehearse the right action, and start up again. What happens? If we let play run for a while, often George

hides, Francie knocks the ball away from herself too fast, and Larry is still facing the wrong way when he

receives. What is going on? Why am I sweating just standing here?

It has to do with how players learn skills and how they learn to use skills and make decisions once they’re

actually playing. Whether we come to coaching as an avatar of Lionel Messi or as a novice, it may be hard for

us to imagine how players really learn. We’re anxious to tell them. (Now!) So we stop what they love most,

playing, and insert mini-lecture 5.b. or our brilliant demonstration of receiving, etc.

It’s important to keep in mind that, if we stop play, it had better be pretty good, certainly good enough to

make them forget their annoyance at having to stop. It’s even more important to understand that our best

attempts to provide lots of repetitions and teach visually may still not be enough to help George, Francie, or

Larry use skills or principles fluidly in the game to solve problems and be brilliant. But why not?

Perception, Confidence, and Utility

Think of George, Francie, and Larry’s dilemmas. George may be thinking that he’s helping by being further

downfield, or that a ball could fit over that defender, or even that staying there would keep him from having

to receive a pass under the pressure he feels of other defenders. His choices may be a question of perception.

He may not see what we see from our position of greater experience. Maybe he hasn’t yet imagined how the

ball might move or what the person with the ball sees. Maybe he hasn’t visualized that a quick movement into

the view of the player with the ball might put him in position to receive and make a less pressured first touch.

He needs a clearer vision of what works and what may not work by showing to the ball differently. (If he’s

hiding and is comfortable doing that, his problem may be similar to Francie’s.)

Francie may have a slightly different challenge. She may pass too soon when facing defenders a distance from

her because she isn’t sure of her ability to use her dribble close to a defender, pulling that defender out of

position and making a last second choice to lay the ball off or beat her. Someone may yell at her every time she

loses the ball on the dribble. Hers is a problem of confidence. She needs to become more confident in applying

the skill she has to solve the problem.

Perhaps Larry’s challenge is also a little different. Maybe Larry continues to show to the ball facing toward it

because he cannot, at least in his “playing” mind, see any good reason for doing it differently. He feels

comfortable watching the ball into his feet and feels he makes a better first touch this way. He shields off

people behind him, in his mind, better with his rear than with the width of his body. Maybe he has had a kind

of success by still finding some teammates in this limited field of vision or has felt okay laying the ball back to

the original passer pretty often. His may be a problem of utility. He does things this way and it has worked in

his mind well enough to make him comfortable. He’d have to experience the good results of showing side-on

and playing at new, helpful angles, possibly even using touches to beat close defenders or at least shield the

ball while looking up.

All three of these challenges to a young player’s development have something in common. They exist and

have taken hold with the player from playing experience. George has always played without showing much,

and other players have moved the ball and sometimes found him. Francie has had some success, maybe won

some praise (and avoided being yelled at) by playing mostly one- or two-touch, staying in her comfort zone,

whatever the situation. Larry, too, has found a comfort level in the full pressure of the game by playing the

way he does. In artificial situations, any of them might do what you ask, particularly if you repeat it at low

pressure, but all of them may still choose “what they know” in a game situation.

How We Can Make a Difference

What will make a real and lasting impression on these three? We want to say that skill repetitions and

carefully sequenced sessions will eventually help. They will. They teach skill visually and use situations that

create success, slowly adding pressure. They build confidence and technique. But what will really change a

player’s “playing mind”? The best answer is that she has to discover it herself, in a game situation with

pressure, and have enough success to be able to solve new game problems with what she has learned.

There comes a point at which stopping, telling, and lower-pressure exercises can even work against learning.

Stopping and telling may cause resistance in the mind of the player (“I do not do that,” “That can’t really

help,” “What does he want now?”). Lower pressure exercises may seem logical for learning, but may not

provide enough incentive. It was great revelation to me when another coach, seeing I was having trouble

getting players to imagine why they should receive a certain way, pointed out that I needed to add a lot of

pressure, right away! Almost immediately, they started shielding across their bodies because they had to.

This is where coaching methods that promote decisions and discovery work best. One such method is the

whole-part-whole method that begins with the full game, discovers something to work on, trains that, and

goes back to the game. An even more player-centered method is guided discovery.

Guided Discovery

In the course of maturing and playing, players naturally have success experiences that help convince their

“inner player” that it’s both okay and more effective to do things a given way. Despite what we think about

our wonderful coaching, these experiences are the most powerful influences on the way they play. We provide

building blocks and tools, but they put together their playing style or personality themselves based on what

happens when they play.

We can tap into that process if we help them discover that a technique or choice “works” for them. Educators

call this method guided discovery. Instead of “grooving in” the same reactions, it helps players discover new

ways they can solve problems in the game. That powerful combination of self-discovery and success can not

only open ways for George, Francie, and Larry to play differently, it also puts a mental exclamation point with

what they have learned. They’ll be more likely to actually try new choices and continue to use them.

The method seems deceptively simple. The coach uses games that allow all or most of the decision-making

that the full game allows, then chooses moments to ask questions and let players answer. Of course, it’s not as

simple as it sounds. It will take a lot of planning and a lot of practice at the method. It’s difficult to ask the right

question. But, if we can envision what’s holding players up, as we did with the three players above, we can

envision the kinds of questions that may help. Letting them answer and try things gives players a sense of

empowerment. As they think about what they’re doing and own their choices, they get a taste of something

that everyone loves: “This was my idea.”

Before the Session

The hardest part of using guided discovery is getting ready. Most of us see patterns in our players’ games that

could be turning points for them if they saw them differently. If they could just see and do x, the game might

open up for them. We have to become pretty clear about what we believe our players could discover to change

the game for them. It can be fairly simple, something like using the outside of the foot triggering a wall pass to

make it quicker, or something a little more strategic, like playing a covering role as a second defender and

helping to direct the first defender. More likely it’s some combination of technical and tactical elements. An

example of this might be facing a helpful direction when receiving and using different touches that let us see

and play a new direction faster. The more experience we have at reading the game, the better we’re likely to be

at seeing these crucial points. As Vince Ganzberg, Indiana Soccer Director of Education, says, it’s not just

developing a skill we want; it’s developing the ability to play skillfully. The trick is imagining how players

discover playing skillfully.

We have to imagine situations, choices, and questions. What games will keep bringing players to that crucial

spot where they need to use a skill and make a decision? Sometimes it can be as simple as playing 4v4. The

small numbers and full pressure will put each player in a lot of situations in a short time. But it may be

necessary to be more specific. For example, we may want to concentrate on decisions off the dribble. Let’s say

we want players to make better decisions to commit defenders by dribbling at them to open passing angles,

but also see and choose to pass early and with the right weight and angle when they see teammates with the

opportunities to unlock a defense. These can be tough choices in the run of play for a young player.

To provide a situation which concentrates these choices, we may want to use a game like the one pictured in

diagram 1. Either team can score by dribbling through or passing to a teammate through any of the gate goals

scattered through the grid. There are two neutral players to help either team. Almost every time a player

touches the ball, he is faced with a decision to go at a gate or player, or to use a teammate with a better look.

The game provides many opportunities to see how dribbling in a given direction moves defenders and how

waiting to commit a defender can open up passing angles to a teammate able to score. It also gives

opportunities to see situations in which other teammates have an advantage and passing quickly gets a result.

(Maybe I can see a spot where a teammate has an open gate or where two teammates have a 2v1 advantage

and can score that way.) It’s about choices, and the skills that help us make those choices.

Diagram 1

Then we have to imagine what questions will help players discover the two principles we have in mind. All

specific questions will be some form of this very general one: “What can you do to succeed in this situation?”

Some coaches have divided such questions into high-order questions and low-order questions. A high-order

question for our game might be, “What are you looking for when you look up to see teammates?” This is a

question that lets a player visualize the whole game and think of tactical kinds of responses. A low-order

question might be, “Which foot of the defender do I hope to slip by if I take him on?” Make the questions

“open” ones, questions that encourage a suggestion about playing rather than a “yes” or “no.”

Anticipate responses. To the high-order question, a player might respond “Somebody open?” You might have

to ask another question, then! Appropriate ones might be, “What do you hope your teammate can do next

with the ball?” or “Which side of him will you have to fit your pass to help him?” or even “Which teammates

are showing where the ball can fit and not be intercepted?” Practice in getting responses to open-ended

questions like these helps us sharpen our expertise in anticipating questions and coming back with better ones

for some responses.

Imagining steps in learning may help us frame questions. For a player to commit a defender with the dribble,

he has to first see that dribbling at an opponent, or near one, usually moves that opponent to come and

challenge the ball. Coming back to why we’re doing this, he also has to have enough successes to gain

confidence to make choices like this whenever it might work. That means encouraging and sometimes not

talking or stopping play. It means thanking players for their responses and referring to previous good

answers. Very often, it means looking for great responses or actions and praising them. For a player in our

gates game to see the advantages of sometimes passing early, he has to discover times when teammates seem

to have advantages, discover what kinds of passes may help most, and see some of his passes play out to

advantage (or not to advantage). You may be able to “catch him doing something good.” Pointing out how a

player has done something smart and effective, has succeeded, makes him feel better and helps everyone

connect a visual with the movement/decision. (Remember the problems of our three hypothetical players.)

This takes time and patience in the session, but, over the long haul, yields faster, lasting results for players. If

we want players to really internalize principles of playing skillfully, they have to find them by making them

work as they play. So let’s return to our first game and another game in the sequence to think more specifically

about questions and discoveries.

Practical Examples

The gates game provides all kinds of decision moments. We’re looking for the best moment to ask a question to

open up a players’ thinking, not every moment a player makes a poor decision. Here are some sample

questions that we might use for this game, along with a principle or step in the learning process that the

question might highlight:

How can we succeed? What are some tips you’d give us all?

Try to solicit any good ideas that come immediately from the players.

What are we looking for when we have the ball and look up?

Help them visualize the different advantages and think about whether they look for them.

What are we looking for when we don’t have the ball but a teammate does?

Helps visualize good angles, pulling space apart, setting up and facing to advantage.

Is it better to be in front of the gate or somewhere behind it (relative to the person with the ball)?

Introduces the idea of “not killing the space” we will soon use, pulling the passing angle deeper.

When can I take off and just dribble?

Introduce advantages to dribbling, particularly to move defenders, break down their spacing, etc.

Are there other times when it would make sense?

Introduce the idea that we might be able to beat defenders dribbling, and that it’s okay.

What did Bob do when you dribbled in his direction?

Start to think of dribbling and timing passes based on what the defender does.

What foot did you have the ball on?

Introduce some awareness of how the player triggers or “sets up” dribbling moves.

What could you do to get past Jerry here?

Introduce awareness of the defender’s posture, whether weight is on one foot, what moves, etc.

What’s Jerry showing you that you might take advantage of?

This is a more specific question about the defender’s posture and possible weaknesses.

Which side of Grant should I pass the ball to?

Introduce the idea of a pass being crafted to help the teammate’s next touch.

Does Grant have to be alone to have an advantage?

Introduce the idea of two teammates having an advantage over, say, a single defender.

Is it okay to pass a long way to a teammate?

Games such as this may keep the focus close, but introduce the best longest passes.

What kind of pass would get the ball to him best?

Players can discover different surfaces, angles, and weights of passes to make them useful.

There are many kinds of questions. As long as you’re clear about skills and decisions that will transform the

practical playing ability of the players, it should be easy to think of the situations, steps, and questions that

may highlight those skills and decisions. Particularly with the first few questions, keep them as broad and

open as possible to let players really think and imagine for themselves. If you go too quickly to questions that

are too specific, players immediately pick up that you are trying to get them to do some specific thing (say,

dribble on the outside of the foot) and wish you’d just say it. Then the questioning may seem manipulative

instead of empowering or challenging. Choose carefully.

The next step in the larger process is to progress the practice to a game closer to the full game. An example for

our progression might be the game show in diagram 2. In this game, each team has a direction and is simply

trying to stop the ball under control in the end zone they’re attacking. It can be dribbled into the end zone or

passed to a player in the end zone. This game allows the full range of choices to pass or dribble depending

upon the situation, while keeping it focused on possession and penetration.

Diagram 2

In this situation, player A on the ball can see his teammate B making a run and a chance to play a through ball

for him. Had that not been on (if the white defender had been in better position to cut off the pass), A could

dribble at defender C, angling toward the end zone, to get him to commit toward him, leaving a pass to

teammate D wide open, and teammate D with a wide open dribble toward the end zone.

In this game, some of the same questions can apply. We can also use questions that build upon ones we asked

in the last game. “A, can you move a defender by dribbling?” “D, where can you go to have the biggest

advantage?” We will also find new questions that are just about this game. “Which pass can hurt the

opponents most?” “Where can we best support if we’re behind the ball?”

If we prepare carefully and use our questions wisely, good things will happen. Players will think about what

they’re doing, take ownership of their decisions, see new things, and, most importantly, have successes that

they have discovered for themselves. They will put more of your practice into the way they play the game.

And they’ll have fun doing it. If we coach younger players, under 11, we can probably have an even greater

effect, if we’re very patient and use simpler, more low-order questions. If we coach older players, we can still

use it well, focusing more on high-order questions and using fewer.

References

Coaching Youth Soccer. American Sport Education Program. 4th ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2006.

Thomas, John. “Guided Discovery” U.S. Youth Soccer Blog. December 17, 2009.

http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/Blog.asp?topic_id=3

Training Session: Soccer Theme: Possession for a purpose

Character Building Theme: Teamwork

Ages: U10-U14

Warm-up

“Scottish 3’s”

In groups of 3. Groups practice

certain passing patterns.

Example: Short-Short-Long, Y

patterns, etc. To promote

teamwork make each pattern a

competition and see which group

can complete each pattern the

most and/or quickest.

Passing to correct foot

Accuracy and pace of passes

First touch

“Fast” passing

1st Activity

Timed Game

Two teams of 4-6 players each.

One team plays possession soccer

and gets a point for 5 passes in

succession. The other team goes a

direction to goal. Teams play for

5 minute rounds and then switch

roles.

Keep the ball moving

“Hidden” passes (disguise)

“Fast” passing

Receive in a way where you can

“play”.

Don’t give the ball away.

The team going to goal-Can you

play forward quickly?

When to play forward (purpose),

when to keep the ball to

circulate.

2nd Activity

“More to Score”

Create two teams of 4-7 players.

The two teams play against each

other like a normal small sided

soccer game. The only rule is

that a person cannot score two

times in a row. Someone else

from their team must score

before they are allowed to score

again. The team that has the

most players score a goal wins.

Teamwork is promoted due to

the condition that a player

cannot score two times in a row.

Whichever team has the most

players involved in scoring a

goal wins.

Passing to create scoring chances

Receive with vision

Supporting angles to help score

and/or keep possession

Using different types of passes to

set up teammates to finish.

End with a normal game.

Playing from the Middle Third to the Final Third

Vince Ganzberg

Session from USSF “B” License

Warm-up

4 player patterns

1) Long ladders

2) Short Ladders

3) Short-long-short ladders

Vision

Receiving

Precise passing

Pace of passes

1st Activity

4v4 to 2 targets

Play 4v4 (could add a neutral).

Team in attack gets a point when

ball is played into target who

then plays ball into a midfielder

running beyond the line.

Possible restrictions: 2 touch

Work on midfield play to

penetrate.

If necessary make the

midfield area in favor of the

attacking team (3v3+1)

Two targets should not be

“next” to each other but yet

close enough to combine

and work together.

2nd Activity

7v7 to endline

Same as above, except targets

are inside the area. The area’s

length is expanded. A point is

scored when the ball is played

beyond the line and the ball

precedes the run.

Work on midfield play to

penetrate.

Can midfield find the

“free”forward?

3 player combinations

Flank combinations

Work on two forwards

“spacing

3rd Activity

9v9 to goals

¾ field

Play 9v9. (2-4-2) If midfielders

score = 2 points.

Continue to work on midfield

play to penetrate.

Can forwards find “windows”?

Can forwards “combine” or play

off each other to get a chance on

goal.

Can forwards find a free

midfielder?

Game 9v9 in a 2-4-2 formation

Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011

Coping with too many games

Interview by Mike Woitalla

The turf war between youth organizations ensures an endless fountain of championships and the tournament industry has made playing three to four games in one weekend a common part of youth soccer. We asked Dr. Dev K. Mishra what coaches can do to

when their teams are faced with game overload. Dr. Mishra, the founder of SidelineSportsDoc.com, is an orthopedic surgeon who has served as team doctor at the professional, national team, college and high school level. SOCCER AMERICA: Despite the fact that the U.S. Soccer Federation discourages youth teams from playing multiple games in a weekend, youth coaches continue to send their teams to tournaments that require three of four games in two days. … DR. DEV MISHRA: So much is out of the coaches’ hands. There are certain tournaments that they feel obligated to participate in

either to enhance the stature of their team or to expose their players to the best competition, and maybe to college coaches. They are doing what they feel is best for their players and are generally not in control of the tournament schedules. The multiple-game in a short period tournament format doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. SA: Besides the fact that player-development experts say the practice-to-game ratio is out of whack in American youth soccer, what do we know about the perils of squeezing in too many games? DR. MISHRA: There is some good research on injury rates from multiple matches in a short period of time from the professional

ranks. “The American Journal of Sports Medicine” recently published a well-conducted study out of Glasgow Celtic over the course of two seasons ("Effect of 2 Soccer Matches in a Week on Physical Performance and Injury Rate"). In a very sophisticated way, they took a look at performance parameters and also at injury rates. The variable was the amount of time between games. Bear in mind these are really high-level professional athletes with access to probably the best medical care that you can find. They found that for the performance parameters there were no significant differences related to time between games. They attributed this to training methods, nutrition, and some other recovery efforts they did between matches. But the injury data was really different. Essentially what they found was a six-fold increase in injuries if the games were played less than four days apart. It’s hard to fully apply those findings to youth sports, but it’s reasonable to assume that if there’s a proven higher injury rate for four days or less apart for professional players than at least to some extent that same rationale would be applicable to youth players playing two games in one day or three games in a weekend. SA: So what can a youth coach do to help ensure the health of his or her players when faced with such a schedule? DR. MISHRA: The coach will need to go into a tournament with the awareness that some players will need to be subbed out more

frequently and get some rest. Hopefully, the coach will be able to take as large a roster as possible and be able to have a player rotation – either per game or within games and give certain players rest. The coach would need to take injury complaints seriously and have a really low index of suspicion when a young player says that they’re hurt. Or if they’re just not functioning at their maximum – at that point they probably need a little bit of rest even if they’re not injured -- because the risk of an injury is high if they’re not playing at 100 percent. SA: How about pre- and post-game? DR. MISHRA: The pre-match preparation is going to be important. Some of the things that have been suggested are to modify

training and decrease physical intensity going into a multiple-game situation. You want to really pay attention to the pregame nutrition and hydration too, generally emphasizing carbohydrates and minimizing fats. It can make a positive difference even in the young players. And pay attention to the postgame as well. After that first match research shows that the first 20 minutes are the best time to re-hydrate and get some carbs and protein back in the body. Also, the team should engage in some form of cool-down.

At a lot of the larger, more reputable tournaments there will be certified athletic trainers on site and players, if necessary, should utilize the professional trainers to help them with injury recovery. Ice, massage and active stretching. Icing down sore areas such as thigh, hamstrings, calf, knee, ankles can help recovery. SA: Are there methods used at the higher levels that youth coaches can look to? DR. MISHRA: There are some modalities from the collegiate or professional teams used after a match that might not be available

to youth teams, but some of the things mentioned above can definitely help. Deep tissue massage has been helpful to promote muscle recovery if someone’s got soreness in the thigh or their hamstring. And the old standby for doing a post-match dynamic cool-down and a passive stretching routine can be helpful. For a lot of these things we don’t have hard science behind it in terms of the youth sports experience but we have good science behind it in terms of adult athlete experiences. I think we can reasonably say that these things will help and certainly not hurt the young athlete who has to play in multiple games. SA: I’ve heard some people defend the tournament format of several games in two days by saying they played pickup soccer all day when they were kids and it wasn’t a problem. Is that a fair comparison? DR. MISHRA: My personal feeling is that we see far fewer injuries with pickup games and unorganized play than organized play.

But I don’t have hard evidence to support that. That’s based on personal experience. I think the opinion is shared by a number of sports medicine professionals but to my knowledge it has not been proven scientifically. There’s so much subjectivity when you talk about playing pickup soccer or an organized practice, the definitions can be very blurry and overlap each other considerably. My personal feeling as someone who sees kids every week in my office, is that the injury patterns that you would get from playground sports compared to an organized youth sport, no matter what the sport, is the injury patterns tend to be very different. In organized sports we see more overuse type injuries. Things that can go on and last for weeks and weeks and be very nagging. We see other types of injuries like ankle sprains, ACL tears, shoulder dislocation that tend to be very sport-specific as opposed to free-play injuries. SA: It would seem that an organized play environment – especially a tournament with several games in a short period of time -- creates intensity much different than the atmosphere at pickup games or practice and could contribute to increased injuries. … DR. MISHRA: The fact that teams line up against each other with uniforms, the game on the line and maybe with a trophy at stake,

whatever the sport, introduces a level of competitiveness and intensity that’s totally part of human nature. It’s not a bad thing. It’s generally a good thing. We all have our own kids engaged in those activities. But it does introduce something in terms of the physical demands that translate to injury. If you’re playing in a park and you don’t feel like playing, you go sit down and wait for the ice cream truck or something. So there’s self-regulation that takes place before an overuse injury happens. (Dev K. Mishra, the founder of SidelineSportsDoc.com, is an orthopedic surgeon in private practice, Burlingame, Calif. He is a member of the team physician pool with the U.S. Soccer Federation and has served as team physician at the University of California, Berkeley.) (Mike Woitalla, the executive editor of Soccer America, coaches youth soccer for East Bay United in Oakland, Calif. His youth soccer articles are archived at YouthSoccerFun.com.)

Picture of the month

At least I haven’t been on this field!