In sports, we only have to work backwards from what’s measured at the highest levels to see that ‘practice’ is just one component in an equation that also includes technical, tactical, physical, and psychological inputs, or TTPP for short.

Last week, you put seven kids on the field, and three of them were your most experienced players, but the other team’s demoralizing attack overwhelmed your defense and scored at will. Chances are, the other team was coached to cross the ball to score, and they were coached on how to defeat the cross on the defensive end of the field.

Field strategies are most effective when the coach spends fifteen minutes at a full-field practice outlining (with cones) and placing every player in a rectangle that covers each overlapping position. Showing kids their entire area (their rectangle) of responsibility prior to a game helps you to set an expectation for attacking and defending (by position) during a game.

When you coach/teach ‘coverage areas’, you will be giving your players a far better spatial sense of individual responsibility, including stamina requirements, across every position.

I coached ~ten seasons of youth soccer. I created the flashcards below for nine-year-olds. However, I have found that most of the cards can be used with older kids.

We are a soccer family. I coach and all of our children play or played soccer. Our daughter captained her varsity team. Our twin boys play varsity, and they are also seasoned referees. Our youngest son plays for a local club team. And together, we have spent thousands of hours on and around soccer fields across the country.