The first lesson would consist of me getting to know the student, not just as a soccer player but as a person. Learn where they are at with soccer. Get an understanding for their game knowledge and positional knowledge, what theyβre comfortable and confident in, and what areas of their game they want to improve in. For students more on the beginner side, the first session would consist mainly of basic footwork, technique, handling, and distribution. Iβll analyze where i feel the players skill level is at, and progress to more advanced training over time.
For remaining sessions, it will really depend on how often the player can meet with me for coaching. At a certain point, and depending on how the player progresses through training and coaching, it will be about maintenance and mastery work, but there will always be areas to improve to become more technically sound in what we do. The more frequently throughout the week a player is being coached, the structure of each training can cover more throughout the week and put a less intense workload on the players body. The less frequently the player can be coached, the less that can be covered. Goalkeeping is about consistency and staying sharp, as itβs extremely easy to get out of form and be rusty with technique. Itβs almost like we need to retrain our minds every training session, so I take good warmups very seriously, getting movement, technique, and coordination down before moving into anything intense. The more frequent a player is able to train, the less time they have to spend each session to retrain their brain and their body, leading to better results.
After starting to get an understanding for the importance of technical abilities and technique in general, we would move into continuously getting better with handling, footwork, distribution, technique, etc. while adding realistic, in-game movements and scenarios. These additions would consist of scenarios such as 1vs1 scenarios, set pieces, and when the ball is moving a lot across the goal. Having good skill set is very important as a foundation, but knowing what to do and how to execute in real-game situations is ultimately what matters. Most games we need to be able to react to whatβs happening, and we wonβt be in situations where the ball, opponent, and we are positioned comfortably to make routine decisions or saves. By training real game-like situations, confidence and knowledge is gained and can easily translate to games.
After getting an understanding for the students game and positional knowledge and skill sets, the following sessions would consist of getting an understanding for the importance of the small, technical details that arenβt coached enough outside of professional clubs and academies. These small techniques are often an anchor thatβs needed to eventually be subconscious and natural to be able to reach a high skill level, as in games when it matters, thereβs not much time to try to think about what is being done. These subtle skills and techniques that often go unnoticed in games are what builds the player to be able to preform well in games.