Skill Acquisition and Solo Deliberate Practice v Decision Making in Youth Soccer
Due to the lack of the USMNT presence in the 2018 World Cup, the US youth soccer world has been buzzing with solutions, ideas, theories and divergent approaches to youth soccer development.
The debate as to whether or not it is better to emphasize skill acquisition, i.e., foot skills, comfort with the ball, falling in love with the ball during the early development period or taking a more grass-roots approach that entails helping youth players of all abilities fall in love with the sport of soccer. The game does require a certain level of skill and game awareness to play at an enjoyable level. Yet once we get into our singular theories that do not quite acknowledge both skill and game awareness are required to be proficient and have fun with the sport, we will continue to see soccer in the US, from the recreational to professional levels, potentially repeat a failure of the USMNT to quality for the World Cup in 2022.
As a grass roots coach, I have seen players who practice skills by themselves, but when game day arrives they don’t have the confidence under pressure against fast, athletically superior players and thus, their skills are not effectively implemented in the game. That is why, we as coaches should be providing both the opportunity to practice skills and have them implemented into scrimmages, games and “street soccer” games at every practice.
Each soccer skill has a purpose and youth coaches can explain the purpose and role each skill has and why, how, and when the skill should be used during play. I, again, see players who when lofting a ball back and forth to their practice partner, can trap and control a ball. In games, the ball is trapped with less finesse and control and the action of a trap and possession still yields the correct result. The player goes onto dribble and pass to an open teammate and that teammate shoots and the other dribble/pass player runs to the correct position at the far post and taps it in for a goal because the ball came loose.. Now is the player who understands the game, where to be when, can they impact the game more than the player who has superior skill acquisition? I am not sure the answer is so obvious or if that is the right question at all..
Linking play is very important in youth soccer, building up from the back is very important in youth soccer, transitioning is very important in youth soccer. Skill moves such as well executed dribbling with a feint, drawing the defender in and dribbling past them to shoot or pass is very important in youth soccer. Knowing what to do off the ball is really important in youth soccer, i.e, being good at understanding where to be when, spacing, shape and runs-are all critical to the long-term success of a player.. Does this mean we take that information about a player and assume there is a less predictable evolution of a youth player going forward? Yes, it means acknowledging that is where the player is right now and we can’t always see the future. Interestingly, by the time the best pool of players are 17, the most effective talent identifiers in the world are still wrong 40% of the time. At least in the US, future soccer greatness may have as much or more to do with more measurable playing time -in less populated states. This theory suggests that, in smaller states, your talent and efforts may get you noticed more than in larger states like Texas or California. The 18.com lists Washington State with 3 players per 100,000 in population and is ranked number 1 (13/50 in population) in the US for producing professional soccer players on a per capita basis. A close second for producing the most professional soccer players (18/50 in population) is the state of Missouri with 2.5 players per 100,000 in population.
Rather than believing that a teaching philosophy works well for all players, we would be better off acknowledging that each player is different. Players who acquire early skill acquisition because it is easier for them to learn, rarely reach professional status. Why? Does deliberate practice at the earliest ages lead to burnout, higher injury rates and for some it is just plain boring and they leave soccer for another sport entirely? While there is no question that both skill acquisition and ball mastery hold critical importance in youth soccer development, one of the biggest criticisms about our current players in the MLS and US college players across the country is that other countries do a better job of teaching their youth players game awareness. We should also note that I have yet to meet a soccer-oriented child who doesn’t enjoy playing pick-up soccer and games the most. A quality answer to the skill v game awareness and decision making debate is this: coaches have to teach both and one does not take away from the other. After all the foot does not operate without the brain making the decision to do so. Soccer is exactly like that, skills and games require decision making and playing experience. Certain children will arrive at a physical coordination level later than others, thus skill acquisition and deliberate self-practice develops later too. Both approaches are correct, but not in isolation from one another.
Here it is: 2% of all youth players in the US get college scholarships in athletics and the majority are partial. Slightly less than 1/10% of 1% around the globe become professional or elite athletes. Of the 1/10 of 1% that are professional/ Olympic soccer players, 35% play with extraordinary skill and the rest are great athletes who developed into brilliant tacticians, says Albert Puig in Soccer Today. Puig is the former FC Barcelona Youth Technical Director and the current Asst. Coach of the NYC FC. (Can we all agree that the debate may not be worth having at all, as 100% of youth players should be playing as much pick-up soccer as possible?) PLAY is the most fun… think Michael Jordan, Lionel Messi, Pele…the greats were not watching skill videos and moving the ball in-between cones at the youngest ages. They were outside playing street ball and futsal, implementing their skills, instincts and talent into game-like situations as much as possible. In the long run, after playing a lot, identifying a soccer player’s naturally developed strengths over their weaknesses will determine the fate of each player more than any singular teaching philosophy. One thing is for certain, in the US, youth soccer players who don’t get enough playing time when they are young, will likely quit and play a different sport. It is a zero sum game. Two players are exposed to the same environment, coaching philosophy and practices. Why then does each player respond differently? There is much more to a child’s long term soccer outcome than a one-sided philosophical approach. That is- soccer friends- is an indisputable fact. Teaching tactics and skills to our youth players, in a very clear
age-appropriate and understandable way won’t hurt a thing.