Fantastic article! In it you mention with regard to the importance of technical training,
"Our job is not to teach a 10 year old extended tactical vision for the game, but instead give him mastery of the tools that it takes to play the game. The creativity and vision for the game will only truly come once this process has ended and they can focus on the GAME as a whole."
When do you see this process of technical training actually coming to an end? I have parents who fervently believe that the bulk of the technical training should be wrapped up by the u13 level and we should be on game tactics after that point (with, of course, having begun tactical training to some degree at all of the prior years).
At what point do you believe, realistically, that you can begin to focus your practice on the game as a whole?
Thanks so much for this important and stimulating topic.
Here is great quote from the French top training academy.
“Over four years, between the age of 12 and 16, a French boy attending a soccer academy receives 2304 hours of training, twice as much as in England. But it’s not just more quantity, there’s quality too. “It was Gerard Houllier’s idea to introduce what is known as ‘preformation’ training,” says Andy Roxburgh. “The idea was that between the ages of 13 and 16 most of the coaching should concentrate on individual work and developing technique. Gerard believed that if a player got to the age of 16 and his technique wasn’t up to scratch there was no way of ever catching up.”
Tactical can be introduced at ANY age as long as it is done correctly.
However, what we teach varies greatly.
It is a complex subject to understand but as long as we understand that technical is the priority, we are on the right track.
