Honest coach feedback

S

soccermail2020

SILVER
How do you get honest coach feedback on your players strengths/weaknesses if current coach isn’t providing this? The attempts dd have made with current coach have not resulted in anything we can use for her growth.
 
notintheface said:
Sign up for a few private lessons with another coach at the club.
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Good private coaches will often provide written reports about strengths and weaknesses. I know some of the good private coaches will come to a game or two a year to see the how the training is working during an actual game. Can be funny to see "rival" coaches on our sideline watching kids they train.
 
Player has approached coach, requested feedback and was told only that she isn’t fast enough. Playtime has dramatically decreased recently from starting and playing full games to not starting and playing max 30 mins per game. Is speed alone reason to lose a starting position? The alternative player has speed with less skill/ball control or soccer iq.
 
soccermail2020 said:
Player has approached coach, requested feedback and was told only that she isn’t fast enough. Playtime has dramatically decreased recently from starting and playing full games to not starting and playing max 30 mins per game. Is speed alone reason to lose a starting position? The alternative player has speed with less skill/ball control or soccer iq.
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Do they play a long ball running game (lots of through balls, punts, long goal kicks, long passing)? Then yes If so it may be your dd just isn’t a good match for the play style and the coach just needs people up front that can outrun their opponents. If that’s the style things like ball control and soccer iq aren’t necessary and you just need really fast kids up front and players with good strong legs in back. It’s a style sometimes played by weaker teams looking to secure a win the quick and easy way, and if the coach is English might also be influenced by the English longball style. Doesn’t say anything about your dds soccer skills just her fit for the particular play style

1. Get her evaluated by one of the better trainers that works with high level athletes. Keep in mind they’ll want to sell you lessons but at least can give you a frank opinion of strengths and weaknesses (the coach won’t do that if it’s a playing style issue because the coach won’t want to fess up to what he’s doing)
2. Your choices are make her into a runner, be satisfied with the playtimes she’s getting, or move perhaps even down 1 level depending on her age.
 
soccermail2020 said:
Player has approached coach, requested feedback and was told only that she isn’t fast enough. Playtime has dramatically decreased recently from starting and playing full games to not starting and playing max 30 mins per game. Is speed alone reason to lose a starting position? The alternative player has speed with less skill/ball control or soccer iq.
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You certainly can get less playing time and/or lose starting job for lack of speed. Certain positions (winger for example) requires more speed than others.

Have your player ask her coach what specific improvement she can make to get more playing time. By that I don't mean getting a non-specific answer like "she needs to be faster". Before puberty my kid was one of the smallest players on the team. Her coach's feedback was she needs to play everything a bit faster to compensate for her lack of strength.

We had a wonderful coach who played my kid full time at CB even though she was undersized. We also had an equally wonderful coach who thought my kid was too small to play CB. Each coach builds the team based on his/her own philosophy. Find one that values your kid's skill sets.
 
First, kudos for your kid asking the coach.

Obviously it's hard to tell what your situation is, but as others implied your coach only gave your kid a half answer. Not fast enough for what? Chase down through balls, mark a wing player, etc? Just telling a kid their not fast enough is discouraging because it really doesn't give them much room for improvement (although I'm one of the few that believe you can materially increase someone's speed through proper training and technique. Don't get me started on what poor running mechanics I see that are easily correctable but coaches ignore. Even getting a half-step quicker is a huge improvement.)

Keep in mind that coaches judge a player first on size and speed, i.e. objective measures. Most coaches wouldn't recognize soccer IQ if it hit them in the head. Speed of foot is only part of the equation, there is also speed of mind in decision making.

A trainer will be able to give your kid an honest assessment of their skills and will be able to evaluate foot speed. However, it will be very difficult for the trainer to evaluate your kid without see them playing in a game situation. The coaches "your not fast enough" response is likely just lazy, but if your kid does need to improve speed there are some good trainers out there that will do it. Find one that is a speed specialists first, but understands soccer. Soccer speed is not just physical, it also relies on technique and speed of mind.
 
soccermail2020 said:
Player has approached coach, requested feedback and was told only that she isn’t fast enough. Playtime has dramatically decreased recently from starting and playing full games to not starting and playing max 30 mins per game. Is speed alone reason to lose a starting position? The alternative player has speed with less skill/ball control or soccer iq.
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What age group? What position does she play?

Speed alone shouldn't be the reason to lose a spot... but consider the following things the coach may be looking at:
1. The other player has worked really hard to get faster.
2. Coach thinks he can't teach speed, but he can make the other kid better technically (Ive heard plenty of coaches over the years say "Give me an athlete, I'll teach her soccer." But then they just ride the speed/size of that athlete without much overall improvement)
3. Is your player willing to play another position? If she was playing on the wing, maybe she'd be better off more central.
4. "Not fast enough" - does this mean her "sprint speed" or her speed of play? Is she not able to outrun a backline or is she losing the ball because she isn't playing fast enough.
5. Puberty can be a real problem for girls. Some grow tall, some grow wide, some do both and it can happen very quickly. It can take some time to adjust to a new body.
 
soccermail2020 said:
Player has approached coach, requested feedback and was told only that she isn’t fast enough. Playtime has dramatically decreased recently from starting and playing full games to not starting and playing max 30 mins per game. Is speed alone reason to lose a starting position? The alternative player has speed with less skill/ball control or soccer iq.
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What age group / position is your player?

You can absolutely lose playing time if your player has lost a step, is currently in the middle of a growth spurt and trying to figure out his/her feet, or is making slower decisions on the field. Keep up their work on their first touch and their ball control. It is okay for your player to not be the fastest one out there as long as they are reliable in other areas. Pass completion, bravery, movement without the ball, being an option for the player with the ball, all of these are just as important.
 
This is the season to be looking for a new team.

It is 100x easier to find a coach who values the player's attributes.

I do believe that a player should work on speed as well as skill and IQ. But, I also believe that the player should get as much playing time as possible while working on those things. Otherwise, she will have to train 3x as hard to make up for missing development in-game. This is an almost impossible deficit to make-up.

This belongs in the things that drive me crazy thread, but how about coaches who start a player based on one quality, but never train that thing?
 
Grace T. said:
Do they play a long ball running game (lots of through balls, punts, long goal kicks, long passing)? Then yes If so it may be your dd just isn’t a good match for the play style and the coach just needs people up front that can outrun their opponents. If that’s the style things like ball control and soccer iq aren’t necessary and you just need really fast kids up front and players with good strong legs in back. It’s a style sometimes played by weaker teams looking to secure a win the quick and easy way, and if the coach is English might also be influenced by the English longball style. Doesn’t say anything about your dds soccer skills just her fit for the particular play style

Grace makes a point that many people miss. Parents often look for the "best team" or "best coach" but fail to realize that they need to find a team where their child can fit in and do well. A player who could be a "star" on one team might be a dud on another team playing a different style. You also need to see if there are players on a team that your child can "play with". For example, if the coach is looking for speed and plays a long-pass game to exploit the speed of the team's speedy forwards, that team needs to have a "distributor" who can play those passes into spaces for the speedy forwards. If your DD has skills but not enough speed, is it part of her skill-set to provide those defense-splitting passes? Does she have the game IQ to see the field and make these passes? If she has that skill and game IQ, she can reinvent herself on her team and be a center-back or center-mid who can play those passes. Talk to the coach. More importantly, this is an example of how speedy forwards on a team with no effective distributors can struggle, but how a slow but skilled distributor can "play with" a speedy forward and good finisher to make BOTH players AND the team better.

There are too many coaches in this country who blindly look for speed, size and aggression and ignore IQ and skills. Skills can be taught but game IQ is hard for most girls to acquire because most girls in this country do not watch enough soccer. Much of the needed game IQs are developed by watching soccer. So speed alone isn't enough, and there are not enough coaches who appreciate the importance that game IQ and certain skills can bring when complemented with size, speed and aggression. Don't forget that what makes Messi so special is not his size or speed, but his game IQ and skills.
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Grace makes a point that many people miss. Parents often look for the "best team" or "best coach" but fail to realize that they need to find a team where their child can fit in and do well. A player who could be a "star" on one team might be a dud on another team playing a different style. You also need to see if there are players on a team that your child can "play with". For example, if the coach is looking for speed and plays a long-pass game to exploit the speed of the team's speedy forwards, that team needs to have a "distributor" who can play those passes into spaces for the speedy forwards. If your DD has skills but not enough speed, is it part of her skill-set to provide those defense-splitting passes? Does she have the game IQ to see the field and make these passes? If she has that skill and game IQ, she can reinvent herself on her team and be a center-back or center-mid who can play those passes. Talk to the coach. More importantly, this is an example of how speedy forwards on a team with no effective distributors can struggle, but how a slow but skilled distributor can "play with" a speedy forward and good finisher to make BOTH players AND the team better.

There are too many coaches in this country who blindly look for speed, size and aggression and ignore IQ and skills. Skills can be taught but game IQ is hard for most girls to acquire because most girls in this country do not watch enough soccer. Much of the needed game IQs are developed by watching soccer. So speed alone isn't enough, and there are not enough coaches who appreciate the importance that game IQ and certain skills can bring when complemented with size, speed and aggression. Don't forget that what makes Messi so special is not his size or speed, but his game IQ and skills.
 
Xavi Hernandez's report card at Barcelona's youth academy when he was 14:
Speed: Average
Shot: Acceptable
Aggression: Average
Control: Excellent
Passes: Very good
Crosses: Good
Running with the ball: Very good
Dribbles: Good
Positioning: Excellent

He ended up a little better than average. :)

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