All Posts by Mike Saif

2 How to Best Handle Crosses

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity works on handling crosses and then quick distribution.

Start with a keeper in goal and a server out wide with some balls.  There will also be 3 gates.  One will be just outside the 18.  One will be around 30 yards out and the third will be close to midfield

The server plays a ball into the 18 for the

0 1v1 Drills To Improve Shooting Chances

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity works on 1 v 1 to get a shot hit.

Start with a keeper in goal, a defender on the top of the 18, an attacker on the top of the D and a server, with balls, just outside the D.

The server starts by playing the ball to the feet of

64 Win a Free Place at Our International Coaching Seminar

How would you like to attend our coaching seminar for FREE? Let me make this really simple.  We are going to give a FREE spot to attend our coaching seminar (or watch at home via the Livestream version).  How do you enter?  Simply make your case in the "Comments" box below and state your case

0 ACL Injury Overview (Research Review)

Today's post if from our Conditioning Expert, Scott Moody with Soccer FIT Academy. This post was interesting to me as a coach but also as a father of a high school aged soccer player. I'm all for anything that can help reduce the risk of injury while also improving performance.

In the past, we have put up several posts on ACL injury, rehab and risk reduction exercises, but I ran across a summary of research articles (Serpell, Scarvell, et al 3160-3176) compiled in the NSCA’s Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that I wanted to break down for you. The following is a brief breakdown

0 Working on Anaerobic Endurance and the Overlapping Run for a Full Back

By Jebreel Bubtana, BRASA, Brazilian Soccer Academy

This article works on the anaerobic endurance of the right or left back in an attacking situation. Overlapping is something that is extremely important for a right or left back to be able to do because their role is not only to defend, but also to attack when the opportunity arises. Figure 1 below shows the set-up of the exercise.

A 10x10 square is set up around 25 yards from the end line out on the right hand side of the field and. This is where the exercise will start

0 Two Goalkeeper Drill For Competitiveness

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

Welcome to the Goalkeeping Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity works on diving, reactions, and a bit of competitiveness.

Two keepers start 2 yards apart facing each other.  Each has a ball in their right hand

Each player drops their ball, at the same time, slightly in

0 The Art of Bringing the Ball Out of the Back

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible. Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter.  Today’s featured activity works on bringing the ball out of the back. Start with a keeper in goal, four backs and four midfielders (alter for the formation your team plays).  There is a server at midfield with balls and two opposing

1 What Exactly Does a "Good Drill" Mean?

• “I need a good drill”
• “Do you know a good practice to work on shooting?”
• “I saw a professional team training and was wondering if it would be good for my U14 team”

These are some of the most frequent things I see in emails from subscribers. While I appreciate them wanting help, it’s important for them to realize that it’s not about a good drill but rather it’s about the right drill (or exercise, activity or game) for their particular team.

The session that works for a college team will probably not work for a U9 team. A session that works for a U8 team will most likely not work for a U16 team.

This can be taken even further by saying the training session that works for one U14 boys team might not work for another U14 boys teams.

Training sessions should be designed based on the specific needs of the individual team and players. While one talented U16 team might need

0 Warm-Up for Shooting

One of the perks of being apart of WORLD CLASS COACHING is that I have access to a large library of training sessions from some of the top professional, collegiate, and youth coaches. We have published books and DVDs on every aspect and topic of coaching. I often refer to our DVD especially for new

0 Sole of the Foot Control

With the outdoor season coming to an end in the Midwest of the United States, I’m turning my attention Futsal training. For anyone not familiar with Futsal, it’s played with a ball that is one size smaller than the ball the players use outdoor (U9-U12 play with a size three ball while U13 and above

1 Maintaining Soccer Fitness Indoor

The indoor season provides a change of pace and focus that I think is good for player development but you don’t want to completely lose the base of fitness that was built during the outdoor season. The challenge is that you have a limited amount of space to work with when you’re training indoor. We

0 Unique Small-Sided Games

I continue to run one practice per week outdoor with my older teams during the winter months when weather permits. This means that we are often training when the it’s pretty cold. On very cold days I organize small-sided games to keep the players moving and loose. They get a lot more out of playing

0 Training a Team with Two Goalkeepers

This is the first time I’ve coached a team with two players that think of themselves as full-time goalkeepers. We came to an understanding before the season began as to how playing time would be divided. We also decided which events they would have a chance to play on the field when they were not

0 Training a Team with Two Goalkeepers

This is the first time I've coached a team with two players that think of themselves as full-time goalkeepers. We came to an understanding before the season began as to how playing time would be divided. We also decided which events they would have a chance to play on the field when they were not in goal. In other events they would play one half in goal and not play in the other half.

This has worked well in large part because everyone has known what to expect and there have been no surprises. I also think it has been very good for both goalkeepers because there is an element of competition that

2 A Dutch Style Warm-Up

By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.

A dynamic warm up is vital to a successful training session.    There are many different versions and mixed feelings regarding whether there needs to be a ball involved or not.  Many feel any time in training that doesn’t utilize a ball is wasted time.  I, and others, feel it’s more important to get a good warm up and to have the players truly ready (both physically and mentally) for when the ball is then added to the warm up.  You can find more of this type of warm up in our book, Dutch Drills For Total Team Training

In this activity, start with 4 cones in a line, 10 yards apart.  Another 2 cones are in a different line 10 yards apart and 10 yards to the side of this first line. 2 more cones are in a similar line 10 yards to the other side.

Two lines of players start by going to cone 1, then to cone 2, then to cone 3, then to cone 4, then to cone 5 and then to cone 6.  When they get

1 Working on Defenders Endurance in a Numbers Down Situation

By Jebreel Bubtana, BRASA, Brazilian Soccer Academy

This exercise starts with 3 attackers in a large triangle shape around 25 yards out from goal and 2 defenders that start either side of the goal (figure 1). The idea of this exercise is to get the defenders working as hard as possible, which is why they are in a numbers down situation. To keep this exercise at a high intensity, make sure that there are a number of balls ready for the defenders to pass into the attackers. This will speed up the exercise and keep the defenders working at maximum intensity. This also puts the attackers and defenders in a real situation that they are likely to face in a game. Award the defenders points for stopping the attackers from scoring a goal, this will provide them with an incentive to work hard, especially for the younger age groups.

The defenders start with the ball and pass the ball to one of the attackers. Make sure that the defenders