Mike Smith Archives - Page 3 of 6 - WORLD CLASS COACHING Training Center

0 Roaming Keeper Drill

By Mike Smith - I see tons of keepers who are good on the line or even inside the keeper box, but then struggle coming out or reading balls which aren’t straight on target. I think this comfort on the line or right in front of goal is part of a keeper’s natural progression, but

0 How Many Players to Put In a Wall

By Mike Smith Question - Is there a chart for how many players to put in a wall based on where the free kick is and/or how far the free kick is from goal? I couldn’t have asked this better myself, and this is both a very common question and point of debate. The simple

0 Recognize Positive and Negative Space

By Mike Smith In my neck of the woods, soccer is still growing. Our state high school athletic association just 5 years ago re aligned the soccer districts and regions to match the basketball districts and regions. This was to help maintain traditional rivalries as the number of schools with soccer programs had almost caught up

0 Practice Communication

By Mike Smith - I say it all the time, hear it said all the time and even study it quite a bit- yet few of us actually practice it – communication. While good communication is a foundation of success on the field at every level and position, for me it all starts with the

0 The 3-2-3-2 Formation

By Mike Smith Question - I was recently asked about the pros and cons of the 3-2-3-2 formation, as well as some ways to play it by a coach who was just looking for ideas. I myself have often played with what is essentially two lines of 5 and am glad to offer my insight

0 Drop Wings in for Double Overlap

By Mike Smith One of the best developmental tactics I use to create vision in players, especially goal scorers and ball handlers, is dropping my wing mid back and in to create a double overlap with the outside back. The purpose is two fold: One, if you do not feel your team is able to expose

0 Start Backwards to Get Quicker

By Mike Smith - If you have a keeper who is progressing well, and is making a ton of saves in shooting drills and warm ups, don’t be satisfied without pushing them a bit more. One of the easiest things to do to “push them” is to put them on the line backwards, facing away

0 High School Tryouts

By Mike Smith Question - Do you have ideas and thoughts on how to best run high school tryouts? Try outs in any sport at any level can be one of the most important and stressful events for players AND coaches. Because of this fact, having a good plan is a must. I am entering

0 Roll Throw or Kick

By Mike Smith - It is a great day in the progression of a team when a coach isn’t lured into having the keeper simply kick the ball as far down the field as possible anytime they come away with it clean. Actually, there should never be a situation where a coach doesn’t allow a

0 Attack the Second Ball on Long Services

By Mike Smith I had the opportunity this week to watch the Nashville SC of the USL take on ( and defeat ) the Colorado Rapids of MLS in the Lamar Hunt Open Cup. While on paper Nashville may have been overmatched, the way the game was played told a different story. Nashville played brilliantly with

0 Bend Your Crosses the Right Way

By Mike Smith “Make your opponent move in a way which helps you and hurts them.” Maybe an overly simplistic statement, but the logic is there. Too many times I see teams build a text book attack, have the ball out wide, numbers crashing the box and then the service comes in behind the front 2

0 Good Weight Shift to Dive or Drop

By Mike Smith - My first real coaching “job” was as a girls junior varsity head coach / varsity assistant. The varsity coach who hired me quickly became a mentor and good friend, but I soon found out the “ varsity assistant” title meant after practice shooting dummy for the former Man U Developmental Player

0 Halftime Adjustments

By Mike Smith Question - My team was up 3-1 at halftime and playing well. In the second half we conceded two early goals. The team then completely lost their shape, left players unmarked and were totally disorganized at the back. In this situation, would you consider changing to a different formation to try and

0 Use Your Keepers Feet

By Mike Smith Seven years ago, I coached a game against a coach with whom I have since become very good friends. We actually run a spring developmental league together and we both coach at smaller private schools who play in the states small school tournament, called the “ All A”. One of the things he

0 Timing Your Jump

By Mike Smith - "If you can touch the bar you can stop the high shots." I say it, my old coaches all said it, I'm sure their coaches all said it and there are perhaps few truer words ever spoken about goal keeping. However, theory and practice are often two different worlds and I

0 Overlap Defenders in Attack

By Mike Smith This weekend I had the great pleasure of coaching a team of 5th graders, most of whom were playing their fifth and sixth soccer games ever. They are working hard and want to improve and are very disciplined in their efforts. So disciplined in fact I had several players open with the ball

0 The Importance of Winning the Cross

By Mike Smith - Many players and coaches think the idea of winning a ball only means coming away clean with it, and in most respects I would agree. For keepers however, the idea of winning the ball is different and this difference is especially important when facing crosses. Denying shots is a win for

0 Long Passes to Beat High Pressure

By Mike Smith Have you ever noticed how most collegiate and professional squads back off on each other when an attack stalls and the opposing team decides to play out from the back? Compare this to youth soccer and it seems there is constant pressure at every position. I know there is a focus in youth

0 Get Off the Line

By Mike Smith - Over the course of my 24 years of coaching in general and 16 years of coaching high school, one of the constants I have faced is the need to “make” a keeper. Most coaches have moved around a bit as far as teams and age groups coached, but in all my

0 Get Better on PKs

By Mike Smith - There is no higher pressure situation for a keeper to face than that of a PK. Some could argue a 1 v 1 breakaway where the attacker is coming in at speed is more challenging but I would argue since the keeper is not limited as far as movement during run

0 Designate Your Ball Chasers

By Mike Smith I was a ball chaser. I was cut from my middle school soccer team 3 times – even though I was the fastest player on the team ( well, at tryouts anyway). This was back in the 80’s near Washington D.C., which actually had some well developed soccer programs for back then. Even

1 Forward Runs to Unbalance the Defenders

By Mike Smith “But no one is there Coach!” I have had countless players shout this to me as I encouraged them to flag the ball. The players are focused on their team mates and “ playing to feet”, etc… and don’t always understand how their choices in ball movement not only impact their team mates,

0 How to Use the Midfield to Dominate

By Mike Smith “Real” soccer for me develops through the midfield. What I mean by “real” are the aspects which make the game beautiful and allow teams to impose their will consistently on their opponent. Now, it is possible to pack the defensive third with 8 or 9 guys and call a few of them midfielders,

0 How to Finish Scoring Chances

By Mike Smith Question - I coach an U13 team in Mauritius. We are actually doing our pre season and have played two friendly games. We got beaten on both games 1-3. We created a lot of opportunities but we are not converting them. I spent some time working on playing from the back, possession with

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