Tag Archives for " Stockmann "

Throwin’ & Rollin’

By Jason Stockmann -

As most US-based coaches should be aware of by now, the USYS has released some major changes that will be mandated as of the Fall 2017 season*. These changes are US-based, but it’s important for soccer in general because it is meant to further align the US with how the rest of the world plays the beautiful game. And whether you agree with them or not…the changes will happen.

One subtle but key change is the idea of build-out lines for the U9/U10 (7v7) age group (there are no keepers below U9 with these changes). This line is set a bit outside of the penalty box and restricts the opposing team from crossing it until the keeper has put the ball into play, by passing or throwing the ball to their team. Because of this idea, punting will not be allowed at this level.

This can be a major – and possibly painful – change for youth US teams…but the benefits a team can gain both at the youth level and far beyond could be great. Too often youth goalies get the ball and immediately punt the ball. And why do they rely on punting? Because if the ball is closer to the goal, it must be easier to

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Can You Clear Me Now?

By Jason Stockmann -

An important skill for any keeper is the ability to take a pass from a defender and then clear the ball. This typically comes in the form of a back-pass or trail-pass from a defender in trouble and the keeper blasting the ball as far as they can in whatever direction they’re facing at the time. This is a good play and any keeper should be able to do it.

But a hallmark of a good or experienced keeper goes a step beyond the haphazard clear. As any pro keeper shows, even in trouble, this clearance should be more than just a kick – it needs to be at worst a good pass and at best the start to a tactical play. When Buffon, De Gea or Ter Stegen gets a pass from a defender, they don’t send it into the stands (usually) – they already know exactly where to place the

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The V-Wing

By Jason Stockmann -

I’ve mentioned before that I like to design goalie drills that also use field players or a field drill that actively incorporates a goalie. These type of drills work well for any number of players, can be ideal when maybe only 1 or 2 coaches are present and add to team cohesion by increasing the trust between field players and the goalies.

Today we use this field player-goalie formula to train angles. Specifically, we will be concerned with helping our keepers learn to identify where to place themselves when a player is both coming into and shooting from the penalty box. We want to look at things like getting the right distance between the ball, the goal and any other players that may be open as well as when and how much to commit to going after the ball.

The drill I offer up today is one I call “The V-Wing” and it offers the

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Shoot 'n Save

By Jason Stockmann -

Getting players to help each other train while at a practice is an invaluable tool for multiple reasons. First and foremost, from a coaching perspective, it can relieve some of the time-crunch pressures we face by letting some players do their own thing while we focus on other aspects; it also lets us impart a sense of responsibility for personal development on the players themselves. From their perspective, this responsibility looks like a bit of freedom and control over their own soccer destiny…and it is a fun and subtle method to increase team cohesion.

I’m a firm believer that this player-to-player training is especially helpful when it is done with goalkeepers. Whether at a practice or during pre-game warmups, two goalies working with each other not only potentially frees up coaching resources, but

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Stay on Target

By Jason Stockmann -

Too often it seems that when coaching younger ages and planning practices we forget a major element of the game – goalies. Sure, we send them to goalie-specific training when offered and we have good intentions by not pigeon-holing a kid as only a goalie at that young of an age, but we all still have those couple of kids that tend to be our main goalies. We train the team in defense, offense, set pieces, etc. – so why do we not work more with the keepers as well?

In all honesty, this is most likely due to lack of time, skill and/or extra help at practices. But I refuse to take that as the answer and just let the goalies flounder on their own – they need help from us and they need to work with their teams. Working with the team on drills helps out in two solid ways by letting the keepers show off their own skills (building confidence) and lets the field players see that they can trust their keepers. This keeper-field player trust is a huge aspect of the

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