The Futsal training sessions that I saw in Spain were completely different that what we do in the US.
The warmup starts with having the player run 6-10 laps around the Futsal pitch and then the loosening is all static. After the warmup/loosening the head coch will start showing drills on a white board and then they will all move to the pitch and do the drill on the pitch.
There are times that the palyers wont even get tim to scrimmage at the end of the sessions. The whole training session is about the drills and methods of transitioning from Defense to Offense or vice versa.
In US what we as coaches are being taught is that we divide the training session into warmup/loosening and after that we teach the players in small sided and extended sided and eventually finish with scrimmage.
I myself find the Spain method a lot more intuitive. It seems to me letting the players getting in the small sided activities will not teach them different methods of play. I think that drills will fix the technic of the players also. Repetition is the key in Futsal and creating self confidence for players by allowing them to be creative in their touches with the ball will eventually have a better result.
Futsal players must have good technic and a good touch. This will only be fine tuned with drills.
I must agree that drills will enable skilled players to take their play to the next level in a way that simply scrimmaging may not. It allows the coach to present challenges beyond what the opposition in a scrimmage may be able to come up with.
ReplyDeleteHowever, a problem with drilling younger players is their cognitive ability to translate the whiteboard into actions on the pitch may be quite limited. And it will probably vary a lot across players, with some getting it and many not. The ones not getting it are just unhappy and frustrated, and if a coach lets that continue, it will degrade their play. Meanwhile, the ones that do get it can't execute, because their drill-mates aren't able to do their parts.
I hate to let players practice things they aren't succeeding with - it builds habits of defeat.
So, are the Spaniards just drilling groups of similar, probably highly skilled already, players?
First of all, thank you Soorena for starting this Blog. What a great opportunity to discuss the sport we love!
ReplyDeleteRegarding the method of coaching in Spain vs in the US, I'm wondering how many hours the Spanish players are playing on their own and how many hours of coaching each team has per week. Unfortunately, here in the US, coaching sessions may be the only time during the course of a week that some of the players are playing futsal - perhaps even the only time they are exercising! Practices are not only where they learn from the coach but also the only chance they have to learn from the game. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing the players in Spain are playing hours per week on their own, making scrimmaging during a formal practice a waste of valuable time with the coaches. In contrast, in the US, in addition to learning from the coaches, players need to spend time in practices "getting touches" and developing the creativity and personal style of play that the Spanish players develop as children.
Mo' futsal = Mo' better
Delete;-)
So much for the English as a second language excuse! Good stuff, mate.
ReplyDeletePHS your point is well taken. The players in Spain had chosen to play this game professionally. The coaching started at 7 or 8 years old and a lot of the training was technique ( foot skills).
ReplyDeleteThat creates highly skilled players and therefore the practice sessions would be more into drills only.