I've been reading a wonderful little book on coaching called Soccer IQ by Dan Blank, a coach for the women's squad at the University of Georgia. In each brief chapter of the book Coach Blank shares his observations on what constitutes the "soccer iq" that good players have in common. You might think this "iq" would include a lot of technical skills, things like having a good passing stroke or having mastered some particular deceptive dribbling skills, the sorts of things I work the most on with my players. But for Coach Blank those skills are the tools you have to have in order to make and execute tactical decisions in games and it's in that decision making that we find the soccer iq that separates great players from good ones. It's qualities like speed of thought, empathy and anticipation and developing a habit of observing the game closely even as you're playing.
For some time now anyone attending one of my teams' games would be able to hear me calling to my players to "use your eyes" as I encourage them to know what's going on around them. So I was tickled to get to chapter 10 of Soccer IQ, and find Coach Blank emphasizing just how important it is for players to really learn to use their eyes. Here are a few passages from the chapter which is entitled Three Questions:
"A soccer player's most important body part is her pair of eyes. Your eyes are your very best way of collecting information...Your eyes prepare you to make the decisions that enable you to play quickly and keep the ball for your team. And too many players don't utilize them very well.
In a ninety minute soccer game you will probably spend between two and three minutes on the ball. That means that 87 minutes, roughly 96% of your day, is spent off the ball. Smart players understand that when they don't have the ball, they've got to plan for those moments when the ball finds them.
A smart player is constantly asking herself, "What if?" and "What's next?"
What if the ball comes to me?
What's next when I get it?
What if we give the ball back to them? What's next?
What if they give the ball back to us? What's next?
And she is always asking, "What's behind me?"
Average soccer players make their decisions after they've already received the ball. That's not a good thing...Smart players make 90% of their decisions before the ball ever gets to them. Even if that decision is to face up a defender and take her on the dribble (1v1), the smart player already knows that's what she's going to do before the ball gets to her."
Share that with your player if you can. I think all of the players I coach are capable of understanding what this is about. If you're interested in hearing more of Coach Blank's ideas on Soccer IQ you can go to his website www.soccerpoet.com and he's also got a SoccerPoet channel on YouTube where he actually talks through and illustrates some of the book's chapters. Good stuff.
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