Youth Coaching

Attacking 90 Soccer Bookstore – Selected Titles Only

Question:  A90, are there any good books on soccer coaching?

Answer: Yes, but probably not the ones you have.

There are so many useless books on coaching soccer that you can’t blame coaches for throwing up their arms and inventing everything from scratch.  The good news is that there are some very useful books on coaching soccer.  The bad news is that they are as hard to find as a needle in a haystack.  Amazon.com has more than 1,500 books on soccer coaching.  Forget trying to evaluate them all, here are the ones that matter.

How do I know? Oh, brother, come look at the books littering my shelves, floor, and coaching bag. And litter is the right word.  Except for the ones listed below. The chance of a coach finding them through trial and error is not great, so I am happy to share what I learned.

Best Proven Books for Coaching Youth Soccer

At each level of coaching you need to address three components:

1. Development of skills and tactics
2. Individual and team psychology
3. Physical development

I found the most powerful coaching approach to be a combination of Dutch small sided training and Positive Coaching. It took me five years of coaching trial and error to arrive at this, and it made a miraculous difference once I adopted the approach.

Here are the key books I found amongst the many, many books available. Many of the books I read not listed here were a waste of my time. I also tried many online resources for drills, etc., but the material in these books was just superior in actual use. You don’t actually need 1,001 attacking drills.

One more thing: if you are new to soccer, as many US parents are when they begin coaching their young children, you have the additional job of learning the game. Most parents on the sidelines in the US misunderstand the rules badly, misunderstand who on the field has just made a mistake, and have no sense for the game. There are soccer rules written and unwritten, and the game almost has its own Tao. If soccer is new to you, watch professional matches, play the game if you can, and subscribe to this blog and other good sources. Think soccer.

Skills & tactical development
The “Coaching Under …” books are amazing focused resources and are my “must have” for any age group. Playing Better Soccer is More Fun, and Coaching Soccer: The Official Coaching Book are complementary to the Coaching Under books and useful over many seasons as the players age up. The approach this coaching philosophy takes is a little different than what most US soccer organizations currently suggest, although soccer organizations are slowly coming to adopt more of it. That difference is your competitive advantage, and not only will the coaching better develop your players, they’ll have more fun in the process.

• Coaching Under 8s: A Complete Coaching Course from Reedswain
  
• Coaching Under 10s: A Complete Coaching Course from Reedswain
  
• Coaching Under 12s: A Complete Coaching Course by Tino Stoop
  
• Playing Better Soccer is More Fun: A complete guide to the small-sided games coaching model by Larry Paul
  
• Coaching Soccer: The Official Coaching Book of the Dutch Soccer Association by Bert van Lingen

Individual & team psychology
Psychology changes quite a bit from age group to age group, but the positive coaching principles are sound and proven to bolster competitive success. Self esteem is key to success and enjoyment, yet sometimes the other teams and players are just stronger and better, so how is that going to work out? This approach will give your team the best chance at winning, and give them the context to enjoy competing, win or lose.

• Positive Coaching: Building Character and Self-Esteem Through Sports by Jim Thompson
• The Double-Goal Coach: Positive Coaching Tools for Honoring the Game and Developing Winners in Sports and Life by Jim Thompson

Physical development
At the youngest ages the keys are simply a warm-up, limbering up, lots of activity with appropriate rest and water, and a warm down. It is when the players progress into U12 and beyond that these two books become of immeasurable value. Warm Ups for Soccer: A Dynamic Approach is a superior way for players to limber up and prepare for play, very key to preventing youth injuries and the secret weapon of some adult weekend warriors still playing soccer. Training for Speed, Agility, and Quickness should be a key component of any high school program, a time when the youth have become young men and women and absorb training loads at an accelerated pace. Both books work well for developing youth all the way through an elite, perhaps even professional sports career.

• Warm Ups for Soccer: A Dynamic Approach by Mick Critchell
• Training for Speed, Agility, and Quickness: Special Book/DVD Package

These books and only these books are all available here at the Attacking 90 Soccer Bookstore for a nominal pittance.  If you don’t have your copies of these books, I recommend you take care of that right away.