Player Differences: The Elite Player vs. the Recreational Player Fred King State Development Coach Mass Youth Soccer

Technical Abilities First touch with all parts of their feet Active first touch under pressure Weight and accuracy of passing on the ground and in the air Shooting proficiency Proper defensive techniques

Tactical Abilities Understanding roles of 1 st and 2 nd attacker and defender Combination play Changing the point of the attack Attacking and defending shape

Physical Abilities Body control- refined motor skills Speed and strength doesn’t differ greatly Conditioning- increased amount of training sessions and matches

Psychological Abilities Why do they play soccer? Individual goals differ within the team at each level Role soccer plays in their lives differs greatly

What do we do as coaches? Challenge our players individually and as a group Understand which group we are working with- clear expectations Age/level appropriate development Detail in our coaching points

How do we improve all of our players Work on improving appropriate technical and tactical skills for each level and age Game like activities- coaching our players during these activities! Focused training sessions- progressive Teach the visual cues of the game