SimpleCoach D3 Soccer YouTube Channel

[NEPAFAN]

There is a kid from Jersey City, St. Peters Prep, did not see him last season,should be a junior this year?

Arcos, was a beast his Freshman year.

[camosfan]

Yeah! Christian, that kid was sooo good pre high school, but I think when he decided to play high school, the  development academy was not too pleased, reduced his time after the high school season and his game suffered.

[SimpleCoach]

Had two great talks today... first one up..

Matt Pivirotto, Head Men's Coach, University of Scranton

And as a bonus ... NEPAFAN gets a shout out....

[SimpleCoach]

A little delayed on my second conversation from Friday, but definitely well worth the wait.  It goes Hollywood at 10:00 am on 10 April.

Brad McCarty, Head Coach at Messiah University..

Hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.

[NEPAFAN]

Had two great talks today... first one up..

Matt Pivirotto, Head Men's Coach, University of Scranton

And as a bonus ... NEPAFAN gets a shout out....

Thank you, excellent viewing and listening. and some candid talk about their seasons last year. NEPA/ North East Pennyslvania.

+1

[SimpleCoach]

Finally got another player to speak with.  Eric Gwadz of Washington College, joined me for a conversation.

The Player's Locker with Eric Gwadz of Washington College

[SimpleCoach]

Had a cool conversation with the Cortland State Red Dragons coach, Steve Axtell.  Interesting perspectives on the game and on ... goalkeeping.

Steve Axtell, Cortland State Head Coach

[Kuiper]

Had a cool conversation with the Cortland State Red Dragons coach, Steve Axtell.  Interesting perspectives on the game and on ... goalkeeping.

Steve Axtell, Cortland State Head Coach

Really enjoyed the conversation, especially on goalkeeping and the lost art of catching the ball.  Currently, you generally have to find an old, grizzled, GK coach to get someone who will drill catching into a GK and you have to do it at a young enough age that the kid will develop the habit of catching before the coaches start demanding they push it to minimize the risk of a ball slipping through their hands for a goal.  Many of the new GK coaches come from Europe where they are taught to parry the ball in almost any circumstance. 

I also enjoyed the part about  the effect of playing out of the back in the youth game.  I would point out, though, that one innovation that has started to become standard at least at the highest levels of youth soccer (definitely in MLS Next, possibly in others) for goalkeepers is that they are being instructed to beat the press with an over-the-top, but lower than a clearance, ping to one of their teammates.  Usually it's to one of the wingbacks upfield on the side, but it can also be in the center in front of the center backs and behind the pressing midfielders because that's another position often open in the high press.  It's consistent with the possession-based system as long as you have field players who can tightly control and turn with a ball played in the air to their feet or quickly control a ball played slightly ahead of them.  The simple kick of the ball past midfield just to relieve pressure, which is another tool that players still employ against the high press, even if not as much straight from the goal kick, is more of a straight giveaway most of the time unless your team also plays a high press and then the game just becomes a battle to see which defense can be pressed into the most mistakes.  The problem with the ping is if you don't have kids who can cleanly trap a ball and turn out of pressure, which may be many teams in D3, especially against an aggressively pressing opponent.

In any event, it would be great if you did a whole show just on goalkeeping or at least cut this part of the interview for one of your quick take segments.

[SimpleCoach]

Had a cool conversation with the Cortland State Red Dragons coach, Steve Axtell.  Interesting perspectives on the game and on ... goalkeeping.

Steve Axtell, Cortland State Head Coach

Really enjoyed the conversation, especially on goalkeeping and the lost art of catching the ball.  Currently, you generally have to find an old, grizzled, GK coach to get someone who will drill catching into a GK and you have to do it at a young enough age that the kid will develop the habit of catching before the coaches start demanding they push it to minimize the risk of a ball slipping through their hands for a goal.  Many of the new GK coaches come from Europe where they are taught to parry the ball in almost any circumstance. 

I also enjoyed the part about  the effect of playing out of the back in the youth game.  I would point out, though, that one innovation that has started to become standard at least at the highest levels of youth soccer (definitely in MLS Next, possibly in others) for goalkeepers is that they are being instructed to beat the press with an over-the-top, but lower than a clearance, ping to one of their teammates.  Usually it's to one of the wingbacks upfield on the side, but it can also be in the center in front of the center backs and behind the pressing midfielders because that's another position often open in the high press.  It's consistent with the possession-based system as long as you have field players who can tightly control and turn with a ball played in the air to their feet or quickly control a ball played slightly ahead of them.  The simple kick of the ball past midfield just to relieve pressure, which is another tool that players still employ against the high press, even if not as much straight from the goal kick, is more of a straight giveaway most of the time unless your team also plays a high press and then the game just becomes a battle to see which defense can be pressed into the most mistakes.  The problem with the ping is if you don't have kids who can cleanly trap a ball and turn out of pressure, which may be many teams in D3, especially against an aggressively pressing opponent.

In any event, it would be great if you did a whole show just on goalkeeping or at least cut this part of the interview for one of your quick take segments.

I mentioned would love to have a Keeper discussion with him, but in the meantime, consider the quick shot done!

SC.

[stlawus]

Another really great interview.  Particularly impressed with Axtell's heavy focus on things that don't have to do with actual soccer.     

It's easy to see why Cortland has been so successful.   SLU has scheduled them every year going back since when he took over, and every single game sans one or two have been absolute high quality battles.  Cortland has always been one of the better technical teams I've seen in person, especially from a first touch standpoint. 

SC continues to knock it out of the part!

[Hopkins92]

Yeah, I've been rather astounded to watch the "evolution" of goalkeeping over the last decade or so. Beyond my coaching years, I was doing some freelance one-off sessions and it was bizarre how many kids in junior high and above that hadn't been taught the "W" and "M" techniques for catching. A lot of slapping and weak parrying and, man, it really bugged me.

I like the evolution or modification on breakaways (staying upright longer, not just diving at the ball no matter what), but the move away from controlling very controllable shots is just weird. I don't get it and I don't like it.

/getoffmylawn

[Kuiper]

Yeah, I've been rather astounded to watch the "evolution" of goalkeeping over the last decade or so. Beyond my coaching years, I was doing some freelance one-off sessions and it was bizarre how many kids in junior high and above that hadn't been taught the "W" and "M" techniques for catching. A lot of slapping and weak parrying and, man, it really bugged me.

I like the evolution or modification on breakaways (staying upright longer, not just diving at the ball no matter what), but the move away from controlling very controllable shots is just weird. I don't get it and I don't like it.

/getoffmylawn

My theory is that it's a combination of things. 

1.  It's a bit of a side effect of the win over development pressure that coaches are under in the modern youth game.  If you ask young GKs to catch, you're going to have to endure some mistakes where the ball goes through their hands or bounces back in front of the goal and the striker pounds it home.  So, if the coaches have a GK coach in their club, they ask them to help "fix" the problem, which usually means showing them how to push or parry it out to the side.  Young GKs aren't that great at that either, but at least they have a better chance of getting it out of immediate danger, which means the coach and the sideline are happier.

2.  The development of finger saves in GK gloves.  That's a relatively new phenomenon and they probably do help save the fingers from getting bent back, but it means the young keepers never develop the muscle and grip strength that comes from having to actually learn how to catch and brace their core and the lower half of their bodies for a catch.  The finger saves mean that the gloves do some of the work for the easy balls in GK training, but with real shots where you need to do more, the kids just can't grip down on the ball and they never develop the muscles to do that as they get older.

3.  US GK coaches who grew up in the 1980s and 90s are aging out and being replaced by European GK coaches or GKs trained by Euro coaches.  In Europe, they do not teach goalkeepers to catch nearly as much as US GKs were taught growing up until recently.  The theory is that the ball is lighter and moves more and therefore setting up to catch can increase the possibility for mistakes whereas being ready to push or parry allows you to adapt to changes in the ball's flight.  I'm not sure that's really true for all but a small fraction of shots (and certainly an even smaller fraction at the youth level), but it's still a heck of a lot easier to learn to catch first, and then learn when you may need to do something different, then not be taught to catch and try to learn it later.

4.  The move to play out of the back means that young GKs, who have a finite amount of time to practice, are practicing the basics less.  It's great that they are learning to play out of the back with their feet, but when a GK could handle every pass back with their hands, the feet were less critical and they could practice catching all day long. 

5.  Youtube and social media are glorifying GK training styles that emphasize all sorts of crazy things that involve leaping and diving over things.  Kids gravitate to goal because they love those things.  Moving your feet to get your body behind a nice solid catch, by contrast, is boring, so GK trainers are doing what appeals to their customers.  Some coaches are also impressed by the top corner saves and they don't understand concepts of catching everything in their bubble etc, so they pick and promote the non-catching GKs, which incentivizes kids to work on those things rather than catching.

[SimpleCoach]

Yeah, I've been rather astounded to watch the "evolution" of goalkeeping over the last decade or so. Beyond my coaching years, I was doing some freelance one-off sessions and it was bizarre how many kids in junior high and above that hadn't been taught the "W" and "M" techniques for catching. A lot of slapping and weak parrying and, man, it really bugged me.

I like the evolution or modification on breakaways (staying upright longer, not just diving at the ball no matter what), but the move away from controlling very controllable shots is just weird. I don't get it and I don't like it.

/getoffmylawn

My theory is that it's a combination of things. 

1.  It's a bit of a side effect of the win over development pressure that coaches are under in the modern youth game.  If you ask young GKs to catch, you're going to have to endure some mistakes where the ball goes through their hands or bounces back in front of the goal and the striker pounds it home.  So, if the coaches have a GK coach in their club, they ask them to help "fix" the problem, which usually means showing them how to push or parry it out to the side.  Young GKs aren't that great at that either, but at least they have a better chance of getting it out of immediate danger, which means the coach and the sideline are happier.

2.  The development of finger saves in GK gloves.  That's a relatively new phenomenon and they probably do help save the fingers from getting bent back, but it means the young keepers never develop the muscle and grip strength that comes from having to actually learn how to catch and brace their core and the lower half of their bodies for a catch.  The finger saves mean that the gloves do some of the work for the easy balls in GK training, but with real shots where you need to do more, the kids just can't grip down on the ball and they never develop the muscles to do that as they get older.

3.  US GK coaches who grew up in the 1980s and 90s are aging out and being replaced by European GK coaches or GKs trained by Euro coaches.  In Europe, they do not teach goalkeepers to catch nearly as much as US GKs were taught growing up until recently.  The theory is that the ball is lighter and moves more and therefore setting up to catch can increase the possibility for mistakes whereas being ready to push or parry allows you to adapt to changes in the ball's flight.  I'm not sure that's really true for all but a small fraction of shots (and certainly an even smaller fraction at the youth level), but it's still a heck of a lot easier to learn to catch first, and then learn when you may need to do something different, then not be taught to catch and try to learn it later.

4.  The move to play out of the back means that young GKs, who have a finite amount of time to practice, are practicing the basics less.  It's great that they are learning to play out of the back with their feet, but when a GK could handle every pass back with their hands, the feet were less critical and they could practice catching all day long. 

5.  Youtube and social media are glorifying GK training styles that emphasize all sorts of crazy things that involve leaping and diving over things.  Kids gravitate to goal because they love those things.  Moving your feet to get your body behind a nice solid catch, by contrast, is boring, so GK trainers are doing what appeals to their customers.  Some coaches are also impressed by the top corner saves and they don't understand concepts of catching everything in their bubble etc, so they pick and promote the non-catching GKs, which incentivizes kids to work on those things rather than catching.

Money, @Kuiper.

[VAFury]

SC, some questions/discussions I would love to see with some coaches (Both men's and women's).   Of course, they have to do with recruiting. Because after going through the whole process for close to two years, I'd really love to know what goes on on their end.  You got some good insight from one of your women's coach interviews (Hoover, I think?) regarding the emailing being critical.   Some things that I have been curious about or would love to hear about:

1) Recruiting websites:  Do you use them and what are their value in the process?   How much attention do you pay to them and what percentage of your contact comes through them?

2)  Would love to hear stories about "The one that got away" or just about players that maybe they thought they had and lost, or a player that wasn't on their radar that came into their view late that ended up being a great contributor.

3)  Tournaments:  How many do you go to and with time constraints, if you only can watch a player for 15-30 minutes, what are you looking for and do you feel you can accurately judge them base on such a small sample size?  Or are you more or less there for "facetime" and introductions? 

4)  High School: Do you even really care if they play it, or are there any scenarios that you have/would go watch a high school  game?

5)  What percentage of players on your squad did you find and recruit to come to your school (And how do you typically find them?), as opposed to players that reached out and were interested in your program and sold YOU that they were a good fit?

6)  To what degree are ID camps a "money grab" as opposed to a talent search?  I know a lot of schools use camps on their campus as their primary recruiting tool.  What about ID camps where multiple schools and coaches attend? Are these worthwhile?

Of course these could use some refining, but you are an expert interviewer now, right?   

[Shamrock]

SC, some questions/discussions I would love to see with some coaches (Both men's and women's).   Of course, they have to do with recruiting. Because after going through the whole process for close to two years, I'd really love to know what goes on on their end.  You got some good insight from one of your women's coach interviews (Hoover, I think?) regarding the emailing being critical.   Some things that I have been curious about or would love to hear about:

1) Recruiting websites:  Do you use them and what are their value in the process?   How much attention do you pay to them and what percentage of your contact comes through them?

2)  Would love to hear stories about "The one that got away" or just about players that maybe they thought they had and lost, or a player that wasn't on their radar that came into their view late that ended up being a great contributor.

3)  Tournaments:  How many do you go to and with time constraints, if you only can watch a player for 15-30 minutes, what are you looking for and do you feel you can accurately judge them base on such a small sample size?  Or are you more or less there for "facetime" and introductions? 

4)  High School: Do you even really care if they play it, or are there any scenarios that you have/would go watch a high school  game?

5)  What percentage of players on your squad did you find and recruit to come to your school (And how do you typically find them?), as opposed to players that reached out and were interested in your program and sold YOU that they were a good fit?

6)  To what degree are ID camps a "money grab" as opposed to a talent search?  I know a lot of schools use camps on their campus as their primary recruiting tool.  What about ID camps where multiple schools and coaches attend? Are these worthwhile?

Of course these could use some refining, but you are an expert interviewer now, right? 

Great Questions!  All Of This!!!