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97% of Time in Support Assessments - The Time When a Player Doesn't Have the Ball
In a 90 minute 11-a-side soccer game on a full size soccer field each player has the ball an average of 3.33% of the time. What each player does the 96.67% of the time when they don't have the ball determines how good they are. When they do not have the ball, the best players instantly move to:
Recurrent assessment games should be played for new teams and at least once a year for existing teams. These games reveal a player's personality, game understanding, decision making ability, skill level, physical condition and ability to play well as a team player. A quickest way to make players feel successful so that they enjoy the game, become excited about learning to play better and have fun playing is to spend the time to teach them in practices what to do during the time when they don't have the ball. This takes less time than learning to control the ball and produces faster results. New and less experienced players should spend a part of every practice (20 to 25 minutes) learning the basics of what to do when they don't have the ball including:
Assessment Games - Coaching Notes ONLY tell your players the basic game rules for each assessment game. DO NOT tell your players:
There is an instructional page with animations, instructions and a scoring form for each assessment game. Each game is played as many times as possible for 8 to 12 minutes in 2 or 3 early season practices. If possible, ask a volunteer to video tape the assessment games so you can view the videos after your assessment session for a more complete analysis of how each player plays and what each player and your team needs to work on to play well when they don't have the ball. Percent of Time Field Players Usually Don't Have The Ball When two opposing teams are evenly matched in soccer (and other full field invasion sports like basketball, lacrosse and field hockey) each team has possession of the ball for approximately a third of the time. The remaining third of the game the ball is in the air, on the ground, out of bounds, there is a game restart or there is a game stoppage. In soccer games with:
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