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Understanding Soccer

Developing Game Intelligence Starts with Understanding

Understanding in soccer and other invasion sports (basketball, handball, netball, field hockey, lacrosse, rugby, American football, ice hockey, bandy, etc.) can be introduced at a young age, even before a child starts kicking and/or dribbling a ball, by playing: 

• invasion board games like Checkers, Chess, Go, etc. where the player learns to invade their opponents territory, or
• outdoor invasion games like Capture the Flag, Commando, Crossover, etc. where players learn to invade their opponents territory, or
• online computer, tablet and cell phone games where players learn to invade their opponents territory.

When young players are challenged to learn how to invade an opponent's territory they are starting to understand the game concepts necessary to play invasion sports, including soccer, at a higher level.

Stop Helping Your Opponents Win
A Quick and Easy Way to Buy More Time to Learn

Learning is easier and faster when players feel they are successful. And the quickest, easiest and simplest way for a team to start to feel they are successful is to not do the little things that help their opponents in games.

When players learn, understand and stop doing the simple behaviors that help their opponents:

• there opponents become less successful,
• they become more successful, and
• games become more balanced giving the players more time and space to learn.

For immediate results observe your opponents behavior in games and then spend 10% of practice time, even during water breaks, to teach players an understanding of what not to do to help their opponents. Once players learn what not to do to help opponents the time can be used to teach other areas of understanding. See Helping Opponents Win

Supporting Teammates When You Don't Have The Ball
A Second Quick and Easy Way to Buy Time to Learn

In a soccer game players don't touch or have the ball most of the time and what they do when they don't have the ball determines how well they are playing.

Depending on the number of teammates on the field at the same time:

• each player in a soccer game only has the ball an average of 3.03% to 6.67% of the time, and
• what the player does the 96.97% to 93.33% of the time when they don't have the ball determines how well they and their team play.

In soccer and other invasion sports when a player does not have the ball they should:

• instantly move to be open for a pass from their teammate with the ball (usually averages about 1/3rd of the time in a game) For immediate results spend 10% of practice time to teach an understanding of how and where to instantly move to support there teammate with the ball. See Supporting a Teammate with the Ball,
• instantly move to apply pressure on the other team to win the ball back (usually averages about 1/3rd of the time in a game) For immediate results spend 10% of practice time to teach an understanding of where and how to instantly move to win the ball back from opponents. See Roles of 1st and 2nd Defenders.

When teammates always move to support each other when they do not have possession of the ball:

• they keep the ball away from opponents making it impossible for them to score during that time,
• apply great pressure on opponents making it harder for them to score, and
• dramatically improve the chances they will win air balls, lose balls and game restarts when the ball is in the air, rolling on the ground or the game must be restarted (usually averages about 1/3rd of the time in a game).

Game Understanding Modules

There are 7 Understanding Modules for Players. 


.Stop & Go Soccer Videos89200
.Tips & Tutorials83600
.Games That Teach Soccer16000
.Body Language in Soccer24300
.Fragments To Teach Creativity11900
.Reading Patterns in Play1380
.Helping Opponents Win37700