Do you have a question, concern, or criticism related to Thoughtful Soccer, the book, me, or this website? I hope you'll email it to me (russ@thoughtfulsoccer.com). I'll provide a personal reply. And if your question might be of general interest, I'll post it here as well.

"You've invented a lot of new terms, like hisa, thoughtscrim, and mighty moe. Was that really necessary?" Roy Porter, Vienna, Va.

Soccer people do tend to be touchy about my terms. It started with High Impact Skill Activity. I felt justified inventing this term, because the activities I was looking for were different from the usual drills. Once I started naming a few things in my book, it made sense to use other names when I felt my stuff was a bit different. In some cases, I didn't invent the thing in question but the soccer world hadn't given it a good name yet. The Coachable Moment teaching style, which I shortened to COMO, is an example. That's just easier than saying, "that style where you freeze the action and make a coaching point." And where I had invented a new activity, like Run the Gauntlet or Space Cowboy, I had no choice but to invent a new term.

"Why don't you accept the firmly established principles of the game, like width, penetration, balance, and concentration?" Roy Porter, Vienna, Va.

I believe all such principles are human constructs, not God-given realities. Such constructs must be evaluated by their usefulness. I've read one of Allen Wade's books, Principles of Team Play, and I think he's very insightful. But although I usually know what he's saying, he doesn't always define his terms clearly or at all. I prefer to use terms that are easily understood by new coaches. And sometimes, it's unclear what a coach is to do with the firmly established principles. Soon, I'll post my review of Wade's book and discuss further the philosophical aspects of soccer theory.

"Who is this Roy Porter fellow?" Sue Carrington, Alexandria, Va.

Okay, you got me. Roy is my good friend, ex-William and Mary classmate, and ex-member of the Noses intramural football team. Okay, he didn't really ask me these questions yet. But I had to get the ball rolling somehow, and he'll be asking me the questions soon.