Thoughtful Soccer - The Whole Package

The Book
Book Basics
Table of Contents
Sample Chapter
Book Review

The Practice
Practice Format
Feature Skill Games
Feature Scrimmage

The Clinics
Coaching Clinics
Coach's Pal Series
Team Clinics
Player Training

The Controversies
One Size Fits All?
The Triangle Three
Bunch Ball Cure

Meet Russ
About Russ
Russ' Resume
Future Projects

Find the Book
Links
Contact Russ

Practice Format

The basic Thoughtful Soccer practice consists of a skill-building half and a scrimmaging half. Each half is broken into several chunks of time.

During the skill-building half, players compete at High Impact Skill Activities or HISAs (see Feature Skill Games). During the scrimmaging half, players break into small-sided teams and compete at Thoughtful Scrimmages or Thoughtscrims (see Feature Scrimmage).

Here's a typical Saturday morning practice:

		Skill-Building Half
Arrival-10:10		Soccer Volley (for controlling balls in the air)
10:10-10:15		Headmaster (for heading)
10:15-10:25		Air Control (for chipping)
10:25-10:45		Three different shooting competitions
10:45-11:00		Run the Gauntlet, Ride the Bronco (dribbling)
		Scrimmaging Half
11:05-11:15		One-Time Scrimmage
11:15-11:25		Three-and-a-Drop Scrimmage
11:25-11:35		Reset Scrimmage
11:35-11:45		Side-to-Side Scrimmage
11:45-End		Free Scrimmage

A great deal is packed into one practice. And the real beauty of the format is its long-term impact. While other teams are addressing each area sporadically, your team addresses each area every time. Not surprisingly, your team becomes the best team.

For a complete explanation of the Two-Part Practice as well as the Three-Part Practice (the third part is for additional themes), see Thoughtful Soccer: the Think-First Approach to Playing and Coaching. See where to find the book!