Customer Reviews

Great Soccer Drills : The Baffled Parent's Guide

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a great follow-on to the original "Baffled Parent" beginner book from Bobby Clark, this one is much more than just practice games. It contains the type of wisdom you will hear in the USSF "D" and NCSAA Regional Diploma courses, so that the novice coach has more to go on than simply doing some game because it's in the book. It should help him/her to structure practices that make the players think, keep them active, and work towards a theme. It goes beyond telling them not to do the three "L"s (laps, lines, lectures) and gives them some tools so they know what they should do instead. I'm buying 150 of them for the coaches in our rec program. Also recommend the McAvoy and Luxbacher books.

This book has great drills involving the entire team so the kids don't have to stand in line waiting for their turn, getting antsy and goofing off. I'm coaching U12 boys and while I thought the first section of drills was a bit basic the rest were awesome. And looking back, the basic drills are good for warm-ups and fun, short little exercises. There's an index in the back that shows you which drills help with which skills. I highly recommend this book. I'm looking forward to putting the drills in action.

If you've never played soccer but want to coach your son or daughter's team - buy this book. About the only place it comes up short is in teaching the really little ones (Kindergarten / 1st Grade...but it still helps) but all in all it's been an invaluable tool for me. I've used it for 5 years now and have lent it to several people. A very good buy.

Don't let the title fool you. This is a great book for coaches who want to have fun at their practices and games that teach skills. Use the games at the beginning of practice and the kids will have fun, pay attention and improve.

I found this book to be very useful. I am a 1st time soccer coach this year and I love the fact that this book went step by step and that it divided things out according to age. I had my 1st practice last night and it was a huge success. Thank you!

This another good soccer book with great games. It's a great supplement to Coching Youth Soccer: A Baffled Parent's Guide, however if you are planning on only purchasing one go with Coaching Youth Soccer.

If you are a parent who has been drafted into coaching your child's rec league soccer team, this book is a lifesaver. I have been a rec league coach and assistant coach on and off for 7 years, and have been an assistant coach in travel/select leagues. Prior to reading this book, I was a "form-two-lines-and-dribble/pass-around-the-cones" kinda guy. Practices consisted of small-sided games and various "drills" (ie. standing in line). Planning practices was always a chore, and sometimes the practices themselves, according to my son and other players, were downright boring. I wasn't as bad as "Coach Calisthenics" (you know the guy -- "line up around the center circle and let's do jumping jacks..."), but oh how I pity my pre-enlightenment players.

In an "off" year I took the "F" license coaching course from the US Soccer Federation and the book was given to us at the end of the class. Since then, I've bought a copy for each coach I've worked with and have used it at almost every practice to date. Now the kids are having fun AND learning at the same time, whether they are aware of that or not.

No need to explain what's in it, as the "why" of buying it is what matters. I highly recommend this book to all coaches, but particularly those at the rec level. In fact, rec leagues should provide this to ALL of their coach-volunteers, as it will make practices infintely more fun and might even help raise the performance bar of American soccer players in the long run.

I'm an "A" Licensed coach who recently took the USSF National Youth License. This book was recommended by them. The course was excellent and this book, written by the same people who wrote the curriculum for the NYL, is a mirror-image. I found this such a great resource, I purchased one for every coach in my club.

My husband and I have been youth soccer coaches for years, and have a stack of books and drills. Recently, I purchased this book and it has both energized our soccer program, and made coaching really fun. Kids eat up these games! No more lines... no more boring drills... no more complicated set-ups. We can choose a couple games, add a scrimmage, and have a ready-made, fun, purposeful practice. Great work, Tom Fleck and Ron Quinn!

My wife bought this for her youth boys soccer team and found it to be very helpful in setting up drills to keep the boys busy and learning. She played soccer through highschool and still found the pages to be full of helpful ideas.

Worth the price.