Five Stages of Football Development

To bring out the potential in junior and youth football players, you need to use a variety of coaching techniques. Here we look at the five stages in development that can be used in training sessions to help your squad grow as players.

Stage One

Unopposed Practice

When working on building the technical skills of your players, this basic coaching technique can be used. Important tasks for the players to master are body shape, body alignment, movement related to the football and mastering the ball, i.e. feel, touch and controlling it.

Give clear instructions and use frequent demonstrations. Use language the players will understand such as laces as opposed to instep.

Use this solely to develop skill, do not introduce opposition. If players are presented with opposition too soon, they will not have developed the basics of a procedure and will be focusing on the opponent, hindering their skill development.

During this stage, the only decision making required from the player is which part of the foot needed for ball control, how they need to move and the path and speed of the ball.

Stage Two

Passive Opposition

Once your players have learned to master the ball, you can move on to introducing passive opposition, increasing the pressure slightly on the players by giving them something else to focus on.

After a player passes the ball to the receiver, he must follow it, as if he is going to close off his partner. The receiver must show ball control, letting it move no further than a foot from his body.

As an alternative, set out two cones at a distance of three yards away on either side of both players. The instruction is to ensure the pass keeps within the cones. This helps develop accuracy in passing but also works on the control element. The receiver controls the ball, manoeuvres it round a cone and passes the ball accurately to their partner, ensuring the ball keeps inside their partner's cones.

Stage Three

Positive Opposition

To build up the players learning experience, it's vital to increase the opposition. More opposition means the possessing player will need to think, make decisions and react, therefore developing techniques into honed skills.

At this stage, you are trying to place the player in situations they will face during a game. Reduce space and the amount of time spent on the ball in this stage to allow the player to make decisions quickly whilst keeping possession.

Stage Four

Small-Sided Games

Small-sided games are great for football development.

Act out some situations and utilise more free playing areas as this will really build the players football skills and sharpen their decision-making. Practical play will have a big effect on the players' development during these small-sided sessions.

Stage Five

Team Play and Full Game Practice

This is a bigger version of a small-sided game. This is the real deal, in a real playing environment, using real opponents and real game situations. Responsibilities, positional play, tactics, moves, formations, support, defence, attack, all blend together here, and make the players work together as a team.

Developing players in specific areas or responsibility can be achieved in small-sided games but with full game practice sessions, everything integrates into a real match situation.

Summary

Preparing a coaching program using these five stages will really improve the techniques and skills of your players.