CBC-Sports

Prepping for the playoffs

September 4, 2009 07:03 PM | Posted by   Ron Kuipers  

Ron Kuipers is a writer from Oakville, Ont., who has been coaching and teaching young kids how to play soccer for several years.

You can feel it in the breeze. You can feel it in the air. You can see it in the trees. You can sense it everywhere.

‘It’ is fall and its right around the corner again which means playoff soccer season has arrived in Canada.

House league coaches, players and parents have some fresh challenges ahead thanks to the change of season.

Should you have an extra practice or two before the big game? Should you spend your time working on the team’s strengths or weaknesses? Should you include penalty kicks in your practice? Or should you just keep doing what you’ve done all season?

I put a bunch of these playoff preparation questions to my guy at the Oakville Soccer Club. Chris Grierson has a long list of North American coaching credentials along with a Scottish FA coaching qualification.

According to Grierson, your team’s overall dedication to soccer will help answer a lot of these questions.

Commitment

“The commitment would be my first area. I’m not sure how many players and parents would commit to an extra 1 or 2 nights or days of practice for a house league team,” said Grierson.

Sounds to me like some good old-fashioned communication will help your team decide if the extra practices are worth the time and effort that goes into it.

If you’re a coach, don’t just assume you’ll have a full turnout at that extra session. Send out an email or make some calls and get a sense of how many will show up before you put the time into planning the practice.

If you’re a player or parent, don’t wait for that email. If you’re pumped-up about playoffs, let the coach know that you’d happily take part in an extra practice or two.

Fitness

I know a lot of coaches in minor hockey who feel very strongly about making sure their team is ‘fit’ for the playoff run. These coaches don’t hesitate to add some extra skating drills for their playoff practices in an effort to gain an edge over the rest of the competition.

Grierson has no problem with coaches who add a fitness element to their post-season sessions, as long as they don’t forget to use a soccer ball.

“Organize a couple of small sided games where they have lots of opportunities to run with the ball and get lots of touches,” said Grierson.

If you’re old school and you still want your players to run some extra laps or do some sprinting, add a soccer ball to some of it so they keep working on their ball-handling skills. It might also help break up the monotony of just running.

Penalty kicks

Because there are no ties during the playoffs, the always exciting and often dreaded penalty kicks will come into play for the first time all season. So no matter what you plan to do at your next practice, go ahead and set aside some time right now for a shootout.

“Penalty kicks are always a fun way to end a practice. I would encourage coaches to practice them in the event of a playoff game going to penalties,” said Grierson.

Not only is it fun, it’s a chance to see who can actually hit the net and who can handle the stress. It’s also a great opportunity for your keeper to feel the pressure that comes with being called upon to stop those dramatic overtime shots.

Keep it simple

House league playoff soccer will be over in the blink of an eye for a lot of you. That means it’s important to enjoy every moment, including practice.

It shouldn’t be the most gruelling practice of the year and it shouldn’t feature a completely different set of drills and ideas.

Personally, I like to stick to the practice plan that worked for me all season. My players are familiar with the drills and they know what to expect. I also like to try and spend just a few minutes ‘fine-tuning’ some parts of the game that might make a difference like corner kicks and goal kicks.

And remember, if you want to have that extra practice or two, follow Chris Grierson’s advice by finding out before hand what kind of commitment you’ll get from your team.

“There is nothing more frustrating than planning a session and half your team doesn’t show up,” said Grierson.

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