Should I shoot or should I pass the ball?

Watching under 8's playing this week, I saw a young player in tears because he was told off by 2 coaches because he should have passed the ball instead of having a shot at goal. To put the game in context, the game was a 3v3 practice game

So, should the coach have told the player off?

My advice to any player is

If you think you can score a goal, then have a shot.

I have seen far too many players that are afraid to have a shot, and prefer to shift the responsibility to someone else, or think that the best way to score is to virtually dribble the ball into the net.

There are often too few chances created in any game of soccer, so when a chance comes along to shoot, take it for a number of reasons

1. Too few chances are taken, so don't waste them
   
2. You will never get that chance again
3. Even if you don't score, there is a chance of a rebound off the post or a fumble by the goalkeeper

In this particular case, the player didn't score, but came close. There is no denying that there was a player closer to goal and possibly in a better position, but

1. Would a pass have made it to the player?
2. Was the player ready to receive the ball?
   
3. Would the player have controlled the ball so that a shot was possible?
4. Would the player have taken a shot?

So in summing up

1. If you can take a shot take it
2. If you can't take a shot, get to a position where you can take shot
3. If you can't do either of the above, then look for a player how can take a shot

By the way, the player in question scored 24 goals last season as an under 8 and all because of his focus on shooting at goals at any available chance

PS I have coached my team to the #1 position in the league through a combination of skills training, using Coerver, small sided games and utilizing the Principles of Play.

Take a look at my Review of Coerver and see how combining it with these other ingredients makes for a winning formula.

Coaching small sided games for Under 8s

The last 6 weeks I have been running a Soccer Summer School (I am in Australia8-)) and have been looking after a group of 8 year olds. Normally there are upwards of 12 players, both boys and girls.
What I have discovered is the amazing development the players make, even at this age, playing small sided games.
With 8 year olds players I tend to have 3 a side on a 40 by 30 yard pitch. I try and encourage the teams to play to a simple formation, which is a 1-2 formation when attacking ( one sweeper, 2 attackers) and a 2-1 formation when defending. This simple game has great benefits to the learning of players at this age because of the amount of space available and the number of touches that each player has. Without really knowing it these game teach the players the concept of width and depth, albeit in a simple way.
During the course of a game, I generally stop the game to explain a coaching point, but limit the number of times that I stop the game, because at this age, players will learn from just playing. The coaching points that I teach are generally quite simple ones and generally revolve around decision making and how to make that decision.

We are lucky enough out our club to have a number of Pugg goals, which make the games even more fun as the players actually kick the ball into a net. There is the added bonus of not having to dispute if a gaol was scored , which often happens when using cones or other markers for goals.


In any training session, try and incorporate a Small Sided Game for at least 30 minutes, and if combined with skills sessions (Click Here=> to see my review on Coerver Coaching System ) and the Principles of Play, your team will develop a Winning Formula

TheSoccerHelper