# Playing the ball back



## Soccerlife (Aug 16, 2016)

Looking for thoughts on playing the ball back at younger ages- U8/U9. During a game, my daughter was reprimanded by her coach for playing the ball back to her defense (she was playing midfield) when she had a man on her back, was shielding the ball and facing towards her own goal.  She was near the sideline at about midfield and her team retained possession, so I'm having trouble understanding this correction. It raised a bit of a red flag for me. Has anyone else experienced anything similar? Am I missing something? Thanks!


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## Eagle33 (Aug 16, 2016)

Soccerlife said:


> Looking for thoughts on playing the ball back at younger ages- U8/U9. During a game, my daughter was reprimanded by her coach for playing the ball back to her defense (she was playing midfield) when she had a man on her back, was shielding the ball and facing towards her own goal.  She was near the sideline at about midfield and her team retained possession, so I'm having trouble understanding this correction. It raised a bit of a red flag for me. Has anyone else experienced anything similar? Am I missing something? Thanks!


Yes, you are missing the right coach for your DD


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## Truth (Aug 16, 2016)

My favorite parent shout (besides HANDBALL) is "GO FORWARD!"


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## Soccerlife (Aug 16, 2016)

Truth said:


> My favorite parent shout (besides HANDBALL) is "GO FORWARD!"


That's exactly what the coach said. I was shocked.


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## TangoCity (Aug 16, 2016)

Soccerlife said:


> Looking for thoughts on playing the ball back at younger ages- U8/U9. During a game, my daughter was reprimanded by her coach for playing the ball back to her defense (she was playing midfield) when she had a man on her back, was shielding the ball and facing towards her own goal.  She was near the sideline at about midfield and her team retained possession, so I'm having trouble understanding this correction. It raised a bit of a red flag for me. Has anyone else experienced anything similar? Am I missing something? Thanks!


Find a new coach as soon as possible. 
"Play the way you face!"


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## Wise1 (Aug 16, 2016)

New coach


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## bruinblue14 (Aug 16, 2016)

Not a good sign


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## f1nfutbol fan (Aug 16, 2016)

TangoCity said:


> Find a new coach as soon as possible.
> "Play the way you face!"


This


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## timbuck (Aug 16, 2016)

As long as she did it purposefully. 
Meaning- if she knew there was an option behind her to receive the pass.  And if she was aware that all other options weren't available. 
That age is a bit young, but you want players to be aware. And not panic and boot it away (forward or backward).  
After she passed, what did she do?  Again, a bit young. But you want kids to start using movement off the ball to become a support option.  
How was she reprimanded?   At these ages, coaches might get a kid to do certain things out of fear.  But I'm not sure that's the best way.


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## Soccerlife (Aug 16, 2016)

timbuck said:


> As long as she did it purposefully.
> Meaning- if she knew there was an option behind her to receive the pass.  And if she was aware that all other options weren't available.
> That age is a bit young, but you want players to be aware. And not panic and boot it away (forward or backward).
> After she passed, what did she do?  Again, a bit young. But you want kids to start using movement off the ball to become a support option.
> How was she reprimanded?   At these ages, coaches might get a kid to do certain things out of fear.  But I'm not sure that's the best way.


You raise good points. It was a purposeful pass to the open defender on her team. They haven't worked on movement off the ball much, so she didn't really do anything after she passed. The defender passed the ball to another open teammate (they were in a triangle). The reprimand was a yell across the field, "____,  pass forward!!!"

I had a hard time reconciling the coach's critique with everything she has been taught. I ended up telling her that there are absolutely times to play back to her defenders but it seems like coach would like her to try to make more passes up the field or try to take on the player to move the ball forward. As for next year, we may be looking to make a move. It's still early yet.


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## Surfref (Aug 16, 2016)

Find another coach/team.  Why develop bad habits at an early age.


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## Sparky9 (Aug 16, 2016)

Dont ever play the ball back. Make sure to pick a coach that yells "Send IT" every time she gets the ball. whenever possible, pass it to the Italians.


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## zebrafish (Aug 16, 2016)

I would agree that this is a potential red flag.

However, I would also look at the big picture-- what is your overall impression of the coach? My only comment that sometimes the coach may be working on specific things or have given the player(s) a specific focus. My own child's coach actually sent us an email before a game a few months back-- as a warning of sorts-- not to become concerned if kids weren't passing the ball as much. He basically wanted them to try and work on 1v1 dribbling. The team was very passive (soft, even) and was giving the ball up at the first sign of pressure. With the group of players on the team, he really wanted to work on their courage to take on defenders 1v1, become more confident handling the ball, and not make the immediate pass.

I think the good coach is willing to explain if you pose a question in a non-threatening way. How they handle this is also a useful metric.


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## Zoro (Aug 16, 2016)

That is how to play, but you need someone to play it to.  Maybe coach knew/could not teach teamwork at that age.  It may have been a team thing over a individual player correction thing.


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## LadiesMan217 (Aug 17, 2016)

TangoCity said:


> Find a new coach as soon as possible.
> "Play the way you face!"


Gotta teach these kids to face the correct direction.


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## LadiesMan217 (Aug 17, 2016)

Soccerlife said:


> That's exactly what the coach said. I was shocked.


Without seeing the play maybe he was correct. I see so many balls played back because of confused girls.


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## texanincali (Aug 17, 2016)

To be fair, there has been an emphasis to move away from possession for the sake of possession.  Many connected with the game began to understand that one of the most overrated stats in all of football is possession percentage - especially if no scoring chances are created from it.  This strategy first took hold in the professional game (even Barca goes forward much quicker than they used to) and is making its way down to the youth.  Gone are the days of just playing keep away and we are starting to see a greater emphasis on getting forward and creating chances - hopefully without just "sending it long." 

It is tough to know exactly what happened, but your coach is not the first person I have heard coach this way.


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## Zoro (Aug 17, 2016)

Trying to teach any style of play with the typical 2-4 hours/week a coach would have a team of 7-8 year olds sounds like futility. 

The best coaches I saw at this age focused on ball touches and games with the ball, the latter and footwork.


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## timbuck (Aug 17, 2016)

"They" say not to teach tactics at this age.  The focus should be on ball skills (according to "them"). But that doesn't mean you should actively steer them away from tactical decision making.


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## zebrafish (Aug 17, 2016)

timbuck said:


> "They" say not to teach tactics at this age.  The focus should be on ball skills (according to "them"). But that doesn't mean you should actively steer them away from tactical decision making.


That is an interesting comment. I think some experienced ~U9 players can pass the ball quite well and demonstrate depth in tactical decision-making. I think how well they do this depends on how they have been trained/coached and the philosophy behind the way the coach designs practice sessions. Are they taught to think and problem-solve in a dynamic setting, or are they taught skills largely by rote repetition? I sense a lot of coaches focus on skills and then move on to the other stuff. As an example, all the kids on my daughter's current team raised in the current club are technically very skilled, but they don't have great field vision and aren't particularly effective passers. The two kids on the team from outside the club (both from the same outside team/coaching-- one being my own kid) are stronger tactically. The whole philosophy around training sessions was different. Interesting stuff to ponder- at least to me....


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## Zoro (Aug 17, 2016)

Because at 7-8 they don't even have 11/side, on a real field with the real laws of the game (offside),  tactical decision making for soccer would need to be unlearned later.  So while some can, 7 year old girls teams normally can't.

At age 7 a pass to a teammate that is in open space means the opponent has a good chance to steal the ball.
At an older age a pass means the team keeps the ball.
7 year olds have a real hard time understanding space - esp open space, and if they are there it is normally random.  The passes are softer and slower and the receiver's can't really trap anything with pace. 

When they are older, have teammates with the skills to control a ball and teammates that move to open space they have to unlearn not passing.  Seems there is always that tendency to want to hold the ball.  I can't see the purpose at that age Ulittle for a team to learn tactics and certainly not strategy.

The few kids that are this talented should play up, or play on boys team at this age (and stop that G12-G14).

It all seems to pan out about G15/G16 and in 1-2 years elite teams get the game they didn't get at G14.   In college they/some coaches will have styles they switch between based on opponent or weather.  Generally in youth the style is what the coach taught, but our G16s would mix it up sometimes on conditions.


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## goldentoe (Aug 17, 2016)

One of the best random coach shouts at the Ulittle level is "NOT IN THE MIDDLE!"  and thus begins the not so great habit of the booming clearance or the straight up, kicking of the ball out of bounds when not even pressured.  The teaching of back line shape, passing out of the back, and being strong on the ball in the back is overlooked by so many youth programs.  It's obvious when you come across a team that has been taught this.


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## Zoro (Aug 17, 2016)

goldentoe said:


> ...The teaching of back line shape, passing out of the back, and being strong on the ball in the back is overlooked by so many youth programs.  It's obvious when you come across a team that has been taught this.


While I totally agree with your post can you point to a single SoCal G8-G9 team that can do this?
I believe there is mixing what the "right" way to play the game is and the fact that these are 7 and 8 year old girls - per the OP.


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## goldentoe (Aug 17, 2016)

Zoro said:


> While I totally agree with your post can you point to a single SoCal G8-G9 team that can do this?
> I believe there is mixing what the "right" way to play the game is and the fact that these are 7 and 8 year old girls - per the OP.


Nope, you got me on that.  Agreed.  That is very early.  It seems long ago now. The 98 Redwood Alliance team (De Anza Force) from the Bay Area was the youngest team I watched move the ball swiftly around the back.  They were a bit of an anomaly.  They were about U10 or U11 first time I saw them.  6-7 years ago I thought South Bay Force tried to play the ball on the ground more than most teams.  A couple of years later I watched other top youth teams work at it during games.  Many times coaches were literally barking out the pass sequences to the back line during the game, not letting the players think for themselves.  That seems to be the main difference between teams that learn it early, and teams that learn it later.  The ones that learn it early do it with ease, it's second nature, even at the U13-14 age.  The teams that work on this later are still playing the ball long and in the air most of the time from the back line at u13-14, even still at U15.  It's tough when the players are young and make mistakes trying to keep possession in the back of the field.  The parents can't take it when 10 year old Suzy turns around and plays a soft pass in the long grass to her keeper, and a streaking forward runs in to knock in the game winner.  But 6-7 years later, maybe Suzy and her back line will help her team keep the ball instead of kicking it away, and maybe they'll play nearly turnover free soccer when it's the most important.  Teaching the game at an early age from the back line forward is counter to how we do it.


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## Technician72 (Aug 18, 2016)

Sparky9 said:


> Dont ever play the ball back. Make sure to pick a coach that yells "Send IT" every time she gets the ball. whenever possible, pass it to the Italians.


"Send It", my favorite!


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## Sunil Illuminati (Aug 18, 2016)

I'm just sad we don't get to experience the old back-pass law where the keeper could pick the ball up from a pass from feet. Can you imagine the comedy on the sidelines as the coaches constantly feed their own goalkeeper to protect a lead and run the clock down! Let the keeper pick it up...Raise that sideline entertainment.


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## Zoro (Aug 18, 2016)

Sunil Illuminati said:


> I'm just sad we don't get to experience the old back-pass law where the keeper could pick the ball up from a pass from feet. Can you imagine the comedy on the sidelines as the coaches constantly feed their own goalkeeper to protect a lead and run the clock down! Let the keeper pick it up...Raise that sideline entertainment.


At U8 - that would generally not be called.  At U8 passing the ball back to the keeper is very high risk.
This thread is U8/U9 - 7 and 8 year olds.


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## zebrafish (Aug 18, 2016)

I agree-- 7 year olds cannot grasp these concepts-- don't think they have spatial brain wiring to conceptualize it
Some 8 year olds can begin to learn to pass, pass to space, etc. (without a coach joysticking their every move)
9 year olds definitely can learn these things


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## Zoro (Aug 18, 2016)

Doubt I need to say this, but I am a biased keeper dad.  To this topic, the GK is one position that can do a lot individually, but for more than half the stuff they still need a team that gets it.  Generally girls won't listen to the keeper until past G12.  Then G15 seems most do.  A girls directing keeper is often seen as bossy.  DD playing with guys had less of an issue than playing with girls.  Coaches can be worse and many coaches do not want to give up control to those best equip to handle it.  Even in college many coaches prefer the keeper boots the ball than plays out of the back.  Many college coaches want the keeper on the line rather than deciding when to push up the defense.  And HS coaches will set the wall and tell defenders where to be.   I posted DD got so tired of her HS coach telling the defenders where to be and her how to play - she quite (after the season). 

I guess my point is if it bothers you now, get ready for 10 more years of it.


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## C.A.M. (Aug 22, 2016)

I was thinking - did the coach tell your kid not to play it back because as a midfielder she needs to recognize when to attack a defender and when to shield and play back?

What got me thinking this is I have one with the size, speed and skills to go by most players, but not always the desire or confidence. I watched her do it in a tourney recently and she and I had a big laugh of the thoughts running through her brain.


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