I train my own kids, but the big thing is repetition.
in my experience and observations, it generally takes players 6-8 weeks to have noticeable and lasting improvement in a particular area. Sometimes you'll see a "sugar-high" after a few days or week, but it usually it wears off if it's not re-enforced because no muscle memory was developed. It's also why I'm not a fan of expensive 3-day clinics. Unless the coaches are able to give players something they can take home and practice on their own, whatever they picked up will be lost in a week or two. The only real value I see with 3 day clinics and camps, is that it can help dust-off the cobwebs if the player has been idle for awhile.
So the advice others gave in this thread about having your child kick the ball against the wall or watch Youtube videos (and practice what they see) is excellent advice because those can be sustained. When I don't have time to train my kids because of work, I tell my kids to do wall taps for 15-20 minutes. They also do these pretty much on any non-team practice day. That adds up to about 90 minutes a week of extra touches. 6 hours a month and about 12 hours of wall touches over a 8 week period. It adds up, and it builds good muscle memory and it's free.
So if I was advising someone on doing private lessons, I'd say make sure you can do it for at least 6-8 consecutive weeks. Make sure the trainer is focusing on a particular area instead of doing a bunch of generalized drills. Doing a bunch of new unrelated drills every week may be fun for your child and it may get you to pay every week, but it does an inefficient job of actually developing. IMO, at least 50-60% of a training session should have some form of repetition from the previous session. Also your trainer should be giving your child some homework to do at home to re-enforce what they're focused on.
I know it's frustrating when you see your kid not getting that much playing time after all the time, energy, and money you're already putting into it. But don't feel pressured by these club coaches to just throw more money at it by doing privates without thinking it over carefully. Think in 8 week cycles for development and first see if there is a practice exercise your child can do at home daily for 10-15 minutes. Also if your child struggles to practice 10-15 minutes on their own daily, then they have bigger problems than private lessons with a trainer may not solve.
in my experience and observations, it generally takes players 6-8 weeks to have noticeable and lasting improvement in a particular area. Sometimes you'll see a "sugar-high" after a few days or week, but it usually it wears off if it's not re-enforced because no muscle memory was developed. It's also why I'm not a fan of expensive 3-day clinics. Unless the coaches are able to give players something they can take home and practice on their own, whatever they picked up will be lost in a week or two. The only real value I see with 3 day clinics and camps, is that it can help dust-off the cobwebs if the player has been idle for awhile.
So the advice others gave in this thread about having your child kick the ball against the wall or watch Youtube videos (and practice what they see) is excellent advice because those can be sustained. When I don't have time to train my kids because of work, I tell my kids to do wall taps for 15-20 minutes. They also do these pretty much on any non-team practice day. That adds up to about 90 minutes a week of extra touches. 6 hours a month and about 12 hours of wall touches over a 8 week period. It adds up, and it builds good muscle memory and it's free.
So if I was advising someone on doing private lessons, I'd say make sure you can do it for at least 6-8 consecutive weeks. Make sure the trainer is focusing on a particular area instead of doing a bunch of generalized drills. Doing a bunch of new unrelated drills every week may be fun for your child and it may get you to pay every week, but it does an inefficient job of actually developing. IMO, at least 50-60% of a training session should have some form of repetition from the previous session. Also your trainer should be giving your child some homework to do at home to re-enforce what they're focused on.
I know it's frustrating when you see your kid not getting that much playing time after all the time, energy, and money you're already putting into it. But don't feel pressured by these club coaches to just throw more money at it by doing privates without thinking it over carefully. Think in 8 week cycles for development and first see if there is a practice exercise your child can do at home daily for 10-15 minutes. Also if your child struggles to practice 10-15 minutes on their own daily, then they have bigger problems than private lessons with a trainer may not solve.
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