Supplemental Soccer Training: The Philo Way
There’s a new coach on the field.
The grass is covered in cones that differ in color, shape and size. There are hurdles, hoops, ladders and a Sklz net hanging in the goal. There are poles, mannequins, mini-goals and stacks of soccer balls. The set-up looks intricate, innovative and well-prepared for some sort of technical? soccer session.
The coach eagerly awaits his team. Four players arrive and start warming-up. You ask yourself: All this preparation for just four players? On the coach’s orders, each player lands a ball at their feet. The coach begins to demonstrate a variety of skills by breaking-down the correct form and technique.
The players imitate and follow the coaching points as closely as possible. In the steady climb of a minute’s time, players are performing the isolated skills with great accuracy and efficiency. The coach gives new directions and the players adapt instantly by changing their skill type, their movements are sharp in all different directions, and the intensity is high all the same. The ball hasn’t stopped moving.
The coach continues calling out specific directions: “Right foot turn,” “Left foot turn,” “Check your shoulder,” “Drive with the ball!” Focused faces now drip with sweat as the skills get more and more sophisticated and are repeated relentlessly. The players are motivating one another to perform. After a few minutes of non-stop skills, the coach stops the session for a water break.
You look at the players, they’re tuned-in and glad to be challenged. You think to yourself: This is different! The coach praises the players efforts and then recaps: “Was it easier to find the opening when you checked your shoulder on the turn?” a resounding “YES” comes from the players. “Why?” asks the coach. Each player gives their answer. The coach responds: “Ok, awesome, now let’s take what we’ve learned and apply it to the game.
” The coach starts giving game-realistic scenarios. One player becomes the defender, the others watch and learn how the skill gets useful when added to a game situation. Then, *cues a stack of balls*, each player gets a chance to apply the skill in the game realistic situation.
The repetition starts all over again. The motivation is high. The players are challenged. The learning is structured and well-thought out. The results are evident. You say to yourself: This is awesome! Then you ask: Who is this soccer coach and what is the meaning behind all of this?
About me
My name is Daniel Carroll (Coach Danny) and I'm originally from Liverpool, England. For the past six years, however, I have lived in the United States through my “love of” soccer. First, as a collegiate player on a soccer scholarship, and now as a collegiate coach and director of my own supplemental soccer training program. As a passionate soccer coach located in the small yet soccer-vibrant city of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, I have pioneered a training program called Philo Soccer that transforms young athletes into technical, confident soccer players. Philo is a Greek word meaning “love of”, because, for me, every player that wishes to learn and improve their game, it starts here: with a love of the game.
In the introduction above, I hope to have provided a small glimpse into what a supplemental “Small Group” training session looks like with high motivation, healthy competition, visual learning, game-realistic approach, and maximum results for improvement with repetition-based learning. If not, I intend to make it clear for you. First off, our supplemental training follows a one-of-a-kind soccer curriculum that meshes high-intensity skills, drills and exercises with specialized habit-based learning techniques to create a fun, challenging, and next-level learning experience for our players. We train individuals and small groups in what we call a “growth environment” that isolates and focuses on four key components to the game: Cognitive, Technical, Emotional, and Fitness.
Cognitive training focuses on thought construction and problem solving with speed and precision.
Technical training focuses on the breakdown of movement mechanics and coordination, two-footed aptitude, and position specific understanding.
Emotional training focuses on motivation, self-confidence, and soccer intelligence
Fitness training focuses on activation, periodization, and game-related fitness through speed, agility, quickness (SAQ).
Our team of Philo certified coaches work hard to create a supportive and affirmative atmosphere that nurtures these four all-important components of the player’s game.
The Meaning behind Philo Soccer
Philo Soccer takes its roots in Ancient Greek philosophy through Socrates, Aristotle, and those words inscribed on the Apollo at Delphi: “Know Thyself.” Our curriculum and teaching methodologies are very much centered around the Socratic method and Aristotle’s approach to habit-based learning with its link to cognitive control. In a nutshell: Aristotle believed that the repetition of an action, be it good or bad, forms a habit. Habits are the behaviors that we do automatically without thinking about them. And – here is where Socrates comes in - the Socratic method is a form of cooperative dialogue that stimulates critical thinking and draws out underlying suppositions. Aristotle says: You bite your nails (It's a bad habit and you never care to think about it). Socrates asks: Why do you bite your nails? There is a reason why. Are you anxious, bored perhaps? And it is by combining these two learning styles in a soccer environment we begin to categorize our habits, analyze them, and recognize what we need to do to change them, all for the better.
Now, let’s tie this to soccer and give a realistic example
An eight-year old girl signs up to play recreational soccer. In her first practice she struggles to pass the ball to her teammates in a straight-line. The young player supposes: “It is impossible to kick the ball straight,” or “I’m so bad at soccer.” It’s her first ever season playing soccer and the young player doesn’t seem to be getting any better as the months go by. Moreover, her parents start to notice strong negative emotions creeping into her love of the game. It’s OK to be upset and frustrated, but we shouldn’t stay and play this way. And so, her parents, wise as they are, sign her up for Philo Soccer supplemental training.
After a Player Evaluation
Our supportive coaches, who have been trained to recognize patterns in technique, actions and performance, highlight and explain to our young player and her parents why the player is struggling to kick the ball straight. It turns out that, for our young player, it isn’t “impossible” to pass the ball in a straight line and she isn’t “bad at soccer.” Instead, she lacks balance and stumbles sideways every time she kicks the ball, which causes the ball to go wayward. Our young player is happy to learn this about herself and wants to keep improving. Her parents sign her up for the ideal Philo package made up of 1x Individual training and 1x Small Group training each week. We start the Philo Process in every individual and small group session: we categorize, analyze, and recognize what we need to do, then we work hard to build better balance and correct technique through our custom designed, repetition-based session plans. Then something you could never imagine happens... after a few weeks working with Philo Soccer, our young player gets professionally scouted to play for LA Galaxy in their renowned youth academy in Los Angeles! Well… maybe not… but her improvements will be nothing short of impressive and her love of the game will be all the stronger. Most of all, she will have have transformed into a technical, confident soccer player through Practicing with Pride and Playing with Purpose.
Which is what it means to play, The Philo Way.