Stop Using the Video for Evil
Why not use your video camera as a teaching aid? Sure, watching Uncle John getting whacked in the crotch by a bean bag that little Timmy threw is always big fun, but much more can be learned by using the family camcorder as a learning aid for the athlete in the house.
After having coached a number of years, I found that camcorders were incredibly helpful in analyzing practice technique as well as match play.
Each player has a built-in ignorance to the faults that he or she possesses. These same players can recognize when their teammates make mistakes, but rarely believe that they are capable of these same mistakes themselves. Of course this is obvious, afterall, it is pretty-much impossible to view yourself while playing the game. This is where the camera comes in.
As soon as a player is sitting in front of a television watching him/herself play, the player is forced to view him/herself as a teammate would, instead of as the player's own mind views it. (It was quite embarrassing when I had my first run-in with videotape action: There I was, chasing the imaginary gophers in the backyard and having a great time...but what I didn't notice was that my daily food suppliers were videotaping the event from the living room window. It wasn't until a few weeks later that I heard uproarious laughter coming from the television room. When I got there to see what was going on, I saw eight people watching a goofy dog run around like a bonehead in the backyard. That dog was me. It occurred to me then, just because it felt perfectly normal to me at the time, it wasn't necessarily normal in someone else's eyes.) The point being: much can be learned when viewing one's own actions as an outsider via videotape.
I used to go to the park with one of the goalkeepers that I was coaching at the time. We would set-up the camcorder and videotape the practice session. It was very helpful for the keeper to watch himself on video and to be able to make the same comments that I would normally offer. It was in this way a very useful coaching tool.
Video is an even more useful tool for analyzing matches. I actually used to spend time mapping out soccer games with a big white board and two marker pens. It was very time consuming, yet it was worth the effort. Once the game was mapped, compiling statistics was very easy. This is how it is done. The game is between two teams, the Sharks and the Jets. The blue marker represents the Sharks, the red marker represents the Jets. You'll want to use the slow-mo option on your VCR. Every time a player from the Sharks touches the ball, a blue dot is placed on the paper. If a player is dribbling, each touch is a blue dot with a connecting line between each dot. A string of blue dots with a space and then another blue dot means a successful pass. If a red dot after the space, the ball changed possession.
It is necessary to write notes above the dot notations as reference. Things such as fouls, shots, saves, free kicks, throw-ins, goals, and the times that each of these occurred can be very helpful in later analyzing the match.
Once the match is mapped, it is very easy to quickly determine game statistics. In addition to being able to count shots, fouls, throw-ins and the like, the number of consecutive passes, team possession and the play leading up to scoring opportunities can also be determined.
Videotape is also an excellent way to show your players things they are doing wrong with proof to offer right before their eyes. "Kevin, notice how in this play, Chris was wide open to your left, but your head was down and instead you forced the ball inside where it was intercepted by our opponent." Even the best player on the team will be able to notice mistakes that he/she made during a match. Video will offer humility to your team.
Videos are also useful in the case of protesting a poorly officiated game or reviewing the events of an injury.
All in all, videotaping soccer practices and matches will prove to be a valuable tool for the well prepared coach. It is also a lot of fun to show at pizza parties. Ciao for now.
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