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The player does it but doesn’t necessarily understand it they did it because the coach told them to. How many times do you see a coach tell the player to do this, do that, go here go there? How often does your coach ask the players questions in training, how often do they ask the players to “decide themselves” where would be a better position to stand, what would be a better pass to make, where would it be best to dribble, where would it be best to play one touch and then have the player SHOW the coach through their own movement and decision making? You will never know how much a player understands until you ask them. Another VITAL part of developing soccer intelligence in a player is the “Coaching Methodology” a coach uses.Therefore soccer intelligence is based around players being able to identify their options BEFORE they receive the ball and pick out the best option of hopefully several available to advance it and maintain possession of it in the next phase of play. The game starts in the head of the player and we as coaches must guide the players to think more quickly and with better accuracy in decision making.
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How do you define soccer intelligence? BY WAYNE HARRISONġ. This is the “thinking” part of the game.
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(Improve your peripheral vision with this drill.) You can make “no-look passes” or evade an attacking defender from the side or behind. Improving your peripheral vision allows you to see players and movement further from center while still maintaining your focus on the ball or play. Peripheral vision lets you see teammates or opponents outside of your direct line of sight. You can anticipate the path of the ball and set up a play based on the position of your teammates and opponents. The mental capacity to imagine a particular situation or play from different perspectives is critical. To do this, you must be able to discern where your opponents and teammates are on the field without too much thought. This allows them to find weaknesses in the opposition and exploit them. Soccer players must identify the most important information in a particular game situation and then coordinate their next movements. These are the mental skills that affect spatial awareness. For example, Ryan Giggs of Manchester United has slowed down with age, but he still performs consistently at a high level thanks to his spatial awareness. Spatial awareness allows players who aren’t super athletes to compete with faster and stronger players. You can constantly scan the field to assess the position of players, giving you more time to make a smart decision or be a step ahead of the play.
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Spatial awareness allows you to play with your head up, keep control of the ball and have a mental map of the game around you. They stay one step ahead of their opponents to attack weaknesses and set up effective scoring opportunities or defensive plays. They possess excellent soccer intelligence, which allows them to predict how and where a play will unfold. The world’s smartest and most creative soccer players read the game and play ahead of their opponents.