Re: Skills work

by bananakick 25/07/12, 07:01 am

Thanks, 4-4-2! I am just starting to look for a skills trainer, and this is terrific info.

by Guest 25/07/12, 07:21 am

4-4-2-Diamond wrote:My D got started late in soccer. She had just turned 8 when she decided she wanted to really play. She's been to a ton of trainers, and I've learned to spot a so-so vs. a good one vs. a great one. I won't list any of the so-so ones...but our experience with trainers has been pretty good. Like a previous poster said, at a certain point the improvement has to come from your DD and a ball and a patch of grass. But I'm all for giving her exposure to as many different voices as we can.

Trainers in no particular order that have helped the DD along the way:

Giampaulo Pedroso - first trainer when she got started playing academy at 8 yrs old. Good trainer and knows his stuff. He's a little prickly and mostly works with boys, but DD loved him and she went from complete noob with less than 1 season of rec to being able to stay on the field with academy players in 3 months of working with GP.

Ferdie - DD did a handful of privates with him 2 years ago. Yes it was $50/hr. Yes it was worth it. Ferdie told us after that handful of sessions no need for her to do anymore privates...she needed to get somewhere with a ball on her own. DD still does Ferdie camp whenever she can and comes back a better player every time.

Jeremie P. with GFT - good trainer. DD only went to a camp with him but learned a ton. Wrong side of town for us to train with him, but DD trained with one of his Frisco trainers and he was solid too. More of a "fun" style training with less intensity than some of the others I mentioned.

Ludwig - DD trained with ludwig for about a year. Probably averaged 3 times a week for a very fair monthly price. Damn good trainer...but nutty as all get out. I had the patience to put up with his periodic disappearing acts...wifey did not. If this guy had not ticked off my wife flaking out one too many times we'd probably still train with him. Managing Ludwig is an acquired skill, but if you can do it, his training is top notch.

Chris Ross - young guy, better than Ludwig, more organized than Ludwig, almost as professional as the street soccer guys. Might be one of the best kept secrets in mid-cities. Fair prices. Way too far for us to attend regularly but I was highly impressed with this kid. And I'm a cynic. If we lived anywhere near this guy we'd be there. http://www.dfwsoccerskills.com/ABOUT.html

Manuel & Esteban @ city futsal - can't say enough about these guys. Very high intensity, very focused, fair prices. One of those trainers that maximize every minute of every session. I'm partial to the futsal format and am convinced it does wonders for individual skill.

Shannon Orr & Crew @ SSA - Folks in this thread already summed it up. EASILY the most professional of any trainers we've come across. If it rains - you know where the session will be held...in advance. Rare to see any cancellations, and Shannon does a great job evaluating players. Their privates are expensive, but Shannon doesn't push them, and my DD did fine with just group sessions. It's not super high intensity like some of the others, but if you pay attention to the type of technique correction Shannon gives, you can appreciate the quality. They know what they are doing. DD will go to Shannon because she enjoys herself and I know the instruction is worth the time and money. It's a good change of pace.

Juan Martinez Kicks SC - Anyone who has seen this guy give a skills session comes away knowing teaching skills is the man's calling. At this point he doesn't need anyone advertising for him, but I'll just say he's very, very good. Good luck getting any of his time these days though. Not even sure he still offers skills. The few times my DD has been to a Juan skills session I've been more than impressed. Juan charged far lower than market value for his skills...I hope he doesn't keep that pricing structure because he'd surely burn out. DFW needs this guy teaching skills for a long time (and more like him).

I was asked how many its been.

Esteban and Manuel are two of my DDs favorites, and she continuously asks when the next futsal session is!

SSA is a new one for her, but one that I had been asking about and looking into for well over a years time.

Bonnie Forzie, she did private skills training with hima yeagofor a stretch. Great with the little ones on the building blocks.

Juan Martinez, Im not even going to get into this one, he and Coach Karina are her permanent coaches. Class act, and someone I am happy to say I consider a friend of my family. Kicks Nation is here to stay. What he and the Kicks family have brought out of my daughter in the short period of time since we have come over I honestly cannot put into words. She is just proud to represent Kicks and I am happy to support her, the club, and the new friends we make there every time we head out to practice, in any way possible.

So my DD has seen really 2 trainers over a 2 year time span, sprinkled in when time allowed and she wanted to. SSA will be the third and one I forsee being a long term commitment to build upon what she gets at Kicks.

Prior to Kicks I have no need to get into, I will just say she had two full time coaches that were both year long commitments. Both of which did great things for my DD and I would never say they didnt. It was simply time to move on. That is what we are supposed to do for our DDs if the situation dictates it.

It is not looking at any new thing that comes along, because there is a lot of bad training out there, it is being aware of the options. skills trainers that build on the permanent coaching recieved from the club come and go sometimes for various reasons.

Have a good one folks, today is my Friday! South Texas here we come!!

by Guest 25/07/12, 10:23 am

4-4-2-Diamond wrote:My D got started late in soccer. She had just turned 8 when she decided she wanted to really play. She's been to a ton of trainers, and I've learned to spot a so-so vs. a good one vs. a great one. I won't list any of the so-so ones...but our experience with trainers has been pretty good. Like a previous poster said, at a certain point the improvement has to come from your DD and a ball and a patch of grass. But I'm all for giving her exposure to as many different voices as we can.

Trainers in no particular order that have helped the DD along the way:

Giampaulo Pedroso - first trainer when she got started playing academy at 8 yrs old. Good trainer and knows his stuff. He's a little prickly and mostly works with boys, but DD loved him and she went from complete noob with less than 1 season of rec to being able to stay on the field with academy players in 3 months of working with GP.

Ferdie - DD did a handful of privates with him 2 years ago. Yes it was $50/hr. Yes it was worth it. Ferdie told us after that handful of sessions no need for her to do anymore privates...she needed to get somewhere with a ball on her own. DD still does Ferdie camp whenever she can and comes back a better player every time.

Jeremie P. with GFT - good trainer. DD only went to a camp with him but learned a ton. Wrong side of town for us to train with him, but DD trained with one of his Frisco trainers and he was solid too. More of a "fun" style training with less intensity than some of the others I mentioned.

Ludwig - DD trained with ludwig for about a year. Probably averaged 3 times a week for a very fair monthly price. Damn good trainer...but nutty as all get out. I had the patience to put up with his periodic disappearing acts...wifey did not. If this guy had not ticked off my wife flaking out one too many times we'd probably still train with him. Managing Ludwig is an acquired skill, but if you can do it, his training is top notch.

Chris Ross - young guy, better than Ludwig, more organized than Ludwig, almost as professional as the street soccer guys. Might be one of the best kept secrets in mid-cities. Fair prices. Way too far for us to attend regularly but I was highly impressed with this kid. And I'm a cynic. If we lived anywhere near this guy we'd be there. http://www.dfwsoccerskills.com/ABOUT.html

Manuel & Esteban @ city futsal - can't say enough about these guys. Very high intensity, very focused, fair prices. One of those trainers that maximize every minute of every session. I'm partial to the futsal format and am convinced it does wonders for individual skill.

Shannon Orr & Crew @ SSA - Folks in this thread already summed it up. EASILY the most professional of any trainers we've come across. If it rains - you know where the session will be held...in advance. Rare to see any cancellations, and Shannon does a great job evaluating players. Their privates are expensive, but Shannon doesn't push them, and my DD did fine with just group sessions. It's not super high intensity like some of the others, but if you pay attention to the type of technique correction Shannon gives, you can appreciate the quality. They know what they are doing. DD will go to Shannon because she enjoys herself and I know the instruction is worth the time and money. It's a good change of pace.

Juan Martinez Kicks SC - Anyone who has seen this guy give a skills session comes away knowing teaching skills is the man's calling. At this point he doesn't need anyone advertising for him, but I'll just say he's very, very good. Good luck getting any of his time these days though. Not even sure he still offers skills. The few times my DD has been to a Juan skills session I've been more than impressed. Juan charged far lower than market value for his skills...I hope he doesn't keep that pricing structure because he'd surely burn out. DFW needs this guy teaching skills for a long time (and more like him).

Eight skills trainers since your dd was age 8??? I've got my fingers crossed that she's at least 14; otherwise, when does the girl have time to eat?

Ludwig is a drunk. I wouldn't trust him around my kid.

by 4-4-2-Diamond 25/07/12, 10:55 am

Xara wrote:

Eight skills trainers since your dd was age 8??? I've got my fingers crossed that she's at least 14; otherwise, when does the girl have time to eat?

Ludwig is a drunk. I wouldn't trust him around my kid.

If you include camps she's been to more than 8 in the 3.5 years we've been at this. I just listed the ones I thought were good. I see little benefit in saying my kid has had only one trainer. For me the value in picking up insight from different voices and different styles outweighs trainer loyalty. If it works and she enjoys it, and the times work, and the price / value is right - we do it. If not - move on. These days DD does skills training to take a break from Dad and the training she does with club. It's basically the dessert, no more than once or twice a week and she makes the choices. She has enough foundation now so vast majority of her touches come from herself working at home.

by Straight Shooter 01/08/12, 09:54 pm

Shannon and Gerrard are the best! Your daughter will always be challenged in their sessions because Shannon and Gerard are always players in the "games". As previously mentioned they don't take it easy on you.

by DrSoccer 02/08/12, 08:04 am

with all the $ being thrown around on 'skills' these days maybe 20 or so people should get together and find a great skills coach, pay him a salary, set up a schedule, and find a field. lets say we pay $100 a month x 20=2000. have him/her teach skills 5-7 sessions a week.

by Guest 02/08/12, 08:45 am

[quote="DrSoccer"]with all the $ being thrown around on 'skills' these days maybe 20 or so people should get together and find a great skills coach, pay him a salary, set up a schedule, and find a field. lets say we pay $100 a month x 20=2000. have him/her teach skills 5-7 sessions a week. [/quote

20-1 ratio for skills training, my opinion i am looking for a better teacher to student ratio for the same cost. but i like your idea dr. soccer a group of players could work a good deal for a skills trainer to work with them!

by intrinsic 02/08/12, 08:52 am

I like the group idea too. You could have about 15 players, and schedule some games for them so they had a chance to use the new skills, and play with others who were learning the same things. Results wouldn't matter much because you would be working on developing the individual skills that will be the foundation for team success at older ages.

by Guest 02/08/12, 08:57 am

intrinsic wrote:I like the group idea too. You could have about 15 players, and schedule some games for them so they had a chance to use the new skills, and play with others who were learning the same things. Results wouldn't matter much because you would be working on developing the individual skills that will be the foundation for team success at older ages.

at the end of each session we play alot of 3v3 to have the girls work on their craft in a controled game setting. i have a group of 5 in the 190 coit rd area. would be interested in two more players of high quality u-12 and up

by Guest 02/08/12, 08:58 am

[quote="totalsoccer"]

intrinsic wrote:I like the group idea too. You could have about 15 players, and schedule some games for them so they had a chance to use the new skills, and play with others who were learning the same things. Results wouldn't matter much because you would be working on developing the individual skills that will be the foundation for team success at older ages.

at the end of each session we play alot of 3v3 to have the girls work on their craft in a controled game setting. i have a group of 5 in the 190 coit rd area. would be interested in two more players of high quality u-12 and up!

let me clarify, i am not coaching them. we have a trainer. pm if interested.

by Guest 02/08/12, 01:48 pm

[quote="totalsoccer"]

totalsoccer wrote:
intrinsic wrote:I like the group idea too. You could have about 15 players, and schedule some games for them so they had a chance to use the new skills, and play with others who were learning the same things. Results wouldn't matter much because you would be working on developing the individual skills that will be the foundation for team success at older ages.

at the end of each session we play alot of 3v3 to have the girls work on their craft in a controled game setting. i have a group of 5 in the 190 coit rd area. would be interested in two more players of high quality u-12 and up!

let me clarify, i am not coaching them. we have a trainer. pm if interested.

How much does this cost? Do we send our kid with Boots or tennis shoes? What is the name of the park where the Pitch is located? How is the Mozzie (That's Mosquitoes to you Yankees)situation? Is the Futbol Skill coach from the States? Is there also a Rosetta Stone program that teaches The Queen's language to us parents while the futbol session is occurring? cheers

by Guest 02/08/12, 02:09 pm

Just as long as they don't play "Monkey in the Middle" like those sissies at Barca do!

(Oh wait, see what I did there??? I crossed threads again... watch out for the total protonic reversal...)

by Guest 02/08/12, 02:29 pm

I like the group idea too. You could have about 15 players, and schedule some games for them so they had a chance to use the new skills, and play with others who were learning the same things. Results wouldn't matter much because you would be working on developing the individual skills that will be the foundation for team success at older ages.

I know we have already sung the praises of Street Soccer Academy, but this is one of the things Shannon and Gerard are starting to do. They have games scheduled this weekend so that the girls can play some extra soccer. Each ability group has a time they can sign up for. As this is the first time they have done this under their new system(that I know of) I am not sure how the games will work. Will it be different groups of SSA kids against each other or did they get non-SSA players to scrimmage against? 11v11? 6v6? Someone should be able to report back after this weekend.

by intrinsic 02/08/12, 02:37 pm

That sounds really good but actually, I was thinking that a select team could have a coach who teaches skills and uses games as an opportunity to display, practice and use those skills in a competitive situation. If your coach does not already do that, the extra training is even more important.

by Guest 02/08/12, 02:50 pm

That sounds really good but actually, I was thinking that a select team could have a coach who teaches skills and uses games as an opportunity to display, practice and use those skills in a competitive situation. If your coach does not already do that, the extra training is even more important

Thanks for the clarification- you were probably being too subtle for me- I just came in from the sun!

by max 02/08/12, 09:50 pm

I also am a Street Soccer fanatic. What is there not to love? Great competition, focused attention,thoughtful prep work on what each player needs so each session is taylored to the players and last but not least it's fun. Oh yes, they also work closely with your dd coach, sorta like having a soccer mentor. My dd jas been going for close to a year & her ball skills have sky rocketed. It is a bit of a drag that she can no longer go more than twice a week. We drive over an hour to do this so you better believe it is fantastic!

by futbolfreak 03/08/12, 10:37 am

Sorry, I must plug Street Soccer too. They learn a skill, practice it and then apply it in a fun small-sided situation at end. DD is in a group with some terrific girls, all skilled at similar level, all play on "good" club teams. This, of course, is not all that different from her club team but we like the fun (yet tough) atmosphere and the fact that they don't EVER play them in leagues. There is no drama of "coach does not give my kid enough play time" or who will be invited to play in the next tourney. The SSA guys are in MY kid's corner, always. They can give me truly unbiased advice and can be a very positive ongoing relationship even when she changes coaches and teams. These guys also try to go watch your kid play at league games.

by SSounders12 06/08/12, 12:34 pm

What about Coerver Soccer Academy? Does anyone have any opinions Good or Bad (specifically the Keller location)on this program?

by Guest 06/08/12, 01:54 pm

SSounders12 wrote:What about Coerver Soccer Academy? Does anyone have any opinions Good or Bad (specifically the Keller location)on this program?

Coervers is a good skills solution. Great program, but seems to be primarely located on the west side of dallas and Ft. Worth

by copa44 07/08/12, 02:02 pm

First a disclaimer - bb's select coach is a coerver coach. We did Coerver for over a year for both bb and dd; first at Nytex then at Keller Blue Sky. Both enjoyed it, both did well. LOTS of individual footwork. Some 1v1,2v2 at the end of sessions, but focus is really on footwork through drills and games. We ended up taking a break to go with GFT for the summer because bb was getting coerver at practice as well as at the performance academy and we just wanted to give him something different. We played futsal with the coerver team this summer and bb was impressed by how much some of the kids had improved (he did performance academy with them previously) so we will be going back to coerver in the fall. It gave both my kids a ton of confidence with the ball. Downside was it got a little repetitious, but of course repetition is what leads to expertise so it's hard to get away from that. Class sizes also were a little large (10 - 12) in the Friday class. I've been told by their director of ops that the class sizes have been reduced and they've rolled out a totally new curriculum this fall, so we're looking forward to trying it. Oh, and it has the requisite number of coaches with funny accents who yell 'bloody' a lot.

by fsmagic10 04/10/12, 10:37 am

Take a look at Ferdie's soccer magic...
FERDIE’S 3v3 SKILLS
SOLE ROLL INDOOR SOCCER
OCT.14, 21, 28, NOV.4, 11.
BOYS/GIRLS 7-15
6-7:30pm
$100

FERDIE’S THANKSGIVING SKILLS CAMP
SOLE ROLL INDOOR SOCCER
NOV.23, 24, 25, 2012
BOYS/GIRLS 8-14yrs
9-11am
$125

FERDIE’S SKILLS AND 1V1 TOURNAMENT
SOLE ROLL INDOOR SOCCER
DEC.14, 15, 16, 2012
BOYS/GIRLS 8-15yrs
5-7pm
$125

www.ferdiesoccermagic.com

by Hook It 09/10/12, 01:40 pm

fsmagic10 wrote:Take a look at Ferdie's soccer magic...
FERDIE’S 3v3 SKILLS
SOLE ROLL INDOOR SOCCER
OCT.14, 21, 28, NOV.4, 11.
BOYS/GIRLS 7-15
6-7:30pm
$100

FERDIE’S THANKSGIVING SKILLS CAMP
SOLE ROLL INDOOR SOCCER
NOV.23, 24, 25, 2012
BOYS/GIRLS 8-14yrs
9-11am
$125

FERDIE’S SKILLS AND 1V1 TOURNAMENT
SOLE ROLL INDOOR SOCCER
DEC.14, 15, 16, 2012
BOYS/GIRLS 8-15yrs
5-7pm
$125

www.ferdiesoccermagic.com

For the camps: what is the ratio of players to coaches? Video looks great, just concerned about indoors facility, size, and if too many players register it get ccramped and you kids ends up waiting in line.... $20/hr is ok as long as they never stop moving and they are getting lots of instruction.

Thanks!

by flippinA 09/10/12, 05:38 pm

ive taken Ferdie a few times first with our son, several years ago, and with our daughter over the last couple years. His classes are good and almost always moving and playing. Not much down time for the kids. They will get plenty of touches in that period of time. Ferdie doesn't see everything that is always going on, as he is constantly moving from one group to another, but i have never noticed a problem with that. He will only allow for a certain amount of kids to sign up for his classes, maybe 40 or so. Like i said, he does keep all kids involved, usually in group work.

by flippinA 09/10/12, 05:43 pm

I will also give a shout out to the Street Soccer Academy. These guys make soccer fun in a positive environment. We did this for about 1 year. I even met with Shannon Orr, 1 on 1 before for personal consultation and expert advise. He is easy to talk to and like previous person stated, unbiased opinion.

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