Today I had the chance to put into action what I learned last week at the soccer coaching clinic.
Piper, Chloé, and I headed to the park to practice some soccer fundamentals.
I had some trouble motivating them to dribble quickly. We started small with both of them dribbling in a rectangle. Then I added some small coned areas to the side, and when instructed, they had to dribble the ball and stop it in the square.
As my clinic instructor predicted, this got them to pick up the pace.
Then I installed some gates in the rectangle, and they had to pass through the gates.
Still, they went slowly.
Then, I told them I was going to walk around and try to take their ball.
I would only walk, however, and if they ran, communicated, and cooperated, they would have no trouble keeping the ball away.
This was finally the motivation they needed, and I was really proud of the way the girls hustled and worked to get in position to received the next pass after they passed the ball.
To top it off, they had a great time and were very appreciative of the time.
As a reward for their hard work, we went to Dairy Queen after practice.
It was a great father-daughter day.
Shot: iPhone 3GS
1/1500 sec, normal program, f/2.8, ISO 70, focal length: 3.9 mm
I'm a cognitive scientist and communication scholar who manages a psychophysiology lab at Texas Tech. I teach courses about the cognitive processing of media messages and research methods.
{ 0 comments… add one now }