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 Skills and
Strategies
for Coaching
Soccer
Second Edition
This page intentionally left blank.
 Skills and
Strategies
for Coaching
Soccer
Second Edition

Alan Hargreaves
Richard Bate

Human Kinetics
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hargreaves, Alan, 1933-

Skills and strategies for coaching soccer / Alan Hargreaves and Richard Bate. -- 2nd ed.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-8022-4 (soft cover)
ISBN-10: 0-7360-8022-8 (soft cover)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-8620-2 (Adobe PDF)
ISBN-10: 0-7360-8620-X (Adobe PDF)
1. Soccer--Coaching. I. Bate, Richard, 1946- II. Title.
GV943.8.H37 2009
796.334--dc22
2009018077

ISBN-10: 0-7360-8022-8 (print) ISBN-10: 0-7360-8620-X (Adobe PDF)

ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-8022-4 (print) ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-8620-2 (Adobe PDF)

Copyright © 2010, 1990 by Alan Hargreaves and Richard Bate

All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in any form or
by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography,
photocopying, and recording, and in any information storage and retrieval system, is forbidden without
the written permission of the publisher.
Notice: Permission to reproduce the following material is granted to instructors and agencies who have
purchased Skills & Strategies for Coaching Soccer, Second Edition: p. 341. The reproduction of other
parts of this book is expressly forbidden by the above copyright notice. Persons or agencies who have
not purchased Skills & Strategies for Coaching Soccer, Second Edition may not reproduce any material.
Acquisitions Editor: John Dickinson; Developmental Editor: Laura Floch; Assistant Editors: Carla
Zych, Cory Weber; Copyeditor: Patsy Fortney; Graphic Designer: Nancy Rasmus; Graphic Artist: Julie
L. Denzer; Cover Designer: Keith Blomberg; Photographer (cover and interior): Nigel Farrow; Visual
Production Assistant: Joyce Brumfield; Photo Production Manager: Jason Allen; Art Manager: Kelly
Hendren; Associate Art Manager: Alan L. Wilborn; Illustrator: Tim Brummett; Printer: United Graphics
We thank Dene Magna School in Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire, UK, for assistance in providing the loca-
tion for the photo shoot for this book.
Human Kinetics books are available at special discounts for bulk purchase. Special editions or book excerpts
can also be created to specification. For details, contact the Special Sales Manager at Human Kinetics.
Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper in this book is certified under a sustainable forestry program.
Human Kinetics
Web site: www.HumanKinetics.com
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P.O. Box 5076 57A Price Avenue
Champaign, IL 61825-5076 Lower Mitcham, South Australia 5062
800-747-4457 08 8372 0999
e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected]
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E4723
To our wives, Janet and Maggie.
 Contents

Drill Finder viii • Preface xiii • Acknowledgments xvii • Key xviii

Part I  Preparing to Coach

1 Ethics and Your Coaching Philosophy 3

2 Personal Coaching Strategies 9

3 Group Coaching Strategies 17

Part II  Skills and Techniques

4 Collecting and Controlling the Ball 27

5 Passing 55

6 Dribbling 95

7 Striking the Ball 123

8 Shooting 141

9 Heading 157

10 Goalkeeping 173

11 Tackling and Defensive Skills 199

vi
 PART III  Tactics and Teamwork

12 Principles of Play 233

13 Team Formations and Systems of Play 243

14 Coaching Teamwork 265

15 Tactics in Defense, Midfield, and Attack 275

16 Set Pieces 287

PART IV Team Management

17 Physical and Mental Preparation

for Games 323

18 Working With Problem Players

and Parents 333

19 Fitness and Conditioning for Soccer 343

Glossary 365 • About the Authors 371

vii
 Drill Finder
Activity name Skill level Page
Chapter 4 Collecting and Controlling the Ball
Basic Ball Juggling Beginner 29
Continuous Heading Intermediate 30
Three Touch Intermediate 31
Individual Juggling Advanced 32
Partner Juggling Advanced 32
Team Juggling All-star 33
Control With the Thigh Beginner 39
Control With the Instep Beginner 40
Control With the Inside and Outside of the Foot Beginner 42
Wall as a Partner Beginner 43
Alternating Targets Intermediate 45
Goalkeeper Intermediate 46
Rebounding Intermediate 47
Receiving the Ball Under Pressure Advanced 48
3v1 in a Circle Advanced 49
Throw-Control-Pass Advanced 50
Turning With the Ball Advanced 51
Controlling and Passing on the Move All-star 53
Control and Penetrate All-star 54
Chapter 5 Passing
Push Pass Beginner 59
Push Passing on the Move Beginner 60
Give and Move Back Intermediate 61
Wall Passing Intermediate 62
Layoff Passing Advanced 63
Long Passing Intermediate 65
Long Passing on the Move Advanced 66
4v1 Outside the Square Beginner 68
2v4 Outside the Square Intermediate 70
3v1 Piggy in the Middle Beginner 78
Corner-to-Corner Practice Intermediate, Advanced 80
Directional Possession Play All-star 82
Soccer Baseball Beginner 85
Five Attackers Versus Two Defenders Intermediate 86
Four Attackers Versus Two Defenders Intermediate 87
Three Attackers Versus Two Defenders Advanced 88
3v2 Team Practice Advanced 89
Possession to Switch the Play All-star 90
Rotating Goalkeepers Advanced, All-star 92
Four Goals Advanced, All-star 93
Floater Advanced, All-star 94

viii
 Activity name Skill level Page
Chapter 6 Dribbling
Friends With the Ball Beginner 97
Follow the Leader Beginner 98
Zigzag Dribbling Beginner 99
Ball Dancing Beginner 100
Ship and Lifeboat Beginner 101
Dribbling Pen Intermediate 102
5v1 or 2 Intermediate 104
Safety Fence Intermediate, Advanced 105
London Bridge Intermediate, Advanced 106
Showing the Ball Advanced 109
Pretending to Kick Advanced 110
Creating Space Advanced 111
Step-Over Play Advanced 112
Screening Around the Defender Advanced 114
Attacking the Square Advanced 115
Attacking the Corners Advanced 116
Two-Goals Dribbling Pen Advanced 117
Challenge Advanced 118
1v1 Corridor Dribbling Advanced 119
Sweeper All-star 120
Chapter 7 Striking the Ball
Instep Drive From a Tee Beginner 129
Lofted Kick From a Tee Beginner 130
Stationary Volley Beginner 130
Moving Ball Intermediate 131
Distance Kick Intermediate 132
Balanced Volley Intermediate 133
Chip Intermediate 134
Banana Kick Intermediate 135
Cruyff Chip With Spin Advanced 136
Corner Kick Advanced 137
Long-Range Kicking All-star 138
Chapter 8 Shooting
Instep Drive 1 Beginner 143
Instep Drive 2 Beginner 144
Instep Drive 3 Intermediate 145
Instep Drive 4 Intermediate 146
Instep Drive 5 Intermediate 147
Instep Drive 6 Intermediate 148
Instep Drive 7 Advanced 149
Instep Drive 8 Advanced 150
Instep Drive 9 Advanced 151
Distance Shooting All-star 152
» continued

ix
 Activity name Skill level Page
Chapter 8 Shooting » continued
3v3 in the Penalty Area All levels 154
4v4 Shooting Game All levels 155
Conditioned Team Shooting Practice All levels 156
Chapter 9 Heading
Heading in Threes Beginner 161
Doubles Heading Intermediate 162
Heading at Goal Advanced 163
Defensive Heading in Threes Intermediate 166
Head Tennis All levels 167
Headed Clearances Advanced 168
Throw-Head-Catch All-star 170
Chapter 10 Goalkeeping
Basic Goalkeeping Beginner 188
Pingers Beginner 189
Clock Shooting Beginner 190
Alternate Shots Intermediate 191
Crosses and Shots Advanced 194
Three-Sided Goal Advanced 195
All In All-star 196
Goalkeeper Game Intermediate, Advanced, 198
All-star
Chapter 11 Tackling and Defensive Skills
Defensive 1v1 Intermediate 213
Intercepting the Pass Intermediate 214
Stopping the Turn Intermediate 215
Forcing an Attacker Intermediate 216
Teamwork in Defense Advanced 217
Advanced Intercepting the Pass Advanced 218
Block Tackle Beginner 223
Corner and Line Attack Intermediate 224
Side Block Tackle Intermediate 225
Tackling Pen Advanced 226
Advanced Side Block Tackle Advanced 227
Sliding Tackle Advanced 228
Competitive Defense All-star 229
Chapter 16 Set Pieces
Over the Goal Beginner 297
Basic Throw-In Beginner 298
Target Throw-In Intermediate 299
3v2 Throw-In Intermediate 299
Crossover Play Advanced 300
Creating Space for a Throw-In Advanced 301

x
 Activity name Skill level Page
Chapter 19 Fitness and Conditioning for Soccer
Shuttle Run Test All levels 347
Pass and Run All levels 348
4-Second Acceleration Test All levels 350
Through the Legs All levels 350
Turn and Go All levels 350
Turn and Tackle All levels 350
Backing Off and Turning All levels 351
Resistance Running All levels 351
50-Yard Flying Start Test All levels 352
Circular and Continuous Relay All levels 353
Shuttle Relay 1 All levels 354
Shuttle Relay 2 All levels 354
Catcher All levels 356
Nomination Tag All levels 356
Zigzag Test All levels 357
Zigzag Run All levels 358
Zigzag Variation All levels 358

xi
This page intentionally left blank.
preface

The first edition of this book was published in 1990 and was
immediately popular throughout English-speaking nations such as the United
States, Canada, and Great Britain. It is also distributed by the Australian FA as
one of their recommended coaching books. This second edition, with the help
of Dick Bate, currently the director of elite coaching courses for the English
Football Association, has been completely revised. We have added several new
sections, in particular a chapter on tactics and teamwork, and all the skills
chapters now include a section devoted to developing the talents of your all-
star players. Other chapters incorporate developments in modern thinking
regarding fitness and conditioning as well as nutrition and diet.
The main focus of the book has not altered. It was meant to be a coach-
friendly book, and it still is. We share the ideas and methods we have found
to be successful with players of all levels of ability. It is designed specifically
to help parents, especially those who coach youth soccer teams, perhaps
including their own children; students and specialist teachers; and all who
wish to gain qualifications awarded by their national coaching organizations.
We have retained the original four parts because each one is significant in
its own right. Collectively, they cover all aspects of coaching. Part I addresses
the development of a personal coaching philosophy and describes how to
work with both individuals and groups. Part II offers a complete understand-
ing of how to introduce and develop the basic skills of the game to players of
all levels of ability, from beginners to all-stars. Part III addresses tactics, team
formations, and the principles of play and explains how to judge whether your
team is playing well. Finally, in part IV, we offer advice on team management
skills, physical and mental preparation, working with problem players, fitness
and conditioning, and diet and nutrition.

Part I Preparing to Coach

In the first three chapters we invite you to consider developing a personal
coaching style that recognizes a concern for the dignity of the individual and
encourages in all players a love for the way the game is played. All players,
especially young players, who are encouraged to make decisions in an atmo-
sphere of positive reinforcement are more likely to develop into valued team
members, enjoy playing the game, and contribute to team unity and spirit.

xiii
xiv Preface

In our experience, which includes working with professional and interna-

tional teams, where winning can be a matter of job security or fierce national
pride, players must be encouraged to believe that winning comes mainly as
a result of good play, by which we mean play that is both fair and skillful. A
coach who shares this belief will enjoy coaching and, in our view, is more
likely to become a winning coach. Remember, the best team doesn’t always
win, but it usually does.

Part II Skills and Techniques

The seven major skills, as well as goalkeeping, are presented in chapters 4
through 11, each of which contains a unique sequence of progressive practices.
For each skill, we present the basics of execution and quickly progress to its
successful execution in match situations.
In this part we present progressively more challenging practices in accor-
dance with the developing skills of the players. No drill is an end in itself;
rather, it is a platform for development. For this reason, we include many
examples of small-team games and practices to reinforce the skills learned in
the practice session.

Part III Tactics and Teamwork

Chapter 12 addresses the principles of play, which you can use to analyze how
well or how badly your team is playing. Chapter 13 then goes on to explain
the strengths and weaknesses of the various team formations and systems of
play so that you can select, or modify, your own tactics in accordance with
the state of the game or the quality of the opposition.
Chapter 14 builds upon chapters 2 and 3 and deals with the planning and
implementation of methods and drills designed to coach in full-game situa-
tions. Chapter 15 is new and addresses the advanced tactics of team play. We
appreciate that not all coaches have players of sufficient maturity to absorb
and execute these tactics. Regardless of the level of your players, however, if
you want to confirm or extend your knowledge of team tactics, we believe
you will find this a fascinating chapter. Finally, in chapter 16 we deal with
set pieces—the tactics you can use when attacking or defending at throw-ins,
corner kicks, free kicks, and penalty kicks. Coaches of teams of all levels will
find the drills and tactics in this chapter to be of immediate value.
The combined aim of parts II and III is to produce players who are both
technically skilled and tactically aware—an objective that holds true for play-
ers of all levels.
Preface xv

Part IV Team Management

In chapter 17 we offer advice on preparing your players on game days, both
physically and mentally. We deal with pregame talks, warming up, what to
say at halftime, and how to say it. We spend some time on postgame talks
particularly because we want our players to appreciate that the result of the
game, important though that is, is not the only way to evaluate the team’s
performance during the game.
Chapter 18 contains advice on how to identify and work with problem
players. We also include a section on how to approach parents who might be
causing difficulties—parents can cause problems too! Chapter 19 deals with
fitness and conditioning. Our fitness tests and drills are all designed to take
place outside on the playing field, wearing soccer boots (cleats). In this way,
every coach can make use of them—all he or she needs is a soccer field or
grassy area. Of course, those lucky enough to have indoor training facilities
will be able to adapt some, if not all, of them. We also show how to adapt
these activities to condition players of differing levels of fitness at the same
time. We include drills for stamina, acceleration, speed, and footwork. Finally,
we offer advice on nutrition and diet. A careful analysis of the various types
of food, and their benefits, leads to suggestions about what and when to eat
on game days, and the day before.

We believe that this new edition of Skills and Strategies for Coaching Soccer is an
indispensable guide for coaches in any setting. It retains much of the material
from the original book but also provides a complete review of the principles,
methods, and tactics that have developed over the years. In addition, the text
and diagrams are easy to understand so that any coach, beginner or advanced,
will find this book helpful. Also, the inclusion of a drill finder will allow you
to quickly locate the drills and skills that you are looking for. Of course, we
hope that you will be sufficiently interested to read all of the chapters and
share with us a genuine love for the game.
This page intentionally left blank.
Acknowledgments

The acknowledgments for this new edition naturally

include mention of those who were especially helpful with the production of
the first edition, specifically Allen Wade, former director of coaching for the
Football Association, for permission to reproduce his original work on the
principles of play; his assistant director, Charles Hughes; Kevin Verity, coau-
thor of an earlier Madeley College publication; Bill Harvey, for help with the
development of systems of play; and Eric Hassall and colleagues at Wardell
Armstrong. In the United States, mention must be made of John Curtis; Roger
Thomas; Martha and Peter Schraml, who codirected our Professional Soccer
Academy in Simi, California; in particular, Dan and Marty Campbell, without
whose friendship the opportunity to write the original book would never have
arisen; and to the artists who created the original artwork, Tim Birkin, John
Hartshorn, David Hassall, and Elizabeth Salt.
For the new edition, Dick Bate also wishes to acknowledge the influence
of Allen Wade, who was his inspiration as a coach, and always has been, and
that of Jack Detchon, who was the first coach who taught him anything about
playing the game—at the age of 22!—and has remained a coaching confidant
ever since. He gratefully acknowledges their contribution to his love of the
game and of coaching in particular. Finally, thanks to Howard Wilkinson,
who has also been a major influence on his thinking.
Both authors wish to thank and acknowledge the artist, Tim Brummett,
who recreated the illustrations for this edition. Thanks also go to the help of
Dene Magna School, Gloucestershire; the head teacher, Rob Broadbridge; the
head of physical education, Scott Albon; and Matt Barnard, Tom Liddington,
Giorgi Hlad and Jordan Warren who modeled the action photographs. Also,
thanks go to the photographer, Nigel Farrow, for his professional expertise
and unfailing patience.
Finally, we wish to thank both John Dickinson and Laura Floch of Human
Kinetics for their continued support throughout the writing of this book and
their guidance in structuring both the written and graphic material.

xvii
 Key
Color Key for Drill Skill Levels

Beginner

Intermediate

Intermediate-to-Advanced

Advanced

All-star

Diagram Elements
Player movement

Ball movement

Dribble

Direction of play

Co Coach

FB Fullback

GK Goalkeeper

S Server

SW Sweeper

W Winger

Ball

A Players
B
X
Y

Screened-back players, symbols, and lines indicate

future or past movement in select diagrams

xviii

E4723/Hargreaves/KEY/342413/alw/r2
Preparing
to Coach

Part I has three chapters. In chapter 1 we invite you to consider three

ethical issues that you will have to consider at some time in your coaching
career: what exactly you, personally, hope to achieve from coaching; the mean-
ing and importance of “good play”; and the importance of winning.
In chapter 2, we describe a number of personal coaching strategies that have
been helpful to us when dealing with individual players. We believe that some,
if not all, of the strategies will help you relate to the members of your team
individually. In chapter 3 we describe another series of fundamental coach-
ing strategies, but this time in relation to the way you coach larger groups of
players and organize team practices.
Collectively, the ideas introduced in part I will give you a better apprecia-
tion of the content in the following parts on the coaching of skills, tactics,
and team management. Even if you are entirely familiar with everything in
part I, we hope you will read it. We have found that having one’s own ideas
confirmed by someone else can be an encouraging experience.
This page intentionally left blank.
Ethics and
Your Coaching
Philosophy
4 Skills and Strategies for Coaching Soccer

During their soccer careers, players work with many coaches

who have their own ideas and personal coaching styles. Although coaches differ
in their approaches to tactics and teamwork, we hope they share a common
view about good sporting behavior and the way the game should be played.
This chapter discusses three issues that constitute, in our opinion, the basis
of a code of soccer ethics. The first deals with why so many people throughout
the world are attracted to soccer as a lifetime experience—first as players and
then as coaches, administrators, or spectators. The second issue concerns the
characteristics of what we call good play, by which we mean skillful and fair
play. The third involves your own personal coaching philosophy. You may
not agree with all of our views, but the following material should help you
clarify your own ideas about the satisfaction and long-term achievements you
personally expect to gain from coaching soccer.

Soccer as a Lifetime Experience

Those who are attracted to soccer as a lifetime experience are not usually
motivated simply by the prospect of keeping fit or meeting people, important
as these objectives may be. People of all ages play, coach, and watch soccer
because they love the game itself and because they experience inner feelings
of enjoyment, satisfaction, and achievement from their involvement with the
sport. They find that being involved in soccer is worthwhile for its own sake.
Every coach is responsible for creating an enthusiastic atmosphere that
safeguards this enjoyment factor, especially for younger players. But coaches
cannot force players to enjoy the game, which is why personal coaching ethics
are so important. The art of coaching involves getting players to enjoy soccer
for its own sake, not because a coach tells them they should. A love and
enthusiasm for soccer has to be nurtured and encouraged. Achieving this leads
directly to the second major consideration of soccer ethics. The link among
all who love soccer is the ability to recognize and appreciate the meaning and
importance of good play.

Meaning and Importance

of Good Play
Good play means play that is skillful. People enjoy soccer as a lifetime sport
either because they are or were skillful players, or because they are intelligent
coaches or spectators who can appreciate skillful play by others, including
team tactics.
The development and appreciation of skill are of paramount importance
in coaching. Of course, the level of skill your players can achieve will vary
according to their age and experience. With all players, but especially younger
ones, you must work hard to promote the desire, or intention, to play skillfully.
Ethics and Your Coaching Philosophy 5

A useful example, which also demonstrates the importance of intelligent

observation of the game, is the ill-informed spectator who shouts at players
to “kick it” whenever the ball comes to them. The informed coach, in the
same situation, may urge players to control the ball rather than kick it. The
informed coach appreciates the more advantageous moves that result from
a controlled, composed mastery of the ball. We believe that the player who
continually tries to exercise control is more likely to develop into a skillful
player. Similarly, as a coach, if you appreciate and reward the intention to
play skillfully, you will be more likely to be successful in the long run. You
will certainly gain immense satisfaction, and respect, when players improve
as a direct result of your good coaching.
The second criterion of good play is that it must be fair play. Soccer is played
according to a set of rules. More important, players should respect not only the
letter of the law, but also the spirit of the law. For example, tackling a player
hard and tackling a player so hard and in such a way that he cannot take any
further part in the game are fundamentally different actions. The difference
between a hard but fair tackle and a dangerous or vicious one lies in the
intention of the player executing the tackle and not in the referee’s judgment,
which is always retrospective. Soccer is a game of skill, not of brute force, and
it will only thrive in an atmosphere in which skillful, intelligent sporting play
is appreciated by all who play, watch, and coach. To a person who really loves
soccer, what matters most is not who wins the game but the way the game is
played. Wanting to win is important, crucially important, but if players have
to commit fouls, argue, or make obscene gestures to win, then although they
might have won the match, to a much greater extent the game itself has lost.
A typical example of such undesirable play is the so-called professional foul,
as discussed in the sidebar.

Professional Foul
A new kind of foul, called the professional foul, has recently crept into the game
of soccer. It occurs mainly when a defender deliberately catches a ball or body
checks an opponent. In most cases the foul is committed to prevent the opposi-
tion from scoring; it is called a professional foul because, although the individual
is penalized, the team benefits.
If nobody gets hurt, why is the professional foul considered such a negative
influence in the game? The professional foul is wrong because it spoils the game.
Soccer was designed to be played according to certain rules and in a spirit of
fair play. If players deliberately violate these rules, then the game as it was meant
to be played no longer exists. Coaches and players must accept their responsi-
bility to the game itself and work together to eliminate any form of behavior that
undermines or weakens the game. Such a stance is clearly an ethical one and,
as such, should be part of the personal philosophy of each coach, and thereby,
of each team.
6 Skills and Strategies for Coaching Soccer

Importance of Winning
Consider to what extent you agree with our philosophy—that the primary
responsibility of every coach is to develop a love for the game by encourag-
ing play that is skillful and fair and that takes place in an enjoyable sporting
environment. In considering this, you must also examine the importance of
winning.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to win. The purpose of coaching is
to improve performance and, ultimately, to improve the chances of winning.
Our experience includes coaching professional clubs at the highest level, in
which winning and job security go hand in hand. It also includes competing
in the Olympic Games, in which winning is a matter of fierce national pride.
All these experiences have shown us that a coach who continually encourages
and emphasizes good play is actually more likely to be a winning coach. That
coach’s team will be better coached, better organized, more skillful and, most
of all, more resilient in times of stress than other teams because the players
experience a strong sense of team spirit.
Of course, everyone engaged in competition must try to win until the last
possible moment. The game is not lost until the final whistle. Not to try one’s
best is also insulting to one’s opponent and diminishes or even destroys
the game as a spectacle. Our philosophy, therefore, certainly embraces the
desire to win. Indeed, it emphasizes that players should be fit enough and,
as mentioned, should strive to win until the very last moment of the game.
However, this philosophy does draw a very clear line between wanting to
win and wanting to win at all costs. We reject the behavior of a coach who,
in seeking to win, advocates dangerous tackling, verbally abuses players or
officials, keeps a badly injured player in the game, or deliberately lies about
a player’s eligibility. Such acts put winning the game before a concern for the
well-being of the players and the spirit of fair play and therefore run counter
to our philosophy.
John Wooden once confided that he never spoke about winning to his team;
all he ever emphasized was playing well. This is a wonderful insight into the
philosophy of this legendary American basketball coach and an example to
us all.
At this point we invite you to consider your own position. What is your
philosophy? What kind of coach are you? What kind of coach would you like
to be? To what extent, if at all, do you share our philosophy? What you think
and how you feel will have a direct bearing on how you actually behave as
a coach.
Ethics and Your Coaching Philosophy 7

Soccer Code of Ethics

In ethics, what matters is what one does, not what one thinks or says; an ideal
has little value until it is put into practice. For this reason we now outline our
personal code of ethics for everyone involved in soccer—players, spectators,
and coaches.
• Certain fundamental concepts must be taught; the most important of
these is good play.
• Good play is skillful, fair, and sporting; it does not include foul or
abusive language.
• A good attitude on the part of players toward game officials is vital.
The job of referees is to ensure that skillful soccer prevails. They may,
and will, make mistakes, but players must be encouraged to accept all
decisions without rancor, because dissent quickly destroys the atmo-
sphere of any game.
• A game played in a fair, sporting manner will be more enjoyable for
all concerned.
• Nothing is wrong with wanting to win; what is wrong is wanting to
win at any cost. A person who loves soccer also cares about the way
the game is won.
• An important task for all coaches is to encourage a love for the game
in all who come into their sphere of influence.
• Coaches must educate parents and spectators about the importance
of good play by both sides and encourage them to allow for mistakes,
especially by younger players.
• Coaches must always put the welfare of players before the result of a
game.
• Coaches are role models and should behave accordingly. They should
never shout abuse at players or officials.
• Coaches must be continually vigilant to protect their reputations. Sadly,
there are people in this world who use their influence over, and proxim-
ity to, young people to indulge in inappropriate behavior. In the United
States, for example, the AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization)
requires that all coaches and volunteers have Safe Haven certification
before they can run junior soccer teams. In the UK, all youth workers
and coaches have to pass through the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB),
which is a safeguard for all concerned.

In the following chapters we show how our coaching philosophy influences

how we relate to and communicate with our players. We also discuss the
coaching styles that are most effective in developing a love for the game and
in encouraging players to enjoy both practice and playing.
This page intentionally left blank.
Personal
Coaching
Strategies
10 Skills and Strategies for Coaching Soccer

This chapter provides an insight into coaching strategies that

have been helpful to us and, we believe, should become second nature to every
coach—almost irrespective of the sport. We believe that this chapter provides
an insight into what might be called the basic principles of coaching.

Coaching Follows Observation

Our first strategy is that “coaching follows observation.” Coaching is always
retrospective; it is the exchange that takes place between you and your players
after you have seen them perform. Of course, you may introduce a topic ver-
bally or demonstrate what you want players to do, but this is only the begin-
ning. Coaching only really begins when you attempt to change or develop
what the players are doing, or put into practice your ideas and tactics.
If, when addressing individual skills with a group of players you are meet-
ing for the first time, you start by telling them what you want them to do, you
run the risk of underestimating their ability and wasting their time. It is very
embarrassing to give a lengthy introduction to a skill only to find that some,
if not all, of the players are already expert at it. It is much better to see play-
ers in action before you attempt to coach them. Only then can you choose
a starting level based on their ability. This book provides many examples of
warm-up activities and small-team games that will enable you to watch your
players in action before you start to coach them.
The same advice holds true for coaching team tactics. You should base
the work you do in preparing your team largely on your observation of the
previous game, your observation of your opponents, or the strengths and
weaknesses of your own team. In all cases, you are coaching after observing.
A good way to start a tactical coaching session is to say, “In last week’s game
I noticed that . . . .”

Good Diagnosis
Our second strategy concerns good diagnosis. Like a doctor, you must be
able to diagnose correctly before prescribing a cure. Soccer coaches often say,
“If you can’t see it, you can’t coach it.” This means that you must have the
knowledge and experience to diagnose a problem to improve performance.
Furthermore, you also have to know when to offer a physical cure and when
to offer a psychological one. Because good diagnosis is so important, the eight
chapters in this book on the coaching of skills (chapters 4–11) all carefully
explain the key points of the basic skills they address. In addition, chapter 12
covers the principles of team play to help you diagnose how well your team
is playing and identify weaknesses in your team’s opponents.
Personal Coaching Strategies 11

Coach the Player, Not the Drill

Clearly, good diagnosis depends not only on your personal knowledge and
experience, but also on your observations of what the player is actually doing.
First, you must watch and diagnose what is happening. In soccer you never
just coach a skill; you always coach a player on how to perform the skill. This
brings us to our third strategy—the recognition that you coach the player,
not the drill.
Some coaches think they can produce a successful coaching session simply
by running players through a conglomeration of drills. This is wrong. Good
drills are important because they help to isolate particular skills, but by them-
selves, drills never produce or guarantee success. Drills provide a starting point,
but what matters more, much more, is how you progress the drill according
to the ability and responses of your players. This leads to our fourth strategy,
progressive practices.

Progressive Practices
The ability to start with a simple practice and gradually develop it into a
realistic game situation is one of the hallmarks of a good coach. Drills must
be progressive (and sometimes this means simplified) according to how the
players respond. Throughout this book, we show how you can progress each
drill according to the response of your players.
In this book, we give many examples of how to start with a basic skill and
then progressively develop that skill into active, gamelike situations and prac-
tices. We also include all-star drills that will challenge even the best of players.
The ability to develop progressive coaching situations leads directly to our
next strategy—opening the mind of the player through good communication.

Good Communication
There is nothing worse than a player who won’t or can’t listen. Because success-
ful communication with your players is crucial, it pays to have some insight
into the field of knowledge called communication. This field of knowledge
has much to teach us, including the fact that, although we all have the ability
to receive as well as transmit messages, many of us—especially coaches—are
more skilled at transmitting than receiving! We might improve ourselves as
coaches simply by becoming better listeners! Also, we know that body lan-
guage, posture, and gestures (nonverbal communication) are all very impor-
tant in transmitting messages to others, especially messages of enthusiasm
and commitment.
12 Skills and Strategies for Coaching Soccer

What we say or do usually carries with it an emotional message. For example,

some people can convey intense anger with a softly spoken word or inject
humor into the most violent-looking gestures. We want to highlight three
types of communication that will enable you to gain access to the minds of
your players. These three types, which are often combined, are verbal, visual,
and physical communication.

Verbal Communication
As coaches, we probably use verbal communication more than any other
method. We know from experience that talking with players, rather than at
them, can be one of the most effective means of communication. When you
tell players what to do, always consider how they will receive your message;
try to anticipate their reactions.
Double Positive Approach
Receiving good news is always pleasant; we all enjoy being praised, provided
that it is sincere praise. When you see a successful performance, stop the prac-
tice and explain and demonstrate why the performance is successful. We call
this the double positive approach because you simultaneously reinforce the
player for good play while establishing the correct points of technique for the
benefit of all players engaged in the practice.
However, players do make mistakes. When coaching young players, who
can be especially sensitive, try to correct mistakes without discouraging them.
If you go directly to the negative—the failure or mistake—you can very easily
make a player feel insecure to such an extent that he may avoid trying again.
Instead, begin with a positive opening remark before you correct what the
player is doing wrong (e.g., “Good try, but . . .” or, “Yes, that move was OK,
but . . . ”).
By giving an encouraging opening comment, you make the player feel secure
and thus receptive. To be really effective, you must open the player’s mind
to advice. In this way you avoid creating the closed mind of the irritated or
reluctant player, whose negative emotions might momentarily interfere with
cooperation and reason.
In our view, the double positive approach is the most important of all of
the strategies. If you can spend most of your coaching life looking for and
positively reinforcing what is right, good, and correct, then you are much
more likely to be a happy, successful, and respected coach.
Question-and-Answer Technique
We believe it is a mistake for any coach to continually tell players what they
should be doing. You can often achieve far more by asking players rather than
telling. We recommend what is known as the question-and-answer technique.
For example, if you ask your players a question such as, “Who can tell me why
that was such a good pass?” or “What defensive systems are our opponents
Personal Coaching Strategies 13

using?” you will achieve two objectives. First, you will elicit the correct tech-
nical diagnosis; and second, by involving the players in the discussion, you
will encourage them to develop their own powers of observation and critical
analysis. Getting players to appreciate and develop their own knowledge of
the game is surely at the heart of good coaching, and the question-and-answer
technique enhances this process.

Visual Communication
Good visual communication—the ability to demonstrate well—is a priceless
gift. Not only does a good demonstration provide a picture for your players,
but it also adds to your credibility and prevents the boredom of long verbal
explanations. Following are some important characteristics of a good dem-
onstration:
• Simplicity. Emphasize only one major point and perhaps one minor
point each time you demonstrate. Bring out additional features in the
next demonstration.
• Reasonable goals. Your demonstration should always set goals that are
within the ability of your players.
• Appropriate body language. If you want players to move quickly and
urgently, demonstrate the correct pace and tempo of the movement. If
you want to stress calmness and composure, let your body movements
and your voice convey these qualities.
• Talking while demonstrating. This enables you to draw attention to key
points while you are actually demonstrating them.
• Refraining from overdemonstrating. Restrict demonstrations to one or two
repetitions. You may occasionally need to demonstrate a skill three
times, but four or more demonstrations will usually bore your audience.

What if My Demonstration Goes Wrong?

You cannot afford to continually make errors in front of your students. How,
then, do you handle a mistake when demonstrating? You may find the fol-
lowing strategies useful:
• Always try to rehearse in private. If you need a server, practice with that
person. If the server makes a mistake in the actual demonstration, don’t
try to compensate; stop and try again.
• Before you demonstrate, say to the group, “I may need two or three
attempts to get this demonstration right.” If you alert the group to the
possibility of failure, it won’t be a disaster if you fail. Furthermore,
this implies that the players too must be prepared for failure and that
failure is not necessarily a bad thing. Of course, succeeding the first
time is a bonus.
14 Skills and Strategies for Coaching Soccer

• Stop after your third unsuccessful attempt at demonstrating. Don’t

keep on failing! If you are not successful by the third attempt, start the
players working with a comment such as, “Sorry, it’s not going well for
me today, but you can see what is needed!” No one is perfect, and the
players would rather practice themselves than watch you fail. A sincere
coach has nothing to fear from an occasional failure.

What Do I Do if I Simply Can’t Demonstrate?

The ability to give good demonstrations is a priceless asset. There are limits,
however, and no one who is seriously interested in coaching soccer should
be discouraged by an inability to demonstrate. You would not, for example,
expect every track coach to sprint 100 meters in under 10 seconds! What mat-
ters most is that you know what should be done and why and can get that
knowledge across to your players.
If you do not feel confident enough to demonstrate, consider using a prese-
lected demonstrator, the discovery approach, a group challenge, or visual aids.
• Preselected Demonstrator. Select a good performer, take him to one side,
and have him rehearse the skill or movement several times. Then let
this player demonstrate for the entire group.
• Discovery Approach. With this method you introduce the topic and start
the group off without an introductory demonstration. For example,
to coach accuracy in passing, you might start with the players in pairs
passing to each other, or you might organize mini-games of 3v3. As
the players pass, watch for players who pass accurately; then stop the
practice and ask the accurate passers to demonstrate for the others.
• Group Challenge. This method is very useful when coaching restarts such
as free kicks and corners. Give small groups of players the same task—
for example, working out an attacking free kick. After a set period of
time, let each group demonstrate in turn. In this way you will produce
a number of tactical moves to discuss with the players. Further, you will
have challenged your players’ initiative.
• Visual Aids. Coaching videos, handouts, and charts are useful, but you
must use them with care. Examine them in advance, and show only
sections you want students to see. Showing a video of a complete game
can often be a waste of time, for example—be selective.
Personal Coaching Strategies 15

Physical Communication
Physical communication, such as shaping, involves guiding players’ limbs
through the correct movement. This is more important when coaching younger
players. Young children must discover how to perform new skills, and they
learn more by doing and feeling the correct pattern or shape of the move-
ment than by listening. Giving a player the feel of a movement can be a very
productive approach, and sometimes it is the only approach! It is particularly
valuable, for example, when teaching the correct positions for the foot and knee
in the push pass, especially in the follow-through (chapter 5). Similarly, it is
invaluable when teaching players to relax the foot or thigh when controlling
the ball (chapter 4) or to tense the muscles in the neck and shoulders when
heading the ball (chapter 9).
This technique affords a special advantage when coaching smaller children.
To shape a movement, you often have to kneel in front of the player with your
eyes on the same level. Youngsters really respond to being coached by someone
who is literally on their own level rather than someone towering above them
and perhaps talking down to them in more ways than one.
In this chapter we introduced a series of ideas and strategies that collectively
provide a useful introduction to developing your own personal coaching style
that players will find friendly and reassuring. It covered the methods and
approaches that we have found, and still find, useful when approaching any
coaching situation, especially with players we might not have seen in action
before. The overriding strategy is really quite straightforward: observe the
players, diagnose their strengths and weaknesses, and then select the methods
of communication you think will best suit the group at that particular time.
Then, depending on their skill levels, concentrate on making each drill a little
more demanding than the previous one.
This page intentionally left blank.
Group Coaching
Strategies
18 Skills and Strategies for Coaching Soccer

Chapter 2 discussed your individual relationship with your

players. This chapter presents some of the strategies we have found useful
when coaching groups. These include good preparation, the grid system of
coaching, methods of selection, accommodating various levels of ability
(matching), getting the group started, keeping momentum in a lesson, and
planning a coaching session.

Good Preparation
Good preparation operates at two levels. First, it operates at a conceptual, or
team management, level. This may include preparing a syllabus for a school
or college, establishing a code of conduct for the team, introducing various
systems of play, developing a policy for helping with the team chores, and
determining a policy for including and dealing with parents and spectators.
Second, good preparation operates at a specific level in each coaching
session. This includes preparing written notes; ensuring that the necessary
equipment is both available and suitable; using the correct part of the field
for the practice; organizing the practice in accordance with the number, abil-
ity, and development of the players; grouping the players according to ability;
developing the practice to make the best use of the available time; and modi-
fying the activities in relation to the mental and physical states of the players.
If you take the time and trouble to organize in advance, you will be much
more likely to succeed. A well-prepared group session has a clear objective;
is well timed, progressive, and demanding; and involves every player for the
maximum possible time.
Because good preparation is both general and specific, examples are best
considered in relation to specific objectives and practices. For this reason,
every practice in this book includes detailed advice on organization. However,
we do recommend one general system of organizing large numbers of play-
ers into manageable groups. This is called the grid system of coaching and is
worth examining in detail.

Grid System of Coaching

One of the most useful strategies for dealing with a large class is to subdivide
the group into smaller, more manageable coaching units, ideally of similar
ability. One of the best ways to achieve this in a soccer lesson is by using a
coaching grid.
A coaching grid is an area on the field of any shape or size that is generally
divided into 10--10-yard squares (see figure 3.1). As a general rule, small team
games require a grid of approximately 10 square yards per player; thus a 3v3
game would be played on six squares comprising an area of 30 by 30 yards.
However, the grid shape or size can vary according to the age of the players and
 Group Coaching Strategies 19

the available space. Also, 1-yard circles, as shown in figure 3.2, at intersections
make useful targets for players to both attack and defend depending on the
drill and their role. On school fields, the grids can be permanently marked
with chalk lines, but flags, cones, or other markers provide effective substitutes.

Figure 3.1 Figure 3.2

Sample coaching grid. Coaching grid for a small-team game showing
E4723/Hargreaves/Fig.03.01/341764/TimB/R1
E4723/Hargreaves/F03.02/341765/TimB/R2
1-yard circles.

The following sections describe several benefits of the grid system. Under-
standing them will help you gain maximum benefit from your practices.
Maximum Ball Contact Time
In a full 11v11 game, playing time is reduced by stoppages from 90 to 60
minutes (or a 2:3 ratio to the length of the game being played). This does not
include the time lost when the ball is traveling between players. If every player
were to have a fair share of the ball during the game, each player would get
less than 3 minutes of contact! We know that such a distribution is impossible
because some players monopolize the ball and others, such as the goalkeeper,
touch it rarely. Using a grid to produce small-team games and arranging two or
three players in each game automatically increases ball contact time. Because
players learn largely by doing, the wisdom of this method is self-evident.
Easy Control of Time–Space Variables
The number of players and the amount of space they require can be easily
controlled—the less able the player, the more time and space he needs to
execute the skill. We continually use this time–space relationship. For example,
when teaching a player to receive and control a ball (chapter 4), we delay the
introduction of opposition. Or, in passing drills, we might start players in a 5
attackers versus 2 defenders situation to make the drill easier for the attackers.
As the ability of the players improves, the ratio can be changed to, for example,
3v2 or even 2v3 for very proficient players.
Progressive Decision Making
Closely allied to the time–space variables is the advantage of progressive deci-
sion making. We do not take a novice driver on the freeway; similarly, we do
20 Skills and Strategies for Coaching Soccer

Small-Team Games
Small-team competitive games are the stepping stones to successful team play.
Frequent use of these types of games during practice sessions develops indi-
vidual skills in realistic situations; using fewer players (e.g., 5v3 or 3v2) increases
the chances for players’ success. Small-team games also provide the basis for
introducing the principles of successful team play (chapter 12) and improving
tactics and teamwork (chapters 14 and 15).
Another advantage of using small-team games is the fact that players enjoy
them. In any sport, players enjoy practice more when it resembles a full-game
situation that allows them to use their skills and talents without the restriction of
the coach. However, you do want to influence the thoughts and actions of your
players to ensure that they learn and improve. Small-team games offer a very
useful compromise; they are an invaluable stepping stone between those twin
objectives—learning and enjoyment.
Small-team games act as a bridge between learning skills and tactics and then
applying them in the full-game situation. Acquiring new skills can be physically
demanding, repetitive, and exhausting. What really matters is that the players
experience a feeling of genuine satisfaction by the end of the session—that they
have worked toward improvement, however minimal it might be. Small-team games
can help you achieve this objective.
Always be prepared to modify a small-team game according to how well or
how poorly the players are doing. If the game is too easy, the players may become
bored; if it is too hard, the players are overchallenged and are unlikely to improve.
The following guidelines may help:
• If the practice is too difficult (it keeps breaking down), increase the size of
the playing area, remove some of the players, add extra players, change
the balance of the teams (e.g., change 3v3 to 4v2), or modify the rules.
• If the practice is too easy, decrease the size of the playing area, introduce
more players, remove players, change the balance of the teams (e.g.,
change 3v3 to 4v2 but coach the two players), or modify the rules.

not throw a young player directly into a full-game situation, especially if we

want that player to learn how to make intelligent, composed decisions. To
foster good decision making, we start players off in simple situations and in
a friendly environment.
The coaching grid provides such an environment. For example, a player can
begin to learn passing in a simple 2v1 situation on two grids. Then, by adding
several adjacent grids together and having him play 3v3, he can graduate to a
more difficult situation when he is ready. In the hands of the skillful coach,
the grid system provides an excellent opportunity to develop the skills of
players in a controlled manner.
Group Coaching Strategies 21

Easily Identified Targets for Players

The lines of the grid restrict the area of play and can also provide targets and
encourage positive attitudes in the players. A simple example is a 1v1 dribbling
practice in which one player defends one of the lines of the square while a
partner tries to reach, or cross, the line. As the ability of the players improves,
you can also use the 1-yard circles in the coaching grid, as shown in figure 3.2,
to provide smaller targets for the attacker (the smaller the target, the more the
challenge) while at the same time making it easier for the defender to defend
(when concentration is on the defender).
Better Use of Space
Finally, the coaching grid enables players to use the areas of grass that are away
from the main playing field. In this way the match surface is protected against
excessive wear and you make full use of the whole field. A word of warning,
though: If you overuse the coaching grid, you may prevent your players from
becoming familiar with the larger team environment. A good coach knows
how to achieve a balance between the grid system and other situations, such
as in the attack versus defense practice (page 268) and in the Silent Soccer
(page 268).

Matching Players Within Groups

It’s always difficult to accommodate the varying levels of ability that exist
within a group. In soccer, you need to consider how to accommodate players
of different ability levels in skill practices and how to select teams for small-
team games so that all will have a reasonable chance of winning.
Selection for Skill Practices
In an ideal world, the strong help the weak to improve. However, pairing a
good player with a weak player and expecting the one to help the other is
usually a mistake. In reality, neither will derive much pleasure, nor make
much progress. When coaching skills, try to match players or groups based
on ability so that you encourage fair competition.
Selection for Small-Team Games
To encourage fair competition between small teams (e.g., 5v5), you must
distribute your strong players and weaker players evenly to foster equal com-
petition.
When selecting teams, never bring the best players to the front of the group
and let them select team players in sequence. Those who are among the last
to be selected will be terribly embarrassed and even humiliated. No youngster
wants to be labeled a less able player, and you as the coach must ensure that
no one is placed in this situation. Indeed, this situation is very easy to avoid—
simply select teams in advance and read them off your notes, or select teams
on the spot, relying on your experience to enable you to select balanced teams.
22 Skills and Strategies for Coaching Soccer

Strategies to Get the Group Started

When faced with wet, cold, or inclement conditions, you can do much useful
preparatory work while the group is changing indoors. For example, you can
tell the students who they are working with and how to start their first practice
before they go out to the field. In normal conditions, however, after preparing
the field and equipment in advance, you should begin coaching when the
group is assembled on the field. In these circumstances, we recommend the
following useful strategies.
Proper Positioning of the Group
Ensure that the players are grouped so they can see and hear you. Position
yourself so that when your players are facing you, they are facing away from
the sun or any distraction (e.g., another game). You don’t want to find yourself
talking to your team and having some, if not all, of them distracted by some
other activity on the field (even a person walking across the field can be a
distraction, let alone another game). The solution is to always position the
group so that they concentrate on you and have their backs to any potential
distraction.
Gaining Group Attention
Don’t start until everyone is listening. If players are not paying attention, don’t
wait for them to become quiet because this wastes valuable time. Take the
initiative. Bring them to attention by using any of the following techniques,
which are listed in order of severity: a glance (eye contact is a marvelous thing),
a raised finger, a quiet word or two (perhaps “thank you”), a spoken name,
a firm command. Don’t shout or blow your whistle. Shouting can destroy
your credibility and may give the impression that you are uncertain of your
authority. Save your shout and your whistle for emergencies.
Short Introduction
Keep your opening remarks as short as possible—two sentences if you can.
For example, “I want to help you develop more accuracy in passing. Watch as
I demonstrate.” Certainly, you must tell the players what you intend to coach,
but showing them is far more important (as discussed in chapter 2).
Keeping Momentum in Your Lesson
When handling a large group, you can easily lose momentum and interest
when you have to stop the practice and move to another progression. To avoid
long delays, we employ what we call the one-step-ahead technique.
While the class is working on the given topic, take a small group or even
one player aside and rehearse the next skill. Then you can stop the main group
Group Coaching Strategies 23

and let the small group or player

STAGE ONE
demonstrate the new task. Obvi-
ously, this method helps you avoid Start your practice.
wasting time between activities,
which can result in losing control
of the class or group. By thinking
STAGE TWO
one move ahead like a chess player,
you save time between practices Look around the whole
group and ask yourself
and keep up the pace and momen-
tum in your practice. This is one “Can I see a common fault?”
of the hallmarks of a good coach. (more than 25% error)
Accommodating Various Rates
of Progress
One way to achieve a reasonable If the answer If the answer
is “yes” is “no”
balance of progress between the
more and less able players in your
group is to use what we call the STAGE THREE STAGE FOUR
five-stage strategy. The flowchart in
Stop the Move around
figure 3.3 shows how to progress practice. the group
your coaching according to the coaching.
Correct the
presence or absence of a common common Allow time
fault or ability. The model may fault. for players
to improve.
look complicated, but in fact it is Restart
a very simple concept to grasp and the same Give general
use. You will quickly appreciate practice. encouragement.

how this strategy fits in with our Repeat Go to

other recommendations, such as stage two. stage five.
preparing your next coaching point
or demonstration in advance of
stopping the group. The method
also follows our general advice
STAGE FIVE
that coaching follows observation.
This method will help you Advance the practice.
achieve an optimum rate of prog- Introduce a progression
ress for the group based on the or start a new activity.
ability of the average members. By
ensuring that the majority can exe- Figure 3.3
cute the skill reasonably well, you Five-stage strategy for group coaching.
avoid going too fast or too slow. E4723/Hargreaves/Fig.03.03/341766/TimB/R4-kh
24 Skills and Strategies for Coaching Soccer

Planning Your Coaching Sessions

One of the best ways to ensure that your coaching session flows (i.e., that
each activity builds on the previous activity) is to use a flow diagram for your
practice plan. One advantage of this well-known procedure is that you don’t
have to rearrange the groups or the equipment.
A simple way to create a flow diagram is to divide your practice session
into three sections: the introduction, the main theme, and a game situation
to finish. Allocate one sixth of the session to the introduction, two sixths to
the main theme, and three sixths to the game situation. On a blank sheet of
paper, draw three boxes horizontally connected by a line and numbered 1 to
3 from left to right. Now ask yourself, What is the main skill or theme I want
to coach in this session? Suppose you want to coach the skill of supporting
the player with the ball. Decide the best practice situation for developing
this ability, and write it in box 2. In the case of support play, you will need a
practice that involves both supporting and opposing players; a good example
is 3v2 (or 4v1 for less able players).
Now ask yourself, How can I best develop the 3v2 situation into a larger
gamelike small-team practice? Write the answer in box 3. In our example the
answer might be 5v5 on a half-sized field, but it could also be a game such
as Floater as described on page 94.
Finally, ask yourself, What activities can I use to start the session? Write the
answer in box 1. In our case, this might be 4v1 Passing Outside the Square
(page 68). Your diagram now looks like figure 3.4.

Box 1 Box 2 Box 3

4 vs. 1 3 vs. 2 5 vs. 5

Introduction Main theme Game practice

Figure 3.4 Sample practice plan.

E4723/Hargreaves/Fig.03.04/341769/TimB/R2
The number of players in each activity depends on the size of your team. In our
example, we have assumed that the number is divisible by 5. Also, as mentioned
previously, in general, allow one sixth of the available time for box 1 (introduction),
two sixths of the available time for box 2 (main theme), and three sixths of the
available time for box 3 (small-team game).
Overall, this approach allows you to maximize the time you spend developing the
chosen skills. It also ensures that at least half the available time is spent in active,
gamelike situations in which the players apply the skills you have taught them.
Skills and
Techniques

In part II we offer you our ideas on coaching the seven basic skills that,
with the addition of goalkeeping, constitute the fundamentals of soccer. Some
of the drills are well-known standards; some we have invented ourselves. We
present these skills in a progressive sequence of four stages, which we hope
you will find of particular value in relating them to the age and ability of
your players.
We start with practices for beginners and then move to intermediates and
then to advanced practices, many of which have been used with professional
players. Finally, with the intention of inspiring every player to improve, we
include special all-star practices to challenge your players to set their standards
ever higher.
Being able to execute a skill in isolation is one thing; being able to execute
it in a competitive game situation is another. The key is knowing how to
develop the basic skills in realistic, competitive small-team situations. This is
what we hope to share with you. Finally, we hope that you will also appreci-
ate our ideas on how to open the mind of the player during these basic drills
and situations. These early practices are forerunners to the chapters on tactics
and teamwork in part III.
This page intentionally left blank.
Collecting and
Controlling
the Ball
28 Skills and Strategies for Coaching Soccer

Arguably, the most important skill in soccer is the ability to

control the ball. All players must be encouraged to develop this ability. It
leads to confidence, satisfaction, and the freedom to execute the other skills
of soccer effectively. All players must also be taught to appreciate that good
control means one-touch control—whichever part of the body is used, one
touch should be sufficient to control and redirect the ball as necessary.
Pelé, perhaps the greatest of all players, described collecting or controlling
the ball as “the gentle art.” We agree with Pelé; control is about gentleness,
but there are circumstances in a game when a player adds pace to the ball,
and this must always be controlled. To keep the ball close and within contact
range, players have to absorb its force, and the key to this is relaxation. Overall
tension—and particularly, tense limbs—repel the ball; relaxation contributes
to the successful control of the ball.

Ball Juggling
Ball juggling, as shown in figure 4.1, is an excellent way to introduce young
players to the ball and to encourage players of all ages to develop and retain
a feel for, and mastery over, the ball. Even young players in professional
teams’ academies practice ball juggling continually; the skill some youngsters
exhibit in keeping the ball airborne is impressive. They can flick the ball into
the air and then use, at will, many parts of the body including, in particular,
the platforms—the forehead, thigh, and instep. The constant touching of
the ball develops finesse, balance, and confidence and encourages the use of
many parts of the body, especially the platforms, which are so important in
bringing the ball under control.

a b c

Figure 4.1 Ball juggling.

Collecting and Controlling the Ball 29

The secret to good ball juggling is practice. However, because formal practice
time is limited, most coaches encourage their players to practice juggling on
their own time. An inspiring example is Pelé, who as a boy used a grapefruit
or a ball of rags tied together with string to practice ball juggling. To comple-
ment, and hopefully inspire, additional practice, many coaches start every
coaching practice with a 1-minute competition to see who can achieve the most
touches or keep the ball off the ground the longest. Because of this, we start
this chapter with the skill of ball juggling and offer a number of techniques
to help beginners learn and improve.

Drill for Beginners

With beginners, start simple! Beginners quickly lose interest if the ball bounces
away from them, out of their control, every time they play. This is not only
frustrating, but also embarrassing. This is why the following introductory drill,
albeit basic, places so much emphasis on success.

Basic Ball Juggling

Equipment One light ball for each player (such as a volleyball or a soccer ball
at reduced pressure)
Organization Individual players stand in free space.
Instructions Players throw the ball into the air, let it bounce, and then play it
once with the instep. Players try to keep the sequence going—that is, let the ball bounce,
play it with the instep, let it bounce again, and so on.
Coaching Points
• Players should use the instep as a platform to lift the ball into the air.
• If the ball starts to spin, players should stop and start over (spin can make jug-
gling more difficult for beginners).
• Players should hold their arms out wide for balance.
Coaching Progressions
1. Players make two touches with the instep for every bounce (play, play, bounce,
play, play, bounce, and so on).
2. Players make three touches for every bounce.
3. Players try to score 10 touches before the sequence breaks down.
4. Players try to use different platforms (e.g., forehead, thigh).
5. Players try to use the platforms in sequence (e.g., head, thigh, foot, thigh, head).
6. Players set their own targets and hold competitions. ■
30 Skills and Strategies for Coaching Soccer

Drills for Intermediate Players

Any player who can consistently achieve 10 or more touches without losing
control is ready to move to the intermediate level. However, we do not advo-
cate simply achieving more and more touches or mastering the use of body
parts such as the shoulder or the back of the neck to catch the ball. Such
skills are fine for the circus performer, but the soccer player will benefit more
from developing basic moves with the regular platforms of the instep, thigh,
and forehead. These moves are best progressed using partner activities and
moving situations, which are realistic rather than contrived and encourage
effective soccer skills.

Continuous Heading

Equipment One light ball (such as a volleyball or a soccer ball at a reduced

pressure) for every two players
Organization Players are in pairs of equal ability, 3 yards apart.
Instructions Player A gently lobs the ball to player B, who heads the ball back;
the drill becomes continuous.
Coaching Points
• Players’ eyes should focus underneath the ball.
• Players should hold their arms outstretched to the side for balance.
• Players should head the ball upward back to their partners.
Coaching Progressions
1. Players aim to reach 10 or more continuous plays.
2. Players try to maintain sequences while moving sideways, forward, and
backward. ■
 Three Touch

Equipment One light ball (such as a volleyball or a soccer ball at a reduced

pressure) for every two players
Organization Players are in pairs of equal ability, 3 yards apart.
Instructions Players must juggle the ball and make at least three touches before
returning it to their partners.
Coaching Point
• Players should achieve height on the ball between touches to give themselves
more time to make contact.
Coaching Progressions
1. Players return the ball to their partners with either the foot or the forehead.
2. Players call out the part of the body their partners must use to return the
ball. ■

31
32 Skills and Strategies for Coaching Soccer

Drills for Advanced Players

In the previous juggling drills, players remained relatively stationary. For
advanced juggling, players are required to move while they juggle. The fol-
lowing drills progress from individual activities to partner practices.

Individual Juggling
Equipment One ball for each player
Organization Individual players stand in free space.
Instructions Keeping the ball off the ground, players see how many yards they
can cover while on the move (forward, backward, and sideways).
Coaching Points
• Players should try to achieve height on the ball each time they play to give them-
selves time to reposition their bodies and select which part to use to control
the ball.
• Players should take plenty of time. It is better to move slowly forward, backward,
or sideways than to rush a contact to gain distance.
Coaching Progressions
1. Players start from a basic position and see how far they can travel.
2. Players are given a specific distance and see how quickly they can reach the
target and get back again. ■

Partner Juggling

Equipment One ball for every two players

Organization Players are in pairs of equal ability, 3 yards apart.
Instructions Players work in pairs 4 to 5 yards apart and juggle the ball between
them. One player moves forward and the other player retreats as they juggle the ball
between them.
Coaching Point
• Players should try to achieve height on the ball each time they play it.
Coaching Progressions
1. Players touch the ball only once.
2. Players touch the ball at least twice before returning it to their partners.
3. Players do not use the same part of the body twice in succession. ■
 Another Random Document on
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PRIVATE PAPERS OF
WILLIAM WILBERFORCE
WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, M.P. FOR THE COUNTY OF YORK.

Private Papers
of

William Wilberforce
Collected and Edited, with a Preface, by A. M. Wilberforce
With Portraits

LONDON
1897
 PREFACE
William Wilberforce is remembered on account of his long and
successful efforts for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. In a House of
Commons that counted Pitt, Fox, Burke, and Sheridan amongst its
members, he held a front rank both as a speaker and debater. Of
one of his speeches in 1789 Burke said, "it equalled anything he had
heard in modern times, and was not, perhaps, to be surpassed in
the remains of Grecian eloquence." And Pitt said, "Of all the men I
ever knew Wilberforce has the greatest natural eloquence." But an
even greater power than his oratory was perhaps the influence that
he acquired over all ranks of society. Friendship is often the means
by which influence is gained, and Wilberforce's friendship with Pitt,
beginning long before his anti-Slave Trade days and continued till
the end of Pitt's life, was no doubt the source of a strong personal
influence.
It has been said that nothing in history is more creditable and
interesting than Pitt's long and brotherly intimacy with Wilberforce,
widely as they differed in their views of life.
To give an idea of the terms of their friendship these letters, possibly
mislaid by the biographers of Wilberforce, from Pitt to Wilberforce
are now published.[1]
Lord Rosebery thought the letters "among the most interesting we
possess of Pitt," and we gladly acceded to his wish to print a few
copies privately.
The Rev. W. F. Wilberforce has kindly consented to the publication of
the matured estimate of Pitt's character mentioned in the "Life of
Wilberforce," with an intimation that "it might hereafter appear in a
separate form."
Other letters from some of the most distinguished men of the time
show the many and varied interests of Wilberforce's life, and seem
to us too valuable to remain hidden in obscurity.
The home letters published are from Wilberforce to his daughter
Elizabeth, and to his son Samuel, afterwards Bishop of Oxford and
Winchester. The letters to the latter are from the collection of 600
letters written by the father to the son.
A. M. Wilberforce.

Lavington, September 1, 1897.

 CONTENTS
PAGE
LETTERS FROM PITT 1
SKETCH OF PITT BY W. WILBERFORCE 43
LETTERS FROM FRIENDS 83
HOME LETTERS 163
 ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
1. WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, M.P. FOR THE
Frontispiece.
COUNTY OF YORK
(From a picture by J. Rising.)
2. WILBERFORCE OAK Facing page 17
(At the foot of an old tree at Hollwood, after a
conversation with Pitt, Wilberforce resolved to
give notice in the House of Commons of his
intention to bring forward the Abolition of the
Slave Trade.)
3. THE RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM PITT Facing page 79
(From a plate taken from an original drawing by
the late Mr. Sayers.)
4. BIRTHPLACE OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE AT
Facing page 163
HULL
5. SAMUEL WILBERFORCE, AGED 29 245
(From a drawing by George Richmond.)
 LETTERS FROM PITT

LETTERS FROM PITT.

THE first of Pitt's letters to Wilberforce is "perhaps the only one
extant that is racy of those rollicking times when the 'fruits of Pitt's
earlier rising' appeared in the careful sowing of the garden beds with
the fragments of Ryder's opera hat."[2]
"Grafton Street,
"July 31, 1782.
"Dear Wilberforce,—I shall not have the least difficulty in applying
immediately to Lord Shelburne in behalf of your friend Mr.
Thompson, and the favour is not such as to require a great exertion
of interest, if there has been no prior engagement. I will let you
know the result as soon as I can. Pray have no delicacy in
mentioning to me whatever occurs of any kind in which I can be of
any use to you. Whenever there is anything to prevent my doing as I
should wish in consequence, I will tell you, so we shall be upon fair
terms. I trust you find all possible advantage from sea-bathing and
sea-air.... I am as well as it is possible in the midst of all this sin and
sea coal, and, for a Chancellor of the Exchequer who has exchanged
his happier hour, pass my time very tolerably. Even Goostree's is not
absolutely extinct, but has a chance of living thro' the dog days. I
shall be happy to hear from you, whether in the shape of an official
despatch or a familiar epistle. I am very glad to see you write
without the assistance of a secretary. Perhaps, however, you will not
be able to read without the assistance of a decypherer. At least in
compassion to your eyesight it is as well for me to try it no further.
"So adieu. Yrs. ever sincerely,
"W. Pitt."
"Brighthelmstone,
"Wednesday, Aug. 6, 1783.
"Dear Wilberforce,—Anderson's Dictionary I have received, and am
much obliged to you for it. I will return it safe, I hope not dirtied,
and possibly not read. I am sorry that you give so bad an account of
your eyes, especially as this very letter looks as if it would put them
to a severe trial, and might even defy the decypherer St. John,
almost without the help of an ænigma. I have only to tell you that I
have no news, which I consider as making it pretty certain that there
will be none now before the meeting of Parliament. The party to
Rheims hold of course, at least as far as depends upon me; which is
at least one good effect certain. I wrote yesterday to Eliot,[3]
apprising him, that I should be ready to meet him at Bankes's[4]
before the last day of August; that I conceived we must proceed
from thence to London, and that we ought to start within the three
or four first days of September. I hope you will bear all these things
in mind, and recollect that you have to do with punctual men, who
would not risk their characters by being an hour too late for any
appointment. The lounge here is excellent, principally owing to our
keeping very much to ourselves—that is Pulchritudo, Steele,
Pretyman, and myself. The Woodlys have been here in high foining,
and have talked me to death. I would not bind myself to be a
listener for life for a good deal. Your friend the Commodore treated
us with his company at one or two assemblies, but was called back
to defend some prizes, which there are those who contest with him,
and which I fancy he thinks the greatest instance of malignity he
ever knew. Mrs. Johnstone and Mrs. Walpole are left to dispute the
prize here. The first is clearly the handsomer woman, but the
husband of the latter looks the quieter man, and the better part of
love as well as valor is discretion. I conclude as you did, by desiring
you to write immediately. I go from hence to Somersetshire this day
sennight, and stay till Bankes's. Direct to Burton Pynsent, Somerset,
and if you will, by London.
"Ever sincerely yrs.,
"W. Pitt."
Pitt's next letter refers to the General Election of 1784, and William
Wilberforce's candidature for Yorkshire, which county he represented
in Parliament for twenty-eight years.
"Downing Street,
"Tuesday, April 6, 1784.
"Dear Wilberforce,—I have received your two expresses, and one this
morning from Mr. Wyvill. I could not get to town till late last night,
but sent forward the letters you desired, and have done all I can on
the several subjects you mention.
"I have applied to our friends in town to pay in the subscriptions,
and I hope it will be done speedily. I inquired at Cambridge with
regard to the different colleges. Trinity and St. John's have, I believe,
as might be expected, the most interest, and will both exert it for
you. Christ's has some, and I left that in a good train. I have spoken
to Lord Temple, which is the only channel that has yet occurred to
me about Oxford, who thinks he can be of use there. Wesley I have
no doubt may be secured, and I will lose no time in seeing him if
necessary, which I shall not think at all awkward at such a time.
Steps are taking to procure a meeting of freeholders in your and
Duncombe's interest, which I hope will answer. I have sent to
Robinson and Hamilton. Lady Downe has been applied to, but can
be brought to nothing more than perfect neutrality. Nesbitt's interest
is secured, and he is thoroughly zealous. I do not well know how to
get at his Grace of York, but will try every way I can. Lord Percy, I
am afraid, cannot be brought to subscribe, tho' I do not quite
despair of it. His objection seems now from some delicacy towards
Weddell, with whom he has been much connected. He has, however,
written to exert all his interest in your cause—particularly to Major
Pallerne and Mr. Rayne, whom Mr. Wyvill mentions in his last letter.
Lord Grantham, as I wrote you word before, must go with Weddell. I
expect to hear something more of Lord Hawke, but I know he is now
in the best disposition. I shall keep my messenger an hour or two to
send the account of to-day's poll in Westminster, yesterday and to-
day having been considered as the great push. Pray send me as
quick an account as possible, and continue it from time to time, if a
poll goes on. I hope you will be ready with a candidate at Hull on
the supposition of your being seated for Yorkshire, which I am
sanguine enough hardly to doubt. We are more successful
everywhere, with only a very few exceptions, than can be imagined.
I hope you bear all the fatigue tolerably. I wish it was over. God
bless you.
"Most truly yours,
"W. Pitt.
"Compts. to Smith, and many thanks for his letter. I hope he is still
with you. The numbers at Westminster to-day are—
Hood. Wray. Fox.
3936 3622 3413
Sawbridge has beat Atkinson only by seven, and there is to be a
scrutiny. The other members are Watson, Lewes, and Newnham. Sir
R. Clayton declines for Surrey. Byng will probably be beat."
"Downing Street,
"Sunday, December 19, 1784.
"My dear Wilberforce,—I have been so diligently turning my thoughts
on all sides since we parted, that tho' they have been turned to you
as often as to any other quarter, I have never found the moment to
put them into writing till now. I have not time to thank you
sufficiently for the picturesque and poetical epistle I received from
you dated, as I remember, from your boat, from the inside and the
imperial of your postchaise, and two or three places more, and
containing among a variety of accurate descriptions one in particular,
viewed from all those different situations, of the sun setting in the
middle of the day. I hope the whole of your tour has continued to be
embellished by these happy incidents, and has kept you throughout
in as mad and rhapsodical a mood as at that moment. I have some
remorse in the immediate occasion of my writing to you just now;
which, however, all things considered, I am bound to overcome. Be
it known to you, then, that as much as I wish you to bask on, under
an Italian sun, I am perhaps likely to be the instrument of snatching
you from your present paradise, and hurrying you back to 'the rank
vapours of this sin-worn mould.' A variety of circumstances concur to
make it necessary to give notice immediately on the meeting of
Parliament of the day on which I shall move the question of the
Reform. We meet on the 25th of January, and I think about three
weeks after, which will allow full time for a call of the House, will be
as late as I can easily defer it. I would not for a thousand reasons
have you absent, tho' I hate that you should come before your time,
and if any particular circumstances made a week or ten days a
matter of real importance to you, I think I could postpone it as long
as that.
"Only let me hear from you positively before the meeting of
Parliament. The chief thing necessary is that I should then be able to
name some day, and the precise day is of less consequence. You will
hardly believe me if I tell you that I entertain the strongest hope of
coming very near, if not absolutely succeeding. I have seen the
Oracle of Yorkshire, Wyvill, and made him completely happy with the
prospect.
"All things are going, on the whole, exceeding well. You will have
learnt that the Old Boy at last overcame his doubts, and has
ventured single into the Cabinet, which is a great point happily
settled. God bless you.
"Ever most faithfully yours.
"W. Pitt."
"1784.
"My dear Wilberforce,—I am sorry to find from your letter from
Nottingham that the Knight of Yorkshire is in so much dudgeon.
Tho', to say the truth the instances of neglect you mention are
enough to provoke common patience. What is worse, I know no
remedy for it. My letter, which missed you, contained no other
information than that the place of Marshall of the Admiralty had
been long since filled up. Some of the world is here at present, and
will be multiplying every day till the meeting of Parliament. I expect
Eliot in a very few days. I know nothing of Bankes very lately. Pray
come to Wimbledon as soon as possible; I want to talk with you
about your navy bills, which, tho' all your ideas now must go to
landed property, you should not entirely forget, and about ten
thousand other things. By the by, Lord Scarborough is risen from the
dead, as you probably know. I have just received an account from
Whitbread that St. Andrew loses his election by three; and would
probably lose by more if he chooses a scrutiny or a petition. Adieu.
"Ever yrs.,
"W. Pitt.
"For the sake of this letter I am leaving a thousand others
unanswered, and a thousand projects unread. You will probably
think it was hardly worth while."
The brotherly intimacy between Pitt and Wilberforce is clearly shown
in the next letter. Wilberforce had written to Pitt to tell him of the
change in his religious opinions, and, in consequence, of his
probable retirement from political life. He no doubt thought that Pitt
would fail to sympathise with his altered views, but the man who
was "so absorbed in politics that he had never given himself time for
due reflection on religion"[5] wished to understand the religious
difficulties of his friend, and with the greatest tenderness begs him
to open his mind to "one who does not know how to separate your
happiness from his own."
"Downing Street,
"December 2, 1785.
"My dear Wilberforce,—Bob Smith[6] mentioned to me on Wednesday
the letters he had received from you, which prepared me for that I
received from you yesterday. I am indeed too deeply interested in
whatever concerns you not to be very sensibly affected by what has
the appearance of a new æra in your life, and so important in its
consequences for yourself and your friends. As to any public conduct
which your opinions may ever lead you to, I will not disguise to you
that few things could go nearer my heart than to find myself
differing from you essentially on any great principle.
"I trust and believe that it is a circumstance which can hardly occur.
But if it ever should, and even if I should experience as much pain in
such an event, as I have found hitherto encouragement and
pleasure in the reverse, believe me it is impossible that it should
shake the sentiments of affection and friendship which I bear
towards you, and which I must be forgetful and insensible indeed if I
ever could part with. They are sentiments engraved in my heart, and
will never be effaced or weakened. If I knew how to state all I feel,
and could hope that you are open to consider it, I should say a great
deal more on the subject of the resolution you seem to have formed.
You will not suspect me of thinking lightly of any moral or religious
motives which guide you. As little will you believe that I think your
understanding or judgment easily misled. But forgive me if I cannot
help expressing my fear that you are nevertheless deluding yourself
into principles which have but too much tendency to counteract your
own object, and to render your virtues and your talents useless both
to yourself and mankind. I am not, however, without hopes that my
anxiety paints this too strongly. For you confess that the character of
religion is not a gloomy one, and that it is not that of an enthusiast.
But why then this preparation of solitude, which can hardly avoid
tincturing the mind either with melancholy or superstition? If a
Christian may act in the several relations of life, must he seclude
himself from them all to become so? Surely the principles as well as
the practice of Christianity are simple, and lead not to meditation
only but to action. I will not, however, enlarge upon these subjects
now. What I would ask of you, as a mark both of your friendship and
of the candour which belongs to your mind, is to open yourself fully
and without reserve to one, who, believe me, does not know how to
separate your happiness from his own. You do not explain either the
degree or the duration of the retirement which you have prescribed
to yourself; you do not tell me how the future course of your life is
to be directed, when you think the same privacy no longer
necessary; nor, in short, what idea you have formed of the duties
which you are from this time to practise. I am sure you will not
wonder if I am inquisitive on such a subject. The only way in which
you can satisfy me is by conversation. There ought to be no
awkwardness or embarrassment to either of us, tho' there may be
some anxiety; and if you will open to me fairly the whole state of
your mind on these subjects, tho' I shall venture to state to you
fairly the points where I fear we may differ, and to desire you to re-
examine your own ideas where I think you are mistaken, I will not
importune you with fruitless discussion on any opinion which you
have deliberately formed. You will, I am sure, do justice to the
motives and feelings which induce me to urge this so strongly to
you. I think you will not refuse it; if you do not, name any hour at
which I can call upon you to-morrow. I am going into Kent, and can
take Wimbledon in my way. Reflect, I beg of you, that no principles
are the worse for being discussed, and believe me that at all events
the full knowledge of the nature and extent of your opinions and
intentions will be to me a lasting satisfaction.
"Believe me, affectionately and unalterably yours,
"W. Pitt."
Pitt came the next morning according to his proposal in this
remarkable letter: when Wilberforce[7] "conversed with Pitt near two
hours, and opened myself completely to him.... He tried to reason
me out of my convictions, but soon found himself unable to combat
their correctness if Christianity were true." To quote Lord Rosebery's
Preface[8] to these letters: "Surely a memorable episode, this heart-
searching of the young saint and the young minister. They went their
different ways, each following their high ideal in the way that
seemed best to him. And so it went on to the end, Wilberforce ever
hoping to renew the sacred conversation."
"Downing Street,
"September, 23, 1786.
"My dear Wilberforce,—At length all the obstacles of business, of
idleness, and of procrastination are so far overcome that I find
myself with my pen in my hand to answer your three letters. I have
seriously had it upon my conscience for some time; but yet I believe
it is another influence to which this present writing is to be
immediately ascribed. Having yesterday parted with the ornament
on my cheek, and two or three handkerchiefs for the present
occupying the place of it, my appearance is better suited to
correspondence than conversation; and in addition to this I happen
to have an interval freer from business than at any time since
Parliament rose. Our French Treaty is probably by this time actually
signed, or will at most not require more than one more messenger
to settle everything; but the winds have been so unfavourable that I
have been, for some days longer than I expected, in suspense as to
the issue of it. Two or three more treaties are on the anvil, and I
think we shall meet with the appearance of not having spent an idle
or (as I flatter myself) a fruitless summer. The multitude of things
depending has made the Penitentiary House long in deciding upon.
But I still think a beginning will be made in it before the season for
building is over; and if its progress is as quick as that of my room at
Hollwood, bolts and bars will be useless before another season. I am
very glad you like our new Board of Trade, which I have long felt to
be one of the most necessary, and will be now one of the most
efficient departments of Government. The colony for Botany Bay will
be much indebted to you for your assistance in providing a chaplain.
The enclosed will, however, show you that its interests have not
been neglected, as well as that you have a nearer connection with
them than perhaps you were yourself aware of. Seriously speaking, if
you can find such a clergyman as you mention we shall be very glad
of it; but it must be soon. My sister was brought to bed of a
daughter on Wednesday, and was at first surprising well; but she has
since had some fever, which was to such a degree yesterday as to
make us very uneasy. She is now, however, almost entirely free from
it, and going on as well as possible. I am in hopes of getting into
Somersetshire the middle of next week for about ten days. Soon
after I hope I may see you at Hollwood. Bob Smith was in town
lately, much better on the whole, but not quite so well as I hoped to
see him. Adieu.
"Ever yours,
"W. Pitt."
WILBERFORCE OAK.
"Downing Street,
"Tuesday, April 8, 1788.
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