Creativity, Fantasy, unpredictability, is often used to describe the best players. All the coaches are able to recognize it when see during game. It massively impacts the quality and entertainment of every football and futsal game across all age groups and levels.
But the question is:'how to create a player with unpredictable tecnique and creativity'??
Futsal, is the perfect place in the formation age to help players to develop creativity and unpredictable tecnique.
Futsal can be defined as almost no space for play + almost no time to think.... create a space for a dribbling where there isn´t, to open a pass line when conventional pass lines are closed; and the solution should be found in a microsecond....all these conditions create in players a better mental processor.
Why Futsal?
In Futsal due to its DNA:
- lack of space - High pressure in the ball - The close proximity of the defenders - The small goal and the space occupied by keeper there is an high development of technical skills of players; and technical gesture must be extremely functional, rapid and effective. Every player should try to develop an UNPREDICTABLE technical gesture in a way to get advantage to opponent.
But what are exactly ‘creativity’ and ´Unpredictability´? More technical elements such as dribbling or super skills? Or more team-based elements such as pass-and-move patterns?Or something else?
“Football and Futsal are teams game where players have continuosly to solve problems and take decisions. Players have to make judgement calls in the moment, on their own. Players are faced with an endless series of problem-solving micro-moments during games. This means that rote skills, while essential, are not enough. The thing that makes better players is decision making. They need to integrate not just how to do something but whether, when, and why. So Unpredictability is not just dribbling or superskills but....execute a technical gesture, with maximum of efficiency, in a very short time, in relation to a game´s tactical situation (solve a tactical problem) and ´tricking´ the opponent/s (to get as more as possible time/space advantage with chosen technical gesture).
In general, the more unpredictable the way the micro-problem is solved the more likely it is that player will outfox the opponent and succeed.
and what is required to a young players to become unpredictable?
Football/Futsal IQ - a fundamental understanding of the game,
Large and variate technical skills - pass, control, control orientated, dribbling, shoot, ambidexterity, off-the-ball movement, etc.
Mental quickness - to analize and recognize what is happening, open the right folder in own brain where there are all the possible solutions relate to that situation and choose the most suitable one;
Confidence - especially with the ball in tight, pressured situations in own defensive third
Confidence: do our players have the confidence to do the unexpected and experiment with new solutions are worried about making mistakes? How to create confident players who have the courage to try to do unpredictable movements?
COHERENCE is the quality required to the coach.
- We must be congruent in what we ask to our players. Training fast making decision process and its intention is extremely important,give the right technical background, the tactical knowldge to take the right decision
- At the beginning we must help the player to CREATE THE RIGHT ATTITUDE, and then improve the quality (how, where and when to do that technical gesture)
- The first step is fundamental make stronger the mental decision process, independently that would be right or wrong, because contents of decision will improve through knowledge (trainings, games, experiences), but the intention in the mental decision process cannot be stop or delayed if the result of the choice is wrong, and we scold the kid to have taken that decision.
Be COHERENT and support your young players in the first stage....and give confidence to find UNPREDICTABLE solutions
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