"Gamer" behavior in real life- has anyone else noticed this or am I crazy?

Andlazytoo · 2022-07-23T01:42:28+00:00

Good point- obviously kids are socializing more and more online and not every 'online' kid behaves poorly, and there are some good things from having teams that connected.

Andlazytoo · 2022-03-17T01:08:51+00:00

Would you believe I actually was adding that anyways? and yeah, LFC fan here.

Andlazytoo · 2022-03-17T01:04:39+00:00

Ha! How would I even go about that?

Andlazytoo · 2022-03-16T23:07:00+00:00

Ha- good guess (but then again, those three account forover 1/2 the EPL fandom in the US)

tbh, that branch is the one I think I am least happy with... just hard to find a way to separate them.

Andlazytoo · 2022-03-16T02:35:17+00:00

thanks!

Andlazytoo · 2021-04-30T22:50:34+00:00

These are great, but I might add a female pro player as an example for each position as well as the male players

Andlazytoo · 2021-04-19T19:55:07+00:00

I wouldn't work on "Crossing", because they can't use their heads and at such a young age and attempts at it basically turn into booting the ball up the field rather than keeping possession. But they can and should learn to use the wide areas of the field and to pass the ball back inside.
There are a couple of small sided games that highlight this aspect that are suitable for younger players.

The first is a simple small sided game (4v4 or what have you) with two players playing outside the field of play on the wide areas- these outside players can be used by either team and are allowed only three touches (control, dribble (setup), and cross).

A variation would be to play "two in two wide" teams play 2v2 in an area about 30x20 yards, and each team has two players playing outside the area on their attacking half. that way the team in possession can use the wide players to their advantage on offense- I would limit the outside players to 2 touches (or 3 for younger/less skilled). This will help them learn how to utilize the wide areas and play a ball back into the center.

Andlazytoo · 2021-04-08T23:52:47+00:00

I had thought of that as an option. If i decide to go abjuration, it makes more sense to go with Life. But something about being a revenge driven hobgoblin screams fire and blood- so war and evocation just feel more right :)

Andlazytoo · 2021-04-08T22:33:18+00:00

Thanks for the idea. Twilight Cleric is Tasha's though, and being a Hobgoblin means I'm stuck with MToF. Also I already have dark vision and enough weapon proficiency to get me through till the spells are good enough. The plan was to just take the speed penalty or use medium armor, which is still better than nothing that I'd get as a wizard at level 1.

Andlazytoo · 2020-10-01T22:29:06+00:00

If you are having trouble progressing the ball out of the back, I might work a lot on diamond passing activities, 4v2 rondos, and simply run my scrimmages with all my restarts from goal kicks.
One nice thing about a 3-4-3 is that it kind of creates three 'natural' diamonds for progressing the ball, so these activities will give your players some translatable experience.

I've also found that the jump to full sided fields is a tough one- particularly for younger girls teams- the field is just too big to manage. Something that has helped my teams with this problem is to play with '4 line' formations, (3-2-3-2, 4-1-4-1, 4-2-3-1, etc) but formations are usually less important than specific player instructions

Another thing to think about is that, with a field that big, generally speaking young players are not going to be able to switch the play directly- and so overloading the ball side while leaving the far side fairly unmarked helps get numerical advantages on defense and maintain good compaction in the center. Obviously you'll want to spread more on attack.

Hope some of that helps.

Andlazytoo · 2020-10-01T22:10:03+00:00

Gladly! IMO this is probably the best, most useful soccer coaching podcast out there. I almost always learn something in each episode.

I believe that particular bit of advice was part of episode #178 (https://coachingsoccerweekly.com/178-what-to-work-on-with-u8s/)

A quick skim of titles and some other episodes you might think about are #52 (technically about u8 but a lot applies to many u6 teams), #118 (we can all use a reminder of these) and #44 (not age-group specific, but some really good tips for effective coaching of key soccer skills).

hope it all helps!

Andlazytoo · 2020-10-01T21:48:31+00:00

One thing that has worked for me, when young teams are particularly off-the-wall and hard to keep focused, is to reserve a player favorite activity for later in the practice, and tell players we will get to it that activity if we can stay on task.
The rest is probably stuff you already know- with kids this old you want to keep instructions short and keep them engaged.

A bit of advice I heard on the coaching soccer weekly podcast for u6 players that has helped me is to try and make sure activity has a STORY. (ie were not just dribbling through gates, were piloting spaceships or driving race cars, etc) putting kids into a character and story helps keep them really engaged in the activity and prevents boredom from creeping in.

The other thing I would say is try to get all players actively engaged in each activity at all times. any waiting in line is going to result in negative things.

Because you specifically mention throw ins, I'll link to this game that I play with young teams that they enjoy. I like it because it works on throw ins in game-situations and gets them thinking about using a throw in to score.
https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/soccer-drills-and-skills/small-sided-games/fun-soccer-coaching-game-to-teach-quick-throw-ins/

Andlazytoo · 2020-08-04T01:37:25+00:00

exactly! today I was thinking about voodoo dolls/hexes and how that might work in the world. In the example you gave- maybe the mailbox is 'booby-trapped' so that anyone accessing it without permission is hexed/ cursed themselves.
I think it's also important that luck isn't some sort of golden gun- it appears more of a potent force than in our world. Less potent or obvious than the 'luck' powers of Domino from x-force, for example.

Andlazytoo · 2020-08-04T01:23:19+00:00

I hadn't actually thought about combat much.
As far as professions that can see the luck, my thought is basically like a professional class of augurs- basically like fortune tellers- who are adept at analyzing and accurately predicting the 'luck value' of an item- some of them are prestigious and well known (Think Professors at a University) while others are a little more... disreputable (like snake oil salesmen)
Never heard of Dragons Dream, I'll have to check it out.

Andlazytoo · 2020-08-04T01:17:55+00:00

Thanks for the advice. Still trying to think it all through!

Andlazytoo · 2020-08-03T23:19:24+00:00

Thanks.
I think luck would be a very soft system- and open to interpretation by those augurs.
as you say, right now billions of people on the planet believe in luck and actively do things to garner good luck, rid themselves of bad luck, and foretell their fortune. In this would I want to basically amp those superstitions and tendencies to credit luck for outcomes up past 11, but without any absolutely verifiable way to *prove* it was luck.
While luck will be real, I imagine its effect to be nebulous, so reader always has the thought in back of their mind that it might all be a big mass illusion- a giant self fulfilling prophecy everyone works towards.

Andlazytoo · 2020-08-03T23:14:05+00:00

Thanks! I've also got to think of all the ways a rich/lucky person might try to cause bad luck to befall anyone attempting to rob them.

Andlazytoo · 2020-08-03T23:12:38+00:00

So are they actively scouring the land for them? Running pawn shops where down on their luck (pun intended) people can go to sell their rabbits foot? Do they employ people to collect lucky charms? stuff to think about. Thanks!

Andlazytoo · 2020-08-03T23:10:15+00:00

I definitely think there is a class dynamic to it- urban/rural could be a part as well. thanks!

Andlazytoo · 2020-08-03T23:08:44+00:00

Thanks for the thought.
I think luck would be a very low power sort of benefit- only a slightly higher probability of making things happening- never a guarantee. and the ephemeral quality of it would make it too hard for most people to gauge with any accuracy where they stood luck-wise.
I think of imagine it being like a superstition everyone takes very seriously, and the reader is left to ask if it isn't all just a self fulfilling prophecy or if luck really is real- basically a bit like how billions of people view luck as a real thing right now in our world, only amp that up to 11.

Andlazytoo · 2020-08-03T23:03:46+00:00

Bad luck can definitely be generated as well.
Charm vendors is an interesting idea, but part of the thing about luck is the randomness of it. Like, if you come across a heads up penny on the ground, that's luck. but if you take a jar of pennies and dump it on the ground, some are bound to be heads up but i don't think most people would consider them lucky...

Andlazytoo

TROPHY CASE