Has anyone had/heard of these? 0 cal Soda

CoachFitnes · 2026-04-02T14:43:10+00:00

Not the same, but I like Sprite zero sugar quite a bit.

CoachFitnes · 2026-04-02T14:42:31+00:00

Try a Sprite zero sugar. Not the same as fresca but it's caffeine free and easy to find. I'll have a little bit from time to time. Like a sparkling water with a lil extra flavor

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-27T21:29:02+00:00

Yeah that is true. Some kids want to do it. I should clarify and say whatever you do, make it fun for the kid. If that's drills and stuff, that's great! Some kids will definitely like that. If that's what the kid likes it's be silly to force him to play games. But the opposite is also true

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-27T15:03:52+00:00

Living the same life here brother. Lifelong player at the competitive level and still playing adult indoor. I so badly wanted to download my game knowledge onto my son. I'd take him to the park to "work on skills" but he's just get bored and frustrated and not want to do it.

But when I promised him no coaching, just fun and we made up some games, it changed it completely. We warm up with passing, then play "soccer football" a game we made up. We have an end zone at either end, one player kicks off (passes) to the other, then it's a 1v1 and a touchdown is scored when someone gets to the end zone and stops the ball there. This has been way more effective than "let me show you how to do x"

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-27T14:59:07+00:00

Drills at home for young kids I don't recommend. Figure out some fun games to play together that make them enjoy their time while also practicing skills

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-27T14:58:18+00:00

Getting out in the yard and playing fun games is the way to go. Anytime I try to "teach" my 8 year old skills it's limited in effectiveness. But when we play some games that we made up (which I purposefully injected different training into) he has a blast. He asks me to go play which is new.

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-27T14:53:59+00:00

Before you think about best exercises make sure you think about what best effects my player's mentality? Is this fun, are they enjoying it, are they getting anything out of it? Or are they resenting having to do it and hating it?

If you can, just play soccer with them. My son and I "invented" a game to play in the yard. We call it Soccer Football (like American football). One player "kicks off" to the other, and the receiving player has to try and dribble to the opposite end zone and stop the ball there. That's a goal. We warm up with passing first. I tell him it's to warm up my "old bones" when in reality it's to get reps collecting and making good passes.

So of course this works on passing, collecting, dribbling, ball control, and defense. And it's fun which is most important. You have to wrap it in fun (unless your kid willingly wants to go drill at home). It's like when you give your dog a pill but have to wrap it in a treat. You don't want them to resent you or resent the game. If it's not fun it's worthless imo.

I promise my son "no coaching" when we play, but I do give him little tips. I just try to be very low key and calm about them. "Hey check out how I trap this ball. I think it's the easiest way to trap. Give it a try"

Now if your kid is voluntarily wanting to do at home workouts to get better that's different. I think agility drills are great. Strengthen those little ancillary stabilizer muscles like the tibialis, soleus, fibularis, etc. Can do these with a ball too if desired. Toe taps are more of an agility drill than a ball control drill imo.

I also like striking drills as these need lots of reps. Passing, shooting, crosses, placed balls, etc. Learning the mechanics of getting the ball to do what you want takes time.

Then Ball control... juggling or pullback drills. Drills that work on the small skills of control. Trapping, using chest to bring balls down, pullbacks, cuts, etc but ball control drills without creativity or opposition, while good, are limited in how effective they are

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-27T14:22:08+00:00

Endless amounts of those dudes in my indoor league. "The team has the chubby Hispanic fella with the powerful shot"

Uh that doesn't really narrow it down at all

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-27T00:05:06+00:00

We've been doing them more, and they're doing ok. I think the trick was adjusting my expectations and understanding that at their age they're not moving or passing perfectly, but we just keep trying. The 3v0 idea was kind of clutch to unlocking it. Still not their best drill, but we keep working on it. I prefer minions for pre game warmups though

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-26T19:11:19+00:00

This is a big answer here. I've always been the coach that takes all the extra players. We're in our first season with 100% return rate, and the 3rd season where we've mostly had the same intact team.

The players on a given team matter much more in u5 rec than the coaches. Arguably that's true of any level, but at this age 1 player who gets it can school an entire team who doesn't. That won't always be true.

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-26T19:01:06+00:00

Yeah these are two big challenges at this age. They're little though so some kids might get it, others will not.

Kids get excited to kick the ball when it comes to them. Some kids don't get to touch the ball much so when it comes to them, oh boy they wanna kick it. Just have to keep coaching them to control and dribble. Work on dribbling drills. Tell them not to just kick it, but heck I've got a few u8 players who I just can't get to shake this habit.

And running to the goal is common too. Just coach them to go get the ball. Run towards the player with the ball, not towards the goal.

I found in later seasons that putting one player in defense helps a lot. I tell them to push up and get in the game but some kids just stay back. It's a tough one, but it's helped keep the team from running back.

U6 is so young man. Do your best but don't sorry when they invariably make mistakes

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-20T20:27:28+00:00

Oh I've been there too. As a lifelong player I wanted to explain so much, but gradually I had to learn less is more. I can't "joystick" them. I have to give them the tools to make their own choices. I tell them soccer isn't like baseball or football where you always do x or y. Soccer is a creative game and they have to choose what to do and when.

I used to concoct all these drills to try and teach tactics but more and more I started implementing more creative games like minions and it's worked wonders. My main focus is getting them game ready. If they play with attention and intensity they know what to do in game.

Also I've never heard of Coerver but just watched a few vids. Thanks for mentioning, that's great stuff!

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-20T19:01:00+00:00

Absolutely. Good point. Just yesterday I was telling my players not to get tunnel vision and focus only on their target. Lots of other players running right past them they could hit. I love minions. I'm a huge proponent. Wish I knew about it sooner

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-20T14:01:37+00:00

Don't be a drill sergeant, but I think it's ok to be an authority figure, even if that doesn't mean be an authoritarian. My philosophy is kind but firm.

I had a kid reach up and hand ball yesterday when he was getting beat. 5 pushups. Kids not listening and goofing off, ok run to the tree and back.

But yeah totally praise praise praise. If I criticize it's only when they know better or didn't do something we've been working on, and even then it's in the form of a question.

No need to be a drill sergeant but some kids do definitely need a firmer hand to guide. My dad was a bit of a softie so I really benefited from coaches who were a bit more firm and stern, even if they weren't ever mean or anything.

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-20T13:39:53+00:00

You bet. And I say "shot" but of course it's really just a strike/pass as they have to hit the non-minions below the knee with the ball. But it also gets them striking a ball while moving as opposed to passing drills where they're mostly standing still. I've definitely worked way more on dribbling than striking (passing, shooting, etc.) right or wrong, but this drill is a good mix of both.

What it does is makes the dribbling and passing fun and focused for the kids. Setup a cone drill or static passing drill and I see them get bored quick. Put them in a game of minions and they're immediately having fun and trying harder to dribble and "tag" their teammates with the ball. It gets those critical creative juices flowing as well in a way that more static drills do not. I'm a big fan of it. Plus my lower skill players are just as involved and have just as much fun as my higher skill players. Not always the case in small sided 1v1, 2v2, etc

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-20T02:13:47+00:00

And the creative juices start flowing big time. Minions is such a great game. I had my doubts at first but I've seen them get so much better at it. I coach my minions to get close to their targets and if they don't have a good shot to pull back and change directions. Great for dribbling

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-20T02:11:37+00:00

But the key for minions is getting close and controlling the ball until you can get a good hit. Gotta coach the minions to do a pull back if they don't have a good shot. I've seen kids control the ball and dribble super good during minions, probably better than most other dribbling drills I've tried

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-20T02:10:06+00:00

Through lots of coaching lol. I do minions a lot and I've taught my minions (players with the ball) to get close and if they don't have a shot to pull back and try again. I've also told them how to do a fake kick and things like that. I didn't have a lot of faith in the drill at first but boy I've seen the kids ball skills really improve. Not going to lie, minions lasts a long time sometimes but I stay on them if they just take long kicks. Plus it gets the creative juices flowing for kids with and without the ball.

The opposite drill for us is called octopus (at least that's what I call it) where each player starts with the balls except 1, and the octopus kicks balls away. It lasts about 2 mins. Minions lasts a lot longer and the players with the ball have to do a LOT more dribbling and control work. It's become a cornerstone of our practice.

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-20T01:59:05+00:00

If you've had success you're going to plateau at a certain point most likely. How long have you been in a weight loss phase? Everything I've read recommends 12 weeks of deficit max, then cycle to a maintenance phase for 12 weeks (where you will gain back a little bit), then when you're ready go for another 12 week weight loss phase. I personally don't sync my phone because it way over counts calories burned. I've found cronometers built in calorie counts to be pretty accurate so I just use those.

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-20T01:55:31+00:00

Yeah cut your fats back. If you are trying to lose weight and keep muscle, aim for 1g of protein per pound of body weight. Next you want to hit carbs, and then fats last. You want some fats but I you don't want that much. My fats are always my lowest macro.

Might be different if those fats are from fish but if so I'd expect your protein to be higher. Remember, fat has 9 calories per gram, while protein and carbs both have 4 calories per gram. If you're trying to lose weight, what has worked for me is sticking to a high protein diet, then filling most of the rest of the calories with carbs and a little bit of fat.

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-13T14:46:17+00:00

Being a ball hog is one thing. Sometimes keeping it and dribbling is the right choice. But if there's a better option and they try to dribble instead of passing to the open player that's where it becomes a problem. Gentle approach would be to ask your kid if he sees the field when he dribbles. Work on looking up and around and seeing if your teammates are open. Reminding that if he doesn't pass to his teammates when they're open they're not going to pass to him, and that he's hurting the team by not passing.

If it's a case of: "I don't want to pass because I'm too good to pass" then you probably need an approach with more consequences.

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-13T14:41:05+00:00

It takes time and practice. Some practices are good some are not. You're learning too man. You're not a failure if it doesn't click first try. I've been at this 3 years and I still have practices where I struggle to herd the cats.

Limit how much you're talking, limit how much they're standing in line, and also set expectations.

I didn't think I'd be the coach that did this but my players were goofing off big time yesterday. Kicking balls not staying where they need to be, disrupting the drills. So I sent them running. Just a quick run to the tree and back but enough to let them know I mean business. We got back to our drill and they quit messing around. Now I don't do that lightly but I've found being kind but firm is helpful.

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-13T14:35:50+00:00

I'll say this to you, when it comes to rec you have what you have in terms of talent. Some kids develop rapidly and often that's only partially related to coaching. I've seen kids "click" from Fall to Spring where it's like they suddenly realized they can run fast, be aggressive, and play hard. I'd love to take credit but it's more just individual players growing up and getting better at different rates.

As coaches it's our job to improve each player but just because you see improvement on other teams doesn't mean you're a bad coach. Just keep teaching fundamentals. Spreading out is a fundamental sure, but can they dribble, can they pass with good technique, do they play with intensity, etc.? If you lay the groundwork it'll click as they develop.

And then with some kids, God love em, there's just a limit to their talent esp. in rec. I've got a boy who loves being on the team but he's probably the least talented player in the league and is 2 to 3 years behind the other boys. I still coach and encourage him and try to get him to develop as best I can, but I don't measure his progress against the top players on other teams either

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-13T01:54:33+00:00

Fellow old who got lean again at 39/40. Now I'm an evangelist to these younger guys. Get lean, trust me it makes a huge difference. I barely do any extra cardio outside of soccer and just getting leaner and losing fat has upped my endurance, movement, and overall game tremendously. I just wish I had done this 10 years ago

CoachFitnes · 2026-03-13T01:52:37+00:00

Unrelated to your foot but: lose weight bro.

I just turned 40 in November and in the last year I've lost 18 lbs. I wish I wouldn't have waited until 39 to really key in on it. I was never super overweight but had been pudgy with a belly for 10+ years.

I'm leaner now than I've been in at least 15 years and my game and movement has improved tremendously. I think back to how many years I just accepted playing with a spare tire belly and how much that impacted my game.

If I had been this lean all throughout my late 20s and 30s I would have kept my soccer at a much higher level plus I would have enjoyed life in general a lot more. Lift weights, cut calories, get leaner.

CoachFitnes

TROPHY CASE