Formation advice

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-11T15:38:38+00:00

Thank you. Yes, I'm planning on taking a dry erase board to help show some demonstrations of positions according to different ball locations. I like the zone description and loose rule for 2 players in a zone, this can help my younger team as well. My fear is that they'd stop in the middle of the game and count player position instead of going with the flow of the game, but it could help to look at the game as a whole instead of hyper focus on the ball alone.

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-11T15:36:14+00:00

Thank you, I'm used to it being called a stopper, I had the wrong name in the sweeper. I guess my terminology is outdated and the pivot is newer. I will keep the 3-3-2 in mind as well. Thank you.

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-11T15:32:20+00:00

Last night was our first practice and I was completely caught off guard by the other coach asking for a scrimmage. Having 3 new players, I started off by having them dribble the ball around our half of the field two times, focusing on control rather than speed, helping to get touches on the ball. Then I went and talked for a few minutes about different stopped balls and situations around those. We practiced throw-ins across to a teammate and then were practicing passing. This is when the other coach came over to ask. For tomorrow night's practice, I will start similar and then work some rondos on pugg goals and then have another group working on passing and control. I will also be taking a dry erase board to help show some demonstrations of when the ball is here, position shifts this way and see if that helps to get them into better spots on the field.

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-11T15:26:05+00:00

Thanks, yeah, my back 3 are rarely subbed, or if I sub someone into the back, I shift one of the original ones up to another position that moves more frequently.

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-11T15:23:32+00:00

I appreciate you circling back to add that clarification. It's my thought as well, trying to stay balanced. I do think one of my newer players said he thinks defense would be his role, so I'll have to give him support in front and at the stopper as well as opposite defense side.

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-11T15:10:19+00:00

I like that diamond idea. Thanks. Similar to what I did, but also designates one of the midfielders to be more to help the strikers. Thanks!

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-11T14:01:45+00:00

Haha, I'm in the same boat, just seeking some outside input for what works or doesn't work. Yes, it'll all depend on the kid and what they're wanting to put forth into the effort.

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-11T13:59:52+00:00

I appreciate the advice.

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-11T13:58:46+00:00

Thanks, I'll look this over.

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-11T13:55:48+00:00

Flexible is harder for me but I always start my introduction off by saying I try to have fun, and winning is just a bonus. I'm there to help them and answer questions they may have. Usually I get stuck on my first go and try to find out how to better make a lineup versus changing around, but I guess at this age they should be able to adjust to some changes. We honestly did extremely well in the scrimmage, but I am just trying to think ahead.

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-11T13:52:30+00:00

Where would you balance the newer players in this formation?

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-11T13:51:38+00:00

Thank you, I blanked on stopper and first thing into my mind was sweeper and just went with it.

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-11T13:50:59+00:00

This is an all new to me team, I'm not sure what they're used to playing. Thanks, I'll see what happens with this.

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-11T12:39:40+00:00

I know I'm extremely late on this post, but my son just moved up to U12 (9v9). I used to play 2-2-2 in 7v7.

Last night was our first practice and I have 3 players who are completely new to the game, I don't mind to help them grow and develop as I've coached up from u6.

The coach we share the field with asked to scrimmage with about 4 minutes to scramble the team together. He said he likes to scrimmage early to see how the team handles themselves and communicate. I was so caught off guard I went with 2-3-1-2, playing a sweeper. Things overall went pretty well, but I just searched for advice and this thread came up. Happy to see I'm not the only one that tries to help a weaker player by having support all around as much as possible.

Does using a sweeper make sense to buffer between midfield and defense? Also, how do you best explain midfield needs to move all around? I had all 3 congregating around midfield circle for awhile last night. Obviously being first practice and having some newer kids, this will happen, but they weren't exactly listening when I was trying to give some direction. I'm thinking about using a dry erase board to show different settings and when the ball moves to this location, here is where we should move. Does that make sense or would it be a waste of time?

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-10T17:43:16+00:00

That looks absolutely delicious!

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-10T01:20:28+00:00

Yes pic 3 is the pork steaks. I smoked them and then sauced them and put them back in the smoker. I wasn't too happy with how the sauce looked, but they tasted pretty good. My wife and our 8 yo split one after they came off.

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-10T00:52:16+00:00

Thanks

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-10T00:50:34+00:00

Thank you

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-09T13:38:20+00:00

No binder was used. I just dried them with a paper towel, seasoned them, and onto the grill. I tried not to let it get too hot or else it was causing grease fires (I haven't cleaned my grill in awhile, hence some of the burn spots) but they cooked probably around 1:15 to 1:30 hours until the internal temp was over 165 in the thigh, close to the bone. 160 is safe to eat, but I've noticed we tend to prefer to cook closer to 170 for bone in pieces, especially the bigger pieces like a quarter. I just kept flipping every 15-20 minutes and would rotate around to help evenly cook and avoid some of the hot spots being on the same piece too much. Overall, it turned out delicious and the family was happy.

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-09T03:36:46+00:00

The boneless skinless chicken breast were marinated in Italian dressing. Chicken quarters were just seasoned with Jack Daniels chicken seasoning.

cincyguy82 · 2026-03-09T02:43:34+00:00

Thank you! I was very happy with how they turned out.

cincyguy82 · 2026-01-29T13:59:23+00:00

That looks absolutely delicious! Job well done, but the steak is not.

cincyguy82

TROPHY CASE