Why is this the BEST Training? Understand the Difference!
10,000 Hour Rule
Not only has co-founder, Kyle, put in close to 1,000,000 hours training, analyzing, and understanding the game, but he has put so much of his free time / time in his pro “off-seasons” training players for skill. Recently, he’s done more private/small-group training skill sessions than anyone we’ve ever heard of. Kyle’s probably averaged at least 30 sessions for the past 1.5 years since he started doing this full-time. We’ve heard of other coaches complaining about 2-3 sessions a day for a few days a week, but Kyle ended his career in the best shape of his life and we think that’s a big reason he can push through such long days. In addition, we love what we do!
And, as you would imagine, we are getting better at what we do with every session.Â
Results over Gimmicks
it’s not about how cool the drill looks or how complicated it is; it’s about the coaching techniques/knowledge and the buy-in from the player. Anyone, we mean anyone, can go on youtube and find one million cool looking drills, but how many can actually teach the skill? We’ll answer that for you. Very few! We’ve trained professional players before and we’ve even worked with them on skills, but there are some times where they just need drills. If pros still need skills training, imagine how much skills training youth players need.Â
Session Preparation / the Database
Take it from a couple guys who were young and novices at this. Most coaches either walk into a session with no idea what they are going to do on the day or have a “c00kie-cutter” standard approach for each age group. Could we just show up and be better than the other guys even if they plan…maybe but we want to do what’s best for the players. That’s why we’ve created the session sheets and connected database to track everything we’ve done with them. See the video above for more infomraiton.Â
Did the other guy actually play professionally?
A lot of people will make claims about where they’ve played and what they’ve done. Often these statements are false or definitely misleading. Many people will say they played in this country, but did they play on a professional contract? A good way to check is to type their name into google with “soccerway” and if they have a profile with teams listed under their name then they have played in a one of the top 2 or 3 leagues of a country (this is often the level needed for a “professional contract” / to get a working visa.) To be honest, not every year of Kyle’s post-college career did he play in what would be considered “true” professional leagues or had signed “professional” contracts (especially after tearing his ACL for the 2nd time.)
Having said that, Kyle did sign professional contracts in the US, Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, and almost Japan (despite a natural disaster.) In addition, Kyle was a 2x Division 1 Academic All-American in college and played in two consecutive National Championships as a youth player (2nd best team in the country).
Although, Coach Louie’s playing experiences probably won’t show up on soccerway.com, we believe his playing experiences are better than the vast majority of coaches claiming to have had professional experience. As Kyle says, “Coach Louie was one of the most underrated players from the Chicago-Area. He was identified/mentored by the #1 coach for aspiring professionals in the area. In his and Kyle’s senior season of college, Coach Louie was voted as the most valuable player their program. His high-level playing experience also culminated with stints in respectable levels in Germany and Sweden.
Skills Training vs Drills Training
Another big factor in teaching skills is the technique used to teach skills. Are they just putting them through drills? Are they showing them, but not explaining it?
We’ll tell you firsthand that many players have bad habits and there are certain techniques that are better than others to break those habits and instill new habits. For example, their is nothing better to create a new habits and erase a debilitating shooting habit than GUIDED practice swings without the ball.Â
Pro Work
Pro Work is something we created to help instill the discipline and professionalism we want from our players. We ask each player to pick 3 skills/activities from each training and report to us on how many times they trained each skill and used each skill in the game. On top of that, we ask them to update us on their effort in schools as well as strategies to increase their efforts. Lastly, we ask them to tell us something good they’ve done in the world. We understand this isn’t something other trainers do and ends up being more work for us, but we know our jobs is, first and foremost, to make these individuals the best versions of themselves.Â
Connecting with our players
Yes, we are the best around at teaching the skills, but what makes us way better than the rest is our ability to connect with players. Very few coaches have the ability we have to get the most out of our players. To lead a player (especially privately or in a small group), you need their trust and buy-in. This is something we take pride in.Â
Can they combine fun with effectiveness?
A big part of the process for us has always been getting players to buy in to the training. We make it a point not to use “fun drills” that we don’t think provide value; We’d rather have fun with how we interact and some wrinkles we throw in the drills. This allows us to keep them engaged / focused while at the same time maximizing their technical takeaways from the training. It’s all part of the process.Â
What is Their Track Record?
Do they have a history of working with players and proof that shows that they’ve helped so many players develop?
Please go watch the videos and see the results pages on this website to see the results and testimonials firsthand.
And if we want to look at players I’ve worked with:
➢ Playing in the MLS (Major League Soccer) or top league for men’s soccer!
➢ Players who are playing in top leagues of European countries
➢ Youth Players called up to the US and Mexican National Team
➢ And, obviously, players that have gone on to play in various levels of college soccer including Division 1.Â