Do you know what World Class really is? We have become accustomed to describing things as "outstanding," "world class," or even "the greatest." In fact, the terms come most often when discussing players or teams. This 15 year old is world class, that U10 team is outstanding. This morning, I watched a video that claimed "soccer players need several hundred to a few thousand touches each WEEK to be OUTSTANDING." Read it again, let it sink it. It couldn't be further from the truth. I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise that this was part of a marketing video that promoted a product for moms and dads to buy their aspiring young players. Soccer players need those numbers each day! In fact, Jon Townsend promotes the excellent 10,000 touches a day workout, but understand that there aren't any gimmicks or frills, simply hard work and dedication. We have become a culture so accustomed to getting what we want that we have ultimately lowered the bar on what world class really is. We have decided that mastery should be easy, that getting to the top should simply require an average level of commitment because otherwise why should we bother? It is in the watering down of words like world class, outstanding, and excellent that we get products each year that try and tell us we can be outstanding if we do this or that. "You can be world class" if you buy that nonsense contraption that has a string attached to the ball. "It works on your touch!" They exclaim as they simply keep kicking the ball, never stopping it. Working on your touch? Or working on kicking a ball endlessly. "You can be outstanding if you buy our soccer dancing DVD that will teach you 40 new moves," none of which you will master and thus be able to use effectively in a game, but it will look great in your backyard! "You can be a professional if you buy our book of 10,000 soccer drills." That one may be my favorite. The pathway to mastery, whether as a player, coach, or anything requires deliberate repetition, hard work, and focus. We have appraised our own soccer ability so highly that we assume we are above the basics. People are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on contraptions that don't focus on the basics, when a ball and a wall is free. Mastery is not easy. Mastery is the hardest thing you will EVER do, and that's if you even manage to try. I don't know this because I have mastered something, I know this because I am trying to. I have been encouraged by the works of people and groups like 3Four3, BeastMode Soccer, and HupTVC because they don't advertise gimmicks. They promote a dedication to their craft that requires insane amounts of hard work. Check them out, and don't be scared by the work that's required. Be encouraged that you're one step closer towards mastery by accepting that it is going to be different than anything you've done before As a coach, are you interested when you find a book containing 10,000 new "drills" that don't even relate to each other? Or are you interested in developing your coaching philosophy, playing style, and then developing core activities that relate completely to your philosophy for development? As a player, are you interested in 30 new moves by the YouTube Skills Gurus? A jack of all trades but a master of none? Or are you interested in mastering two or three moves that will give you the time and space to dominate the pitch? Mastery is not easy. I'm not even 5% of the way there. But I can promise you this, mastery doesn't require contraptions that make fun Christmas presents. It requires hard work, constant practice, focus, and determination. It's simple, but it certainly isn't easy. - Paul Cammarata
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30 Comments
shannon m matthews
12/14/2015 03:34:41 am
Boom boom clap. #dropthemicandwalkaway
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Powerful post. Simple idea but difficult for many to understand. Having a SMART goal is one thing but that dedication to 'mastering' a small thing is lost on many. Same idea applies to coaching too. Don't try and be a jack of everything own one thing. For me it's going to be my coach-player relations. What are other coach's going to master?
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Robert Kleemaier
12/14/2015 09:49:00 am
You have to spend 4 years at a professional trade school in the Netherlands to earn your ticket as a translator. Then you spend the next couple of years learning/scrambling to raise your quality & production levels. While that is going on, specialization starts to occur as you figure out what fields - finance, medical, technical, legal, etc. - are a good fit for you. So it takes 8-12 years' full-time study/work for a translator to be considered 'seasoned'. Sort of sounds like the timeframe required for your average U10 player to become a professional, doesn't it?
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Robert Kleemaier
12/14/2015 09:53:56 am
BTW, Paul, the Bruce Lee quote is most appropriate. Those who think this can be done without intense amounts of time, effort & dedication should try martial arts for a bit. That experience should make them aware of the reality of it all.
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