|
||||||
|
|
||||||
ZenFooty Blog Archive - December Does Juggling Really Do Anything Help Your Game?Published on Sun 12/28/2008 | 28 total comments ZenMaster says YES!! While you do don't have to be a great juggler to be a great player, it really does help with your touch on the ball. Especially if you work on a variety of different juggling techniques. Now, keep in mind, there are many good jugglers that are not the greatest players. But, on average, a good juggler is likely to be a player with good ball control and passing accuracy. The most telling juggling techniques are the ones that are the most difficult. For example: Can you juggle on the run? Can you juggle a skills ball? A tennis ball? A golf ball? A marble? or Can you juggle a regulation ball with every touch going above your head? How many times can you juggle with your weak foot? Can you juggle against a wall using one touch? Can you do that moving side to side? These are some of the things that really challenge the skills!! Just so everyone has a chance to show off their skills (and I do mean EVERYONE), ZenMaster is hosting another juggling contest, The Juggle-Up Cup, and this blog will be used for all of the trash talking about the leader-board. The contest starts TODAY!! Who is doing what in the juggling world? There are 10 different contests across a variety of techniques and they are all going on at the same time. Each contest has prizes and there are random prizes that anyone can win just by entering their score. Enter one or enter them all!! So, what do you think about juggling? Will you compete for the Juggle-Up Cup? What say you? « comments » ZenFooty Reindeer….Do They Exist…ZenMaster Says Yes! Published on Wed 12/24/2008 | 22 total comments On Dash, on Hammer, on Weasel, and Dinho…..On A-train, on Brickey, on Clickster, and Vinho….On Iceman, on Juicebox, on LJ, and Paco……on Cargo, on A-squared, on Wally, and Flaco….on Rip, on Bobo, on Brunzy and Dean(o)…..On Twinkie, on Juggler, on Kaz and Zinho...On Lightning, Speed-deamon, Speed-racer, and Flash....On Shorty, Buzz, Bulldog and did I say Dash?.....On Bouncy-Hair, Nate, Sox, and Slick....On Yorisimo, Q-ball, Ramster, and Side-Kick....On Rockstar, Wehrlebird, Nails and Moxy.....On Quimsley, Zach-Attack, Cucumon and Rocky...On Topo, Coozie, Skeet, and Opie..On Morgie, Axel, Ronnie, and Toby!! These are just a few of the great ZenDeer that bring the joy to the entire ZenFooty and ZenUnited Organization. We have brought together Teams, Private Training, Group Training, Summer Nights, 3v3 Tournaments, 2v2v2, Pick-Up Games, Juggling Contests, Golden Boot, Movie Nights, Bowling, ZenFooty Pot Luck Dinners and much, much, more!!.....As they say in the ZenMaster's Hood.....Its All Good!! Here's to thanking you all and wishing you all a Very Happy Holiday Season. Keep Kicking!! Now......What Say You?? « comments » Put the Freshman on Varsity…..IF They Have the Goods!! Published on Thu 12/18/2008 | 19 total comments Bottom Line: If you have a player who has got the technical and physical capabilities to play varsity soccer as a freshman, then you need to play him (or her) up there!! Unless, of course, the player will not get enough playing time to make it a growth experience. It is not enough for the player to train with the older and more experienced players; he needs game time. There is NO glory in playing up on the varsity if you are sitting the bench!! Furthermore, if you are sitting on the varsity and not playing with your classmen, then you are reducing the chances that your classmen have to be successful as a team. There is harm in this. Players get better when they gel as a group and grow as a team. When it is time for a player to advance to higher levels, it will be obvious and coaches should move players up to a higher playing level. However, when there is not enough separation between the "very good ones" and the "good ones," ZenMaster says leave them together and make them all very good players and a great team. Why play on varsity at 2 and 10 and not get seen when you can play with your classmen and go 10 and 2 and be prepared to grow into a great varsity squad? As for club soccer, playing the young kids up is a good idea when they can handle the physical pressure, game speed, and advanced skill of the higher level. The greatest players have all played up at one time or another so the ZenMaster does believe in the theory of matching skills to the level of play. However, if you are playing up to feed the kid's, parent's, or coach's ego, then you have a serious problem because the player who is not ready to play up will soon lose confidence, plateau, and perhaps even decline in skills. This hurts him and the team! And he leaves some very good friends behind!! What say you? « comments » Coaches, are you training your captains? ZenMaster Says Its Unlikely! Published on Thu 12/11/2008 | 9 total comments We have the captain thing all wrong in club soccer. We pass the proverbial "Captains Arm Band" around like M&Ms on some teams. I believe we have a responsibility to train the discipline of leadership as part of the curriculum of youth soccer. We need to help build future leaders and I feel that sometimes coaches shy away from assigning captains, training captains, explaining the leadership expectations of the captains, and setting the expectations for the "leadership players" on the team. In many cases, the leader can be a person who is not the captain. The Sweeper and Goalkeeper are two very key "leadership positions" as are the central positions throughout the formation. I have also seen leaders who hold down flank positions and even captains who were not starters or played as a substitute. The captain's role is more than a game day "Thing." There are responsibilities in training such as setting an example for the others to follow, leading the warm-up, helping organize training activities, managing the goofing-off, demanding effort from peer players, getting the team to move briskly through the activities, demanding quality performance in training, helping assemble the team to clear the grounds afterwards, and being the player representative to the coach when necessary. On game day he or she is the peer-leader, motivator, and an active team representative to the officials. The captain has a word with the keeper and coach before the coin toss to select sides and discuss conditions, he relays the team strategy to the players on the field when the team falls out of their game plan, he has a quick pre-game chat with team members to test their readiness and review the tactics to make clear situational connections with his team mates, he fosters communication throughout the match and glues things together. He calls a quick post game chat to debrief the team after the coaches huddle....and leads the peer discussion on how to improve. He also makes that "Chin-Up Cheer-Up" phone call to a friend who had a bad game or sustained an injury. Away from soccer, the captain remains a club citizen, an example to the community, a friend away from the game to his team mates, and a symbol of the club and team. He is often (but not always) a premier player. Above all, he is a premier leader and a role model. Sure, a coach has leadership responsibilities. However, if the coach is doing all of things mentioned above instead of teaching the captains and team leaders to, then we have it all wrong!! What say you? « comments » To "Turf" or Not To "Turf"...that is the Question!! Published on Sun 12/07/2008 | 16 total comments Zen says we need to kick our addiction to plastic and rubber (no pun intended). You know....the polymers, plasticizers, butyl…all that synthetic crap that makes up today's world. God gave us a great green earth and we are laying plastic and rubber on top of it. How green is that? Lets take a look at what "King Oil" has done for soccer. First of all let me say that I worked in the oilfield industry (specifically the chemicals industry where this stuff is made) for 5 years so I know a little about where turf comes from. Ok, here goes: New soccer shoes, shorts, socks and jerseys - 95% plastic or an oil byproduct/chemical derivative. Even the stitching is plastic. Something about all of that plastic up against the body is not quite right. How about your kid's new soccer ball with a butyl bladder, foam rubber surrounding, and plastic cover (spray painted to look like a UEFA Champions League ball). Let's not forget the glue that holds the ball together..yep, you got it, another oil/chemical byproduct called adhesives. Now, lets get to the topic and really make the synthetic picture complete: Plastic turf with rubber pellets dropped inside to top it all off. Anyone who has played on this stuff can tell you that you get to bring the rubber pellets home with you in your plastic shoes, socks and (hopefully cotton) underwear. They get everywhere! Oh, and don't let me forget the sunscreen spray coating that is put on the turf to keep it looking green (I wonder if that comes off with the rain or on a slide tackle). Oh, but its that special bright green, perfect looking, maintenance free, bouncy feel that you get when you run on it that makes all the difference. Ahhh, to be a pro!!! Playing on the turf!! Hogwash. How many turf fields do you see in the English Premiership? Turf for a decent playing surface costs $300,000 - $400,000 per field. Throw in another $50,000 for maintenance. Its not cheap. But I guess you get to fire the grounds keeper (or teach him to drive the "Turf Fluffer" once every year). That should help get unemployment up to 10%. So what about the safety? What about the knee injuries, ankle sprains, turf toe, rug burns and so on. Well, truth be told, the engineers have a handle on this stuff in the current generation of field turf. It really isn't a huge worry with the "higher quality" stuff on the market today. There is more "give" in the surface than ever before. What should be of some worry is the quality of the game. The rubber ball on the rubber surface played by the plastic shoe with a plastic sock inside makes for an interestingly synthetic experience. Almost everything is simulated except how the ball comes off the foot when driving a pass or taking a shot (which to me is important); it is not a smooth release at all. Those of you who play based on the "feel" will find that when the turf is dry, its a tacky experience (read into that if you like). When the turf is wet, striking the ball a slimy experience (read into that what you like). Oh, and for the purists; how about when the rubber creates an upward bounce on the first touch and a forward bounce on the second touch when it lands. Oh, and for the youth coaches; how about when the ball gets caught between the plastic shoe and the plastic surface for the young kids and they trip and fall (just like playing in uncut grass) or they go to kick the ball and it gets trapped under their instep and goes nowhere. And don't forget the heat...it can get extremely hot down on the field when you are playing in the summer; especially in a semi-enclosed arena. Everything about it reeks of vanity and "Souvenir soccer"; Souvenir socks, shorts, balls and now a souvenir field to play on. Nothing real, all made up to look like something its not. Is that what/who we are as millennium players? Are we souvenir players? We are sure starting to look like it! For me, I will take the cotton, leather, and grass thank you. Sure, I get the animal rights thing with the leather. But frankly, pumping mother earth for oil and its byproducts is no better a deal....and it sure isn't "Green!" Long live the '60s where "grass was great!" and "barefooted soccer" on the beach ruled!! Jerseys optional! What say you? « comments » |
|
||||||
|
|||||||
| Contact Us Become a Member Guiding Principles Meet the Team Advertise Investor Relations ZenFooty Jobs |
| SUBSCRIBE TO OUR EMAIL LIST | MAKE ZENFOOTY YOUR HOME PAGE © 2007-2008 ZenFooty.com |