Turbulence: “You Have to Get Into It, To Get Out of It”
How do the best players technically and physically get into and get out of tight spaces and time pressure?
Immersing players in “turbulence” is an analogy for how players learn to welcome and solve pressure situation. There is an art to dribbling which involves a lot more than ball manipulation and mastery.
Some of the best dribblers were born in a time and place where there was little access to equipment and coaching. Most dribblers spent years getting fouled, learning how to self and ride tackles/fouls on the concrete of the schoolyard, without shinguards or the watchful and protective eye of a coach or teacher. In our attempt to protect 'special' players have we taken these players out of that environment to their and our detriment or can special dribblers and creative players flourish on the pristine fields. Cryuff and Tuschel think not, along with a cohort of others former players, leading coaches.
When considering how to teach the individual dribbling qualities in players today, we have to attempt to re-create scenarios that challenge their capabilities in a similar way to what players of the past encountered in the schoolyard or in a street game or free play.
The following are a few examples of various themes and scenarios I have utilized to help elevate the player learning process. The basic premise is that coaches have to put players in “turbulence” to help enable them to find solutions and emerge from difficult situations:
Exploring the extremes of dribbling and passing: encouraging dribbling in your own half of the field to utilizing only collective combination play
Developing not only speed of footwork, but training with power and stamina while dribbling, i.e. speed of the entire body with the ball
Making actions in small-sided, numbers-down situations that place players under mental and physical stress
Using the upper-body and arms and eyes to work on deception, through the ‘invisible teammate’ scenario, i.e. “faking” the pass, shot, dribble, movement, or action
Providing game scenarios where the player has no simple options to play collectively, and is forced to make actions individually instead of seeking passing solutions
