Factors to Reaching Your Potential

  • Knowledge: watching, hearing, talking about the game, imitating top players, parent teaching child (ex: other countries where soccer is a part of life)
  • Environment: Training environment, 1000s of successful reps through practice and play (skill and decision making), learning from other players, instruction
  • Time: Time spent with ball, time spent watching the game, time spent on each skill area. And more importantly the quality - efficiency and effectiveness of time spent.

Steps of Learning:

  1. Verbal - professional instruction
  2. Visual
    1. professional demonstration
    2. video analysis - comparing their technique to a top player.
  3. Kinesthetic - move through the motions of a technique.
  4. Demonstrate Understanding - players required to verbalize and demonstrate their understanding.
  5. Practice & Play - 1000s of intentional repetitions (instructors continuously encourage and highlight the correct techniques and provide feedback to constantly help with improvement)

 

Accelerated player development requires step-by-step instruction, thousands of successful repetitions, and with a progression of difficulty that increases as the player improves.
Small group training with 6 players, in a measurable, highrepetition training environment allows players to unlockhigher levels of their potential.

 

The Training Environment:

Fun, Measurable, Progression Training
• Small group size
• Specialized Equipment
• Success Rate Training
• Progression Training
• Professional Instruction

Small Group Training

Groups of 12 players to ensure players receive 1000s of reps with personal instruction for accelerated development. In small groups, players get both the individual attention needed, and the game-like environment of teammates/opponents.
At team training, it’s impossible for coaches to give all the players the number of repetitions and personal instruction needed for rapid improvement

Specialized Equipment

How many reps can they successfully complete? The goal each session is to get players closer to achieving 80-100% success rate consistently before adding a  challenge (ex: 10 out of 10)
Training for success, not failure — Players need the muscle memory for successful executions

Success Rate Training

Most players including D1 players are at less than 50% success rate in controlling their first touch and hitting a target zone from 10 yards.
Success Rate Training is humbling, but in the end the process builds confidence.

Progression Training
Provide players with a challenge, teach them to be successful at that level, then add the next challenge.
Example:
Step 1: Can the player (in freeze frame and slow-motion) demonstrate understanding of technique for receiving a ball? For striking a ball?
Step 2: Can they control and strike a ball consistently from 6 yards?
Step 3: Can they do it faster, under time pressure?
Step 3: Can they do it with defensive pressure?
Step 4: Can they do it with decision-making?
**Then repeat steps 1-4 at a higher level of challenge**

Professional Instruction
• Experts in developing the individual player to become a top player
• Trained in Top XI’s step-by-step curriculum
• Teachers of the game
• Ongoing personal feedback to correct habit

Testing to a Standard

We know players can be much more skillful than their current level, so we don’t assess in comparison to others(ex: grade on a curve), instead we set standards that players strive to achieve, before moving to the next level.

Top XI Training is measurable: The layouts and equipment are utilized in a way that gives players instant feedback on their success rates during a
session.
Assessment is also delivered in the form of scores, times, and video analysis

How we measure

Curriculum: We’ve laid out different challenge levels to test possession skills, goal-scoring skills, and defending skills with either a score, time, or video analysis. Success rate is a key component (ex: score out of 10)

Equipment: Auto Feed Ball Machines, Electronic Target Boards, Flat Net Target Zone goals, and Cone Gates allow us to measure first touch, receiving, passing, striking, and ball handling. Video is captured for visual analysis.