Why this course?

In this course, we will look at the Ekkono Method’s proposal on how to structure the blocks of training topics for players aged 6 to 19. To do so, we will explain the development stages of players at different ages – the egocentric phase, the summative phase, the collective phase – and how the training content should be adapted to the comprehension abilities that the players may have at that time.

For 6-13 year olds, we will divide all the content into 5 blocks and explain what you need to think about when planning each of them: Values, Universal Basic Fundamentals, Team fundamentals, Perception and Coordination skills. We will also explain how to handle main content (by age group) and secondary content (competition-based) and how to evaluate them.

For 14-19 year olds, we also divide the content into 5 blocks and will explain what you need to think about when planning each of them – Values, Perception, Individual Fundamentals by Position, Team Fundamentals, and Physical Fitness – and how you can use video analysis and specialized training tools with a training purpose.

Finally, we will look at how content can be grouped based on a game analysis perspective – team composition, ball movement, player movement – ​​and how the content can be treated as procedural or conceptual.

This course will help you become an expert in planning training content, learning what content to train throughout the whole youth stage – initiation (ages 6-13) and specialization (ages 14-19).

What will you learn?

• Requirements and stages of player development: How should the training content be programmed throughout the season, what should be prioritized in planning practice between the different blocks: physical, coordination, game understanding…
• Initiation Stage Blocks: Detailed explanation of the different blocks are in the early stages to specifically learn values/habits, the foundation of basic fundamentals, team principles, coordination, perception, etc. With a particular focus on perception, we’ll look at how it can be used to help develop smarter players from an Ekkono Method perspective.
• ​Specialization Stage Blocks: Detailed explanation of the Specialization stage blocks, where we will will explore perception, individual fundamentals by position, team principles, physical fitness and values. Here we will show you also how the individual fundamentals by position can be trained through specialized training and video analysis.
• Planning Guide: In different sessions throughout the course, we will review in detail what specific content we recommend when planning for each age group from 6 to 19 years old. For each age group, we will provide examples of training exercises that you can use to apply the content and concepts explained.

For whom?

• Initiation Stage (U7-U13) coaches
• Specialization Stage (U14-U19) coaches
• Performance coach
• Academy Director

Not sure about joining this course yet? Rewatch now Session 0 and get an introduction of what you learn see in the full course.