1v1s 2/7: You Can't Coach What You Haven't Defined1v1s 1/7:
Before we talk about training 1v1's, we need to talk about something that comes before all of it. Something that makes every decision you make as a coach make sense — to you and to your players.
Your game model.
What does it actually mean for your team to play well? Not in vague terms like "pass and move" or "press high." I mean specifically: what do you want to see in each of the four moments of the game — attacking, defending, transition to attack, transition to defense? What do your players need to understand about their role in each of those moments?
If you can't answer that clearly, your training sessions become disconnected. You do a 1v1 drill on Tuesday and a possession game on Thursday, and none of it adds up to a style of play. Players show up on Saturday and figure it out for themselves. And then you wonder why the same problems keep happening.
Here's the honest truth: I've been that coach. Running sessions because they looked good, not because they were building toward something. It wasn't until I really committed to a game model — to a specific picture of how I want my team to play — that everything else started to connect.
Once you have clarity on your model, you can build everything around it. Your 1v1 training should reflect the situations your players face in that model. Your small-sided games should mirror the positional relationships your model demands. Your feedback on Saturday should connect directly to what you practiced on Thursday.
The model is the thread.
Now, connected to that is what I call positional profiles. This is where the model gets personal. Instead of just telling a player their position, you give them a document — a one-pager — that says: here's what I expect from you in possession, here's what I expect out of possession, here's how you move in the four moments of the game. What, why, and how.
The "what" is the action. The "why" is the reason it matters within the model. The "how" is the technical detail.
Most coaches stop at the what. "Play it forward." "Get wide." "Press the ball." But players — especially young ones — don't internalize instructions without understanding why. And when they understand why, they start to make better decisions without being told. That's the goal. Self-organized players who can read a situation and respond because they understand the game, not because they're following a script.
I also use the "what" to give players homework. Ball control, first touch, whatever the technical foundation might be. That way, when we're together on the training field, we don't have to spend the first 20 minutes going over basics. We can go straight into the why — into the context of the game and the model.
A positional profile also becomes a tool for conversation. I can sit down with a player, look at the profile together, and ask: where do you feel most comfortable? Where are you struggling? What do you need to work on? It's not me telling them what they are — it's us building that together.
Here's what I want you to take from this post: you can't train 1v1's in a vacuum. Everything connects to your game model. And your game model only works if it's clear — clear to you, clear to your staff, and clear to every player on the roster.
Define it. Write it down. Put it in front of your players.
Then everything else you coach has a reason behind it.
@LeeDunneSoccer