| Reviews with class(ifications) |
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| Written by Rob Antcliff | |||
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Like a lot of soccer coaches, I used to start my soccer coaching book and video research at Amazon- since that was the only place I could find soccer books with reviews. Then, I noticed something; there were very few soccer products that were actually reviewed (only around 40% by one count). That’s why I decided that at SSR, I would not only review all the items before posting them, but I would also dig deeper and provide more information on each item. That’s why you’ll see items with details that go beyond “author, length, and release date”. I want coaches to know more about the products including: what type of item it is (instructional or entertainment); what the focus is (technique and/or tactics, mind/body, game, etc); what topics are covered (attacking, defending, GK, team play, etc); and for what level of coaching experience the product best fits. In addition, I came up with two other unique classifications- breakdown and influence. “Breakdown” is a way to show what percentage (approximately, of course) of this book, video, magazine is devoted to exercises (drills) and what percentage is devoted to tactics. I think this is important because it seems that coaches are looking for either drills (OK, lots of drills). Or, they want to find out how to achieve a team goal (a new formation, playing a zone, learn about Brazilian philosophy, etc) which I’m calling the tactical aspects of the game. I think this item breakdown will really help make sure coaches get what they want. Another way I’m classifying items is by “influence”. This tells coaches from what angle, country wise, the material is coming from. This should provide some additional insight into the product and may help the decision making process. For example, if you’re looking for a good defending DVD, I would lean towards the one by the Italians then, say, one by my beloved Dutch. To be fair, if I was looking for an attacking book, I would certainly take a Dutch one over an Italian one (Hup Holland!). Add in the item’s table of contents and an honest and unbiased review and I’m hoping you’ll get a pretty good feel for each of the products you're researching. But, I want to hear from you. Let me know what you think and help me make SSR the best resource for soccer coaches on the web. Yours on the far post, Rob
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