Ron Smith offers hi-tech coaching advice         
Written by Walter Pless    |    Tuesday, 24 January 2012 07:37
Ron Smith, the former coach of the Australian Institute of Sport and currently on the coaching staff of the Socceroos, has launched an iPhone application called ‘Football Practices’.
There are 30 practices, with a sample of a practice for from three players to as many as 20.

They are animated, so all you have to do is select the practice you want to see, press ‘play’, and then sit back and watch and listen to the instructions.
There are three categories from which to select: 3-10, 11-20, and Shooting Practices.
They are mostly opposed practices.
The application is free to download in order to view the three free samples.
Once you see those, I am sure you will want to download the remaining 27 at a cost of $1.99.
“I think the application is great and could be very handy to have in my phone, but it also works on the iPad and iPod,” said former Tasmanian coaching director, Steve Darby, from Vietnam.

Ron Smith will be launching a new website in a couple of months, so if you want to be notified when it is ready, go to www.socceron.com.au and enter your email address and you'll be notified.
“Coaching is always evolving, and you have to accept that or you will end up as Dinosaurs,” said Darby.
“Sports Science and nutrition are now accepted and the use of ProZone has revolutionised the game, so it makes sense that the next stage is computer/phone access.
“I keep all my sessions on disk now and I see an iphone app as just a extension of knowledge development, especially for younger coaches on the way up.”




Ron has posted on here.

He has some useful applications for coaches and a new website.





Edited by Decentric: 26/1/2012 02:38:56 PM

I would like to see the videos show actual players performing the drills not just animations. A bit like the inside soccer website. Not only do you see how it looks in actual practice but it also shows how the coach manages the session, what mistakes can occur, what the players will naturally do. An animation just shows the perfect scenario as the coach wants to see but as we know that rarely happens.

Putting videos of training drills online is something the FFA should be doing already. Just set up a youtube account and record some of the skillaroo or NTC sessions and then any coach who is interested could see what the FFA is looking for.

Edited by the.football.God: 26/1/2012 03:04:39 PM

Great idea.

Unfortunately, much of what FFA provides costs money.