Title: Inside Soccer
Overall
Rating: A
Source:
www.insidesoccer.com
Playing Time: N/A
Software
Release Date:
Cost: $ 7.95 per month, $75 annually.
Operating System: Mac/PC
Number of Players: N/A
Special
Equipment/Facilities Needed: Internet access. Computer with audio capabilities to hear drill descriptions.
Subject Area:
Soccer coaching
Objectives: Provide coaches with a
plethora of drills, exercises, games and tactical ideas that can be
incorporated into their training programs.
Brief
Description: Insidesoccer.com is a
site that is meant for the serious soccer coach. It is a paysite which
contains over 450 drills and exercises which can be used by coaches.
All drill demonstrations are available via videos which range from 2-5
minutes, while a PDF text description of each exercise can also be
downloaded. The website currently offers 12 interviews with top
professional and national team coaches (Arsenal, Spain, United States,
England) who share their thoughts on their own coaching philosophies.
There are also 26 interviews with players (Kaka, Ryan Giggs, Clint
Dempsey) who offer some insight into how they reached the very top
level of the game. The website allows coaches to search for drill by
tactic or technique (ie crossing and finishing, combination play), by
club (Valencia, Chelsea, Inter Milan, by the name of the coach
conducting the drill, or by tage of the traget audience (Under 8 all
the way to "First Team" or adult).
Entry Capabilities Required: A basic
understanding of soccer coaching is required in order to experience the
full benefit the site has to offer. Understanding of the game will
allow coaches to pinpoint the area(s) their team needs to work on,
which will allow the usability of the site (searching for drills by
technique) to really shine through. Having said that, insidesoccer is a
fantastic resource for beginning coaches, as drills are in abundance,
and are brilliantly described via video and the accompanying narrative
Rating: (1-5)
Relevance to objectives: 5-
Insidesoccer.com is a soccer only website. As the objective of the site
is to assist and educate coaches, the amount of information contained
within the site only serves to help reach that objective.
Provides practice of relevant skills: 5-
The website allows coaches to animate their own drills. Coaches can
"drop and drag" players into positions, place cones or markers on the
field, indicate the path of runs, passes or shots, and allows players
to be mobile within the video. Also, the website allows coaches to work
within a set theme (counterattacking), and coaches can learn to
accurately pinpoint drills which work on particular ideas
Likely to arouse/maintain interest: 5-
With over 600 total videos the ability to create your own drills, and
the constantly growing libary of drills and interviews, it is almost
impossible to exhaust all the offerings of insidesoccer. Coaches can
save their favorite drills into their "My Library" section which can
easily be accessed for consistent reference.
Likely to be comprehended clearly: 5-
Again, each drill or exercise is broken down by age, skill, club and
coach. This allows coaches to easily understand the objective of each
individual video. As a whole, the videos are all of very high quality
and shot from a distance which allows users to easily distinguish the
amount of space the exercises will require. The interface is top notch
and is navigated through almost effortlessly.
Technical quality (durable, attractive):
4- The quality of the videos, the design of the interface, and the
overall aesthetic qualities of the site are top notch. Having said
that, in rare cases, the narrative description of the drills is too
quiet. The audio is clear, but the volume level could be increased.
Game: Winning dependent on player actions (rather than
chance): N/A
Simulation:
Validity of game model (realistic, accurate depiction):
5- The demonstrations of the drills are all accurate and
(important!) all the drills are performed by players capable of
actually completing the exercise and reaching the intended objective.
Drills meant for Under 8's are actually completed by small children,
while drills intended for advanced players are demonstrated by
professionals, or top level youth or reserve players. To this point, I
have watched about 400 of the drills, and each one is an excellent
depiction of how it should look in practice.
Evidence of effectiveness (e.g.
field-test results): N/A
Clear directions for
play: 3-
Although there are no quams about the ease with which the site can be
navigated through, the "my animation" tool-which allows users to create
their own drills-offers little in the way of instruction. Functionally,
it is easy to place players or objects where the user desires. However,
it is difficult to get rid of objects or players which have been placed
by mistake and difficiult to understand how to actually set the drill
in motion via video
Effectiveness of debriefing: N/A
Strong Points:
Incredible amount of content, content organization, overall design of
site, ability to create own drills, ability to save favorite exercises,
clearly credible thanks to drills being conducted by world famous
coaches, very easy to navigate.
Weak Points: Incomplete construction of "My Animation" tool, audio quality of description of certain drills.
Reviewer: Mark Misiak
Position: ICT 614 Graduate Student
Date Reviewed: 6/9/11
Computer System Reviewed on: HP Compaq hd 7900, 3.00 GHz, 1.96GB of Ram