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Should players take individual training lessons?

A team coach’s attention is divided in many ways. First, they are dealing with a large group of players (+15). Second, their focus is split between the 4 categories (mental, physical, tactical and technical). Third, their main objective is to build a team that plays well together, which means that their focus is on team tactics (i.e. player positioning, movements on and off the ball, combination patterns etc.)

None of the above are negative factors, but it means that the individual player is given little opportunity to continue developing their technical skills. There’s a clear reason why professionals competing at the highest level continue to train individually. It allows them to fine-tune their game so that they can maintain their technique and continue to be a valuable component for their team.

Individual and small-group training sessions focus on the repetition of fundamental technical skills which, in turn, will allow players to perform at a higher level within their teams. Each exercise is designed to improve the individual player’s abilities on the ball by tackling a specific skill (e.g. first touch, dribbling past defenders in a 1v1 situation, crossing the ball etc.).

For younger players starting out, technical training sessions are designed to learn how to control, pass, dribble, and strike the ball with proper technique. As player’s technical levels advance, individual training is beneficial for two reasons. The first is to tackle areas that need improvement (e.g. player’s skill level is good overall but passing with their weak foot is not accurate). The second is to fine-tune their technical skills and take their game to the next level (e.g. help the player to dribble at a higher speed or in tighter spaces).