In a previous article, we already outlined the benefits of scouting. Now, we’re going to dig in and consider the important factors to consider when we are scouting. With the outcomes of our reports more important the further up the ladder we go, here are some scouting tips to hopefully help you prepare yourself to be able to get the best possible information you can out of your scouting sessions. These tips are in no particular order.

Scouting Soccer: Practical Tips

   

Soccer Scout - (Photo: abbeyroadsblog.blogspot.com)

1. Prepare for the weather – The climate can and will affect the level of the scouting reports we will produce. From driving rain to beating sun, we need to take the weather and what we can use against it into consideration. Sunglasses, umbrella’s, rain jackets, baseball caps and sun visors are just a number of things that can be used to help not letting the weather conditions affect your scouting reports.

2. Prepare your electrical equipment – You’d be amazed, but it can potentially happen to all of us and yes, I’ll admit it, it HAS happened to me ( embarrassing? Yes ). I have turned up for games with no battery charged in my video camera. There we go, I admitted it but I don’t mind doing so as it made me MUCH more organized and make sure that it NEVER happened again..

3. Prepare your documentation – Whether scouting a team or an individual player, make sure that you have the appropriate scouting forms with you. Scouting report forms can be easily accessed but designing your own will give you the best results as you can design templates for the specific parts of the game that you want to scout be it team play or individuals including defender, midfielder and attacker based templates.

4. Prepare your position – This is very important. Where you are positioned whilst watching a game can make all the difference between an accurate scouting report or not. Higher vantage points help you see things such as team shape and patterns of play much more easier. Add to that a centralized position as close to the half way line as possible and you may just be in a prime position to help you maximize the effectiveness of your scouting reports.

5. Prepare your Stationary – Much like with your electrical equipment, embarrassing situations can occur. Make sure your stationary is in order and you have all of your equipment ready to be used such as pens, pencils and even rulers if needs be.

6. Arrive early – Arriving early to a game gives you a great insight into how teams warm up, how individual players warm up and to view all pre game preparation. Something also worth considering is assessing team morale, viewing who are the vocals players and also taking note, if on player specific scouting missions, who are the better trainers and who warm up correctly.

Soccer scouting of course, isn’t an exact science, much like the game itself. We can however give ourselves the best possible chance of obtaining the information that we want by following these practical tips when and where we can.

Remember, what you are doing here is to obtain and ultimately present information to help your players, coach and team as a whole. An effective Scouting Report will help the team and players to prepare themselves properly and improve their end results while helping them to understand the game and the different areas within it.