pre-game 90 protocol for players

Your child plays well in practice but struggles in games, and it can be incredibly frustrating to watch because you know what they’re capable of.

You see them at training. They’re confident on the ball, making good decisions, taking players on, communicating, and playing freely. Then the game starts and something changes. They rush simple passes, stop demanding the ball, hesitate in moments they’d normally attack, or make one mistake and spend the next ten minutes trying not to make another one.

As a parent, the obvious conclusion is that they need more training.

Sometimes they do. But if a player can consistently perform during the week and can’t access that same ability in matches, I wouldn’t automatically add another technical session.

I’d figure out what changes when the game starts.

That gap between practice and games can tell you a lot about what your player actually needs.

READ POST: Why Soccer Development Feels Slow Before a Breakthrough

1. They’re Afraid to Make a Mistake

This is one of the first things I’d look for when a soccer player performs well in practice but struggles during games.

Practice gives players more freedom. Lose the ball Tuesday night and the session keeps moving. Lose it Saturday and suddenly the coach is watching, teammates react, parents are on the sideline, the score matters, and maybe there are even college coaches around.

For some players, that completely changes how they play.

A winger who normally attacks the fullback starts passing backward. A midfielder who usually wants the ball starts hiding behind an opponent. A striker starts thinking about missing instead of simply finishing the chance.

The player hasn’t suddenly lost his ability. He’s trying not to screw up.

Soccer gets really difficult when avoiding mistakes becomes your main objective.

This matters especially for attacking players because those positions require risk. I don’t want a winger carelessly losing the ball 15 times, but I also don’t want him becoming so afraid of losing possession that he stops attempting the actions that make him dangerous.

One of the best ways to evaluate this isn’t to ask whether your child “looks confident.” Watch what happens after something goes wrong.

Do they still ask for the ball? Do they attempt the next 1v1? Do they continue communicating and making runs? Or do they start checking the bench and choosing the safest possible option?

That’s a much more useful definition of soccer confidence.

Confidence isn’t playing a perfect 90 minutes. It’s being able to make a mistake and still play the next action like yourself.

READ POST: Why a Strong Soccer Mindset Must Be Trained, Not Just Taught

[CHRIS: Add a personal example here about an early mistake in a high-pressure game and how you learned to respond to the next action.]

A Simple Reset Players Can Use Before Games

A lot of game-day anxiety starts before kickoff. Players are thinking about whether they’ll start, who is watching, what the coach expects, whether they’ll make a mistake, or what happened in the previous game.

That’s one reason I believe so much in having a repeatable pre-game routine.

The goal isn’t to magically make yourself confident. It’s to remove unnecessary decisions and get your attention onto what you can actually control before the match begins.

Want a Simple Pre-Game Routine Your Player Can Actually Follow?

I put together the BTB Pre-Game 90, a free 90-minute game-day preparation protocol built around the same principles I’ve used throughout college and professional soccer.

It walks players through what to focus on before kickoff so they aren’t showing up mentally scattered and hoping they feel ready.

DOWNLOAD the Free Pre-Game 90

2. Their Training Doesn’t Look Enough Like the Game

There’s another possibility parents often miss.

Your child may be really good at practice.

That doesn’t always mean the practice is preparing them for the decisions they’ll face in a match.

A player can look fantastic in a predictable technical exercise because they already know where the ball is going, where the next pass is supposed to go, and what action they’re being asked to perform.

A game doesn’t give you any of that.

A defender is closing you down. Your teammate changed his run. One space disappeared and another opened. Now you have a fraction of a second to scan, decide, and execute.

That’s why I’d stop asking only:

Can my player perform the skill?

I’d also ask:

Can they recognize when and why to use it?

A winger doesn’t just need a great 1v1 move. He needs to understand when the defender’s body position gives him the chance to use it.

A midfielder doesn’t just need a clean first touch. She needs to scan before receiving, understand where pressure is coming from, and have an idea of where the next action is going.

If most of a player’s individual training is predictable, unopposed, and completely controlled, they can become very good at training without becoming equally good at solving the game.

That distinction matters.

READ POST: What Serious Soccer Players Do Differently in the Off-Season

3. The Game Is Moving Faster Than They Can Process It

Sometimes what looks like a confidence problem isn’t a confidence problem at all.

The player is late.

The ball arrives and they haven’t scanned yet. They need three touches when the game only allows two. They recognize the right pass, but the window has already closed. They receive first and then begin deciding what they’re going to do.

Against weaker opposition or in slower training environments, they might get away with that.

As the level rises, they won’t.

Research on youth soccer players has found differences in soccer-specific decision-making across competitive levels, which makes sense when you watch higher-level soccer. Better players aren’t only executing faster. They’re often seeing and deciding earlier. READ THIS STUDY: Evaluation of a decision-making skills diagnostic tool using 360° videos and head-mounted displays in elite youth soccer

This is another reason I don’t love telling every hesitant player to “be more confident.”

If the actual issue is processing the game, confidence isn’t the first thing I’d address.

I’d start asking better soccer questions.

Did you scan before receiving? What did you see? Where was the pressure? What options were available before the ball arrived?

Now we have something the player can work on.

4. They’re Thinking About Everything Except Playing Soccer

Ambitious players can carry an unbelievable amount of noise into a game.

They know who’s watching. They know whether they’re starting. They know another kid their age just committed somewhere. They remember the bad game from last weekend. They know their coach has been getting on them about something.

Then kickoff comes and they’re thinking:

I need to play well today.

I can’t lose the ball.

I need a goal.

I can’t get taken out.

Try playing quickly while carrying that conversation around in your head.

When I’ve performed at my best, one of the things I’ve always tried to come back to is the controllables.

Can I scan? Can I communicate? Can I make the run? Can I press? Can I show for the ball again after losing it?

A player can’t control whether he scores. He can control whether he attacks the right space when it opens.

He can’t control whether his coach substitutes him. He can control his response after losing possession.

He can’t control who’s watching. He can control how prepared he was before kickoff.

Learning to return your attention to the next action is part of becoming a better soccer player.

READ POST: How Soccer Players Stay Focused When the Noise Gets Loud.

5. They’re Carrying Too Much Pressure Into the Game

Parents, this is where I think you have to be willing to look at the environment surrounding the player too.

Not because parents are automatically the problem.

Most parents I meet are trying extremely hard to help their child. They’re spending a ridiculous amount of time driving to training, paying club fees, traveling to tournaments, finding private training, researching recruiting, and trying to give their kid every reasonable opportunity.

But serious youth soccer can become heavy.

Eventually every weekend starts feeling like an evaluation.

Did he start?

How many minutes did she play?

Why didn’t he take that defender on?

Why hasn’t the coach responded?

Why did that other player get moved up?

Is she falling behind?

A player can start feeling like every performance is proof of whether all that investment is “working.”

And then there’s the car ride home.

“Why didn’t you take him on?”

“What happened today?”

“Why weren’t you making those runs?”

I understand why parents ask. You’re watching your child struggle with something you know they’re capable of doing, and you want to help.

But sometimes your player doesn’t need another coach in the car.

They need enough space to process the game themselves.

That doesn’t mean pretending poor performances didn’t happen or lowering the standard. It means putting ownership in the right place.

Let the coach coach. Help your player learn how to reflect on their own performance. And protect the parent-player relationship enough that soccer doesn’t consume every conversation.

READ POST: Ultimate College Soccer Recruiting Checklist:

How to Help a Soccer Player Perform Better in Games

If your child plays well in practice but struggles in games, don’t start by trying to fix everything.

Start by identifying the pattern.

If their performance changes immediately after a mistake, the issue may be their response to mistakes.

If they’re technically good but consistently late with decisions, look at scanning and game understanding.

If they dominate predictable drills but disappear in live play, their training may need more pressure and decision-making.

If they’re thinking constantly about the coach, playing time, scouts, mistakes, or results, they may need better tools for controlling their attention.

And if they seem completely free everywhere except their own team’s matches, take an honest look at the pressure surrounding those games.

Once you identify the actual problem, you can start addressing it.

That’s far more useful than telling a player to “just be confident.”

Start With What Happens Before Kickoff

If game day is where your player struggles most, I’d start there.

The BTB Pre-Game 90 is a free preparation protocol that helps players create structure during the 90 minutes before kickoff instead of hoping they happen to feel ready.

Preparation won’t remove every mistake or guarantee a great performance.

That’s not the point.

The goal is to give the player a repeatable system for controlling what they can before the whistle blows.

When Your Player Needs More Than a Pre-Game Routine

Sometimes the problem isn’t one game.

The player is struggling with confidence, preparation, decision-making, habits, recovery, positional understanding, or knowing what they should actually be working on outside team training.

That’s exactly the gap we built the BTB Locker Room to help fill.

Inside, players get ongoing access to lessons and guidance around mindset, training, recovery, recruiting, positional tactics, confidence, and the professional habits team practice doesn’t always have time to teach.

Learn more about the BTB Locker Room

You don’t need another person promising your kid they’ll become a great player.

They need the tools to understand their own game, take ownership of their development, and become better equipped for the moments when soccer gets difficult.

That’s the work.

This post is about Why Your Child Plays Well in Practice but Struggles in Games.