Even though it's only January we are in full swing for Evaluations for the 2010/11 teams. There are some substantial changes to the Evaluation policies, which have now been posted on the three clubs' websites and emailed out through age group coordinators.
Additionally, we have sent out the forms for you to rate and give feedback on the players on your team this current season and put out the Coach Application Form for next season.
Players and parents who would be heading into U13 next season should be aware that Metro soccer has added a level of play called U14B. This is essentially U13 Metro and the clubs have voted to support it this season and will not be running a Joint U13 Gold 1 team.
All coaches and age group coordinators are also being asked to attend a Pre-Evaluation meeting to go over the Evaluation process and the plan for how many teams and which level of play they will play at next season. Info on where and when those meetings are will come from your age group coordinator.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Friday, December 18, 2009
From the vaults
No shin pads, shorts with a certain Speedo quality, the Rowdies, the Caps...it can only be Soccer Bowl '79 featuring the best opening sequence to a sporting event ever! Click here to see the first ten minutes of Jim MacKay and the ABC broadcast of the game.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Case Study: Game specific strategies used at the Super Y Finals in Florida by the Coastal U13 girls
I recently got to take my Coastal WFC U13 girls (bit misleading as they all play U14 and U15 right now but the USL Y League is based on American age groups which run August 1 to July 31, and the league was actually last 'season' with the finals being held at the start of a new American 'season') to Tampa, Florida for the North American Finals of the Y League.
It's a very competitive tournament with top clubs from all over the US competing for championships at the U13 to U17 age groups in a round robin format. Group winners and the best second place team of the twelve teams in our age group (3 groups of 4 teams) advanced to the semi finals.
My assistant coach, Dennis Kindel, and I took the approach that we would likely have to scrap hard for every opportunity, goal and point we got so we set about planning for each game based on the bits of info we could garner from league stats (team records, goals for and against as well as scoring stats for each team were available to us) and from scouting reports by Coastal Technical Director Mark Rogers.
We decided, based on some guesswork, that our first opponents, Parsippany SC from New Jersey, would be our strongest opponent in the round robin phase and that we would adopt a cautious approach. Losing a game essentially makes it impossible to advance. A draw keeps you breathing.
So we focused on the following:
* keeper controlling her box, ready to come out for long balls over the top
* shape of back four, particularly outside backs not getting caught in behind
* central mids winning majority of 50-50s in the middle of the field and quick outlet passes to maintain possession
* strikers recognizing chances would be few and far between and ready to capitalize
What we expected from them:
* Superior technical skill
* More depth through their lineup
* More physical than we're used to
Our expectations proved correct. What did surprise us was the ferocious pressure they put us under. They over-committed players around the ball to win it back, counting on our ability to pass through it not being good enough. They were right as we spent the whole first half struggling to cope with their pressure and regularly turning the ball over. When we tried to play long balls out, their defenders dealt with them very well.
Fortunately, in the second half, as we got used to the heat and the pace, we found their legs and Parsippany looked less and less like scoring. It ended 0-0.
In our second game against Match Fit Acadmey, we figured we could play them straight up and knew we'd likely need a win if we were to advance out of our group so we gave the wide mids more license to play further up the field.
We went up 1-0 on a corner. It was gratifying in that we had spent a fair bit of time detailing the timing and the runs and it paid off. Unfortunately, in what was again a very heated, physical game, they leveled on a phantom goal that never crossed the line and the game ended 1-1.
That meant we had to win our last round robin game by two and hope the other game ended in a draw. We were playing a team from Boston that had only conceded three goals in their twelve league games but had found it a bit tougher in Tampa losing to our two previous opponents by identical 2-1 scores.
There was a brisk wind and we fortunately won the toss and took the wind at our backs in the first half. Naturally we played a very attacking formation with wide mids pushed up, an attacking centre mid with instructions to get in the box as much as possible and fullbacks instructed to swing balls into the box when they got the chance to take advantage of the wind. In the end though it was our corner kick that got us both goals and we were up 2-0 in 20 minutes. The game ended up being the most physical of all the games with the Boston team clearly frustrated. It ended with one of their players getting a red card for repeatedly, and maliciously, kicking one of our players while she lay on the ground.
We'd got word that the other game ended 0-0 with five minutes left in our game so we worked to control the pace of the game (yes, that's coach-speak for slowing it down whenever get got a chance) and deny them chances to knock long, looping balls into our box to take advantage of the wind. They ended up getting one good chance but we held firm and claimed a spot in the semi finals.
Now it would get really tough. We were playing Northern Virginia Majestic. One of the top girls clubs in the States. They had gone 12-0-0 in regular season play, scoring 35 and conceding 1. In their round robin, they beat our Northwest division mates, Coquitlam Metro-Ford 4-0 (they qualified for Tampa as the second place team in our division) and handily beat their other opponents without conceding a goal. I talked with CMF coaches and found that they had exceptionally fast (supposedly two of them ran the 100m in just over 11 seconds) wide mids that they were fond of releasing in behind fullbacks.
We knew they'd be a superior team in most aspects of the game so we set out to deny space and frustrate them. We told attacking players not to pressure at all and just jockey them back to the half way line. Our wide mids picked up tight on their wide mids allowing our outside backs to sit free and further back in the spaces they would likely want to play balls into and run onto. Normally we keep a high line and have our keeper ready to deal with long balls played over the top if necessary but we took the opposite approach here and collapsed back in to take away what seemed to be their key threat. We wanted them to have to go through the heart of our team (centre mids and centre backs) if they were going to score as that's where we were strongest defensively. If we could keep it level until half, they may start getting frustrated and take some chances that could result in counterattacks by our fast strikers.
It seemed like a great plan!
It was 1-0 for them after two minutes. One of their girls took advantage of us dropping off a bit too far and unleashed a shot from close to 30 yards that caught our keeper a step too far off her line. It was something that our girls normally don't have to contend with: a quick release (she took one step towards the ball before hitting it) with enough power and accuracy to go in from that far out and beat a very good goalie.
We were rattled and it was soon obvious there was a big gulf in ability but they held firm to the plan for the most part and we kept it 1-0 until the half. We knew we couldn't open up against them too early so we told them to keep dropping off for another 15 minutes in the second half and then we'd try to open up and get behind them (we caused them some problems 1v1 in the attacking third in the first half). Unfortunately our right back bit on a ball she thought she could come forward and win and five seconds later she was ten yards behind in a 50 yard sprint to a ball played into the space she left and their player ran it right into our box and powered it by our keeper.
Exactly what we were trying to avoid.
After that, the game slipped a notch as they went into second gear and didn't press as much and we tried to find way through without much success. In the last ten, another speedy winger got in behind us, clipped a great cross over and they headed home a very nice third goal. It ended 3-0 and we were out. They went on to win the final 3-1 against Rage SC, a team from Pennsylvania.
So did having fairly specific strategies help us in Tampa? I'd say they did help but would have to acknowledge we had a fair bit of luck against Parsippany (we almost scored an own goal - it hit the post) and even if we'd been able to negate the speed on Majestics we would have struggled to keep their other players at bay for the entire game. They were just too good.
Also, while it was nice that we scored three goals on corner kicks, those were the only goals we scored so you can only expect to go so far if you can't score from open play. And even though these were very motivated, capable and coachable 13 and 14 year old girls. They're still 13 and 14 years olds so to expect strict adherence to specific plans for entire games is maybe asking too much. At some point they had to rely on natural ability and inherent instincts rather than a strict game plan. As you play better and better teams your ability and decision making becomes second best to your opponents and you get punished.
What did the girls get out of the trip? Well, for starters, as a big believer in giving kids the opportunity to travel with sports teams, they hopefully have many formative memories of the experience that will make them more curious about the world in general in addition to opening their eyes to what standard of soccer is out there at their age group. They definitely got a chance to see that they may be big fish in the local pond but there's hundreds of similar ponds out there and many have much bigger fish than us at the moment.
It's a very competitive tournament with top clubs from all over the US competing for championships at the U13 to U17 age groups in a round robin format. Group winners and the best second place team of the twelve teams in our age group (3 groups of 4 teams) advanced to the semi finals.
My assistant coach, Dennis Kindel, and I took the approach that we would likely have to scrap hard for every opportunity, goal and point we got so we set about planning for each game based on the bits of info we could garner from league stats (team records, goals for and against as well as scoring stats for each team were available to us) and from scouting reports by Coastal Technical Director Mark Rogers.
We decided, based on some guesswork, that our first opponents, Parsippany SC from New Jersey, would be our strongest opponent in the round robin phase and that we would adopt a cautious approach. Losing a game essentially makes it impossible to advance. A draw keeps you breathing.
So we focused on the following:
* keeper controlling her box, ready to come out for long balls over the top
* shape of back four, particularly outside backs not getting caught in behind
* central mids winning majority of 50-50s in the middle of the field and quick outlet passes to maintain possession
* strikers recognizing chances would be few and far between and ready to capitalize
What we expected from them:
* Superior technical skill
* More depth through their lineup
* More physical than we're used to
Our expectations proved correct. What did surprise us was the ferocious pressure they put us under. They over-committed players around the ball to win it back, counting on our ability to pass through it not being good enough. They were right as we spent the whole first half struggling to cope with their pressure and regularly turning the ball over. When we tried to play long balls out, their defenders dealt with them very well.
Fortunately, in the second half, as we got used to the heat and the pace, we found their legs and Parsippany looked less and less like scoring. It ended 0-0.
In our second game against Match Fit Acadmey, we figured we could play them straight up and knew we'd likely need a win if we were to advance out of our group so we gave the wide mids more license to play further up the field.
We went up 1-0 on a corner. It was gratifying in that we had spent a fair bit of time detailing the timing and the runs and it paid off. Unfortunately, in what was again a very heated, physical game, they leveled on a phantom goal that never crossed the line and the game ended 1-1.
That meant we had to win our last round robin game by two and hope the other game ended in a draw. We were playing a team from Boston that had only conceded three goals in their twelve league games but had found it a bit tougher in Tampa losing to our two previous opponents by identical 2-1 scores.
There was a brisk wind and we fortunately won the toss and took the wind at our backs in the first half. Naturally we played a very attacking formation with wide mids pushed up, an attacking centre mid with instructions to get in the box as much as possible and fullbacks instructed to swing balls into the box when they got the chance to take advantage of the wind. In the end though it was our corner kick that got us both goals and we were up 2-0 in 20 minutes. The game ended up being the most physical of all the games with the Boston team clearly frustrated. It ended with one of their players getting a red card for repeatedly, and maliciously, kicking one of our players while she lay on the ground.
We'd got word that the other game ended 0-0 with five minutes left in our game so we worked to control the pace of the game (yes, that's coach-speak for slowing it down whenever get got a chance) and deny them chances to knock long, looping balls into our box to take advantage of the wind. They ended up getting one good chance but we held firm and claimed a spot in the semi finals.
Now it would get really tough. We were playing Northern Virginia Majestic. One of the top girls clubs in the States. They had gone 12-0-0 in regular season play, scoring 35 and conceding 1. In their round robin, they beat our Northwest division mates, Coquitlam Metro-Ford 4-0 (they qualified for Tampa as the second place team in our division) and handily beat their other opponents without conceding a goal. I talked with CMF coaches and found that they had exceptionally fast (supposedly two of them ran the 100m in just over 11 seconds) wide mids that they were fond of releasing in behind fullbacks.
We knew they'd be a superior team in most aspects of the game so we set out to deny space and frustrate them. We told attacking players not to pressure at all and just jockey them back to the half way line. Our wide mids picked up tight on their wide mids allowing our outside backs to sit free and further back in the spaces they would likely want to play balls into and run onto. Normally we keep a high line and have our keeper ready to deal with long balls played over the top if necessary but we took the opposite approach here and collapsed back in to take away what seemed to be their key threat. We wanted them to have to go through the heart of our team (centre mids and centre backs) if they were going to score as that's where we were strongest defensively. If we could keep it level until half, they may start getting frustrated and take some chances that could result in counterattacks by our fast strikers.
It seemed like a great plan!
It was 1-0 for them after two minutes. One of their girls took advantage of us dropping off a bit too far and unleashed a shot from close to 30 yards that caught our keeper a step too far off her line. It was something that our girls normally don't have to contend with: a quick release (she took one step towards the ball before hitting it) with enough power and accuracy to go in from that far out and beat a very good goalie.
We were rattled and it was soon obvious there was a big gulf in ability but they held firm to the plan for the most part and we kept it 1-0 until the half. We knew we couldn't open up against them too early so we told them to keep dropping off for another 15 minutes in the second half and then we'd try to open up and get behind them (we caused them some problems 1v1 in the attacking third in the first half). Unfortunately our right back bit on a ball she thought she could come forward and win and five seconds later she was ten yards behind in a 50 yard sprint to a ball played into the space she left and their player ran it right into our box and powered it by our keeper.
Exactly what we were trying to avoid.
After that, the game slipped a notch as they went into second gear and didn't press as much and we tried to find way through without much success. In the last ten, another speedy winger got in behind us, clipped a great cross over and they headed home a very nice third goal. It ended 3-0 and we were out. They went on to win the final 3-1 against Rage SC, a team from Pennsylvania.
So did having fairly specific strategies help us in Tampa? I'd say they did help but would have to acknowledge we had a fair bit of luck against Parsippany (we almost scored an own goal - it hit the post) and even if we'd been able to negate the speed on Majestics we would have struggled to keep their other players at bay for the entire game. They were just too good.
Also, while it was nice that we scored three goals on corner kicks, those were the only goals we scored so you can only expect to go so far if you can't score from open play. And even though these were very motivated, capable and coachable 13 and 14 year old girls. They're still 13 and 14 years olds so to expect strict adherence to specific plans for entire games is maybe asking too much. At some point they had to rely on natural ability and inherent instincts rather than a strict game plan. As you play better and better teams your ability and decision making becomes second best to your opponents and you get punished.
What did the girls get out of the trip? Well, for starters, as a big believer in giving kids the opportunity to travel with sports teams, they hopefully have many formative memories of the experience that will make them more curious about the world in general in addition to opening their eyes to what standard of soccer is out there at their age group. They definitely got a chance to see that they may be big fish in the local pond but there's hundreds of similar ponds out there and many have much bigger fish than us at the moment.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Worst miss ever
Ever had one of your players do everything right when they're closing in on goal and then blow the shot? Bet it wasn't as bad as this one!
More updates coming soon.
More updates coming soon.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Westside Coaching Seminars - downloads
Steve and I were running the Westside Coaching Seminars today. Weather wasn't great but fortunately both mine were classroom topics. The first was Reducing Goals Against (for U11 to U14 teams) and the second was International Travel with Youth Soccer Teams which was based on taking my U14 girls team to the Dana Cup in Denmark this past July.
Both the PowerPoint (Mac but should still work on PC's) presentations can be downloaded below. The Goals Against one is small but the Dana Cup one is about 47MB.
Reducing Goals Against
International Travel With Youth Teams
Thanks to everyone who came out!
Both the PowerPoint (Mac but should still work on PC's) presentations can be downloaded below. The Goals Against one is small but the Dana Cup one is about 47MB.
Reducing Goals Against
International Travel With Youth Teams
Thanks to everyone who came out!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Game feedback
One of the things I do for Pt. Grey and Kerrisdale coaches is make myself available to coaches at their games. At the games I can either discuss what I'm seeing with you as the game is going on and suggest adjustments or take notes on my own and put together some practice plans. I did this recently for a U12 Gold 2 team. Here's what I saw and came up with:
Chronologically through the game, here's my notes:
- keeper playing too deep (ie. too close to his goal line)
- defenders backing away from crossed balls rather than going to meet them or put pressure on attackers receiving crosses
-results in shots on goal being allowed
- first goal: keeper badly overplayed near post and left too much space at far post for them to shoot at
- defenders in general not putting pressure on attackers; giving too much time and space to spray balls around
- good job with covering defenders; decent shape at the back with second defender providing support (well balanced)
- when in possession too many players get ridden off the ball too easily by defenders
- lack of off the ball movement in attack; too much standing and watching what the person with the ball is going to do
- good pressure on opposing defenders from first person in but no back up from second and third so decent players can play through the initial pressure
- keeper improving positioning as game goes on; came off his line quickly to clear two balls with his feet outside his box
- continuing to defend way too deep and not stepping up to attackers as they approach goal
- both 1v1 defending and 1v1 attacking really need work
- group defending good
- ball movement in attack is good despite limited off the ball mobility
- work rate fading as game progresses
- many players need considerable improvement striking the ball, especially balls moving away from them
- by the end of the game defenders were dropped back so far they were almost on top of their keeper
Based on this here's what I would work on in training
Session #1: Focus on 1v1 defending
Warm up: incorporating movements related to defending; jockeying, side strides, etc
Drill: King's court - a series of 10x15 yard boxes with two players in each.
- They take turns playing the ball to each other, closing them down and preventing them from dribbling past them to the far side of the box.
- Defenders get points each time they either knock the ball out of bounds or win the ball in a tackle
- Let them play for two minutes, stop, get scores and whoever wins moves up one grid towards the end. The grid at the end is the "King's Court". Whoever wins in King's court is the "King." Whoever loses goes to the "dungeon", the grid furthest away and has to start working their way up a game. Those who lose in the other courts just stay where they are.
COACHING POINTS:
1. Close the gap quickly but slow as they get to within two or three steps away, get low, get balanced and focus on the ball.
2. Over play the side you want to take away from the attacker and force them to the other side. In a game, for example, they would take away the most direct path to the goal and push them to the other side
3. Wait for a bad touch and from a balanced, crouched position quickly move to the ball separate the attacker from the ball
Conditioned game: 3v3 with a joker (on both teams) in a 20v20 grid; teams score by dribbling the ball over the end line.
Because of the small space and the fact they are always out-manned when they don't have the ball, this game forces defenders to get to the ball carrier quickly and prevent forward movement.
If it's proving too easy for attackers to score, remove the joker or make 'goals' at each end that the attacker have to dribble through rather than giving them the entire end line to cross.
COACHING POINTS:
- be aware of losses of possession and have them 'switch on' quickly to defending so the attackers can get easy points.
- encourage them to apply pressure quickly when they have a chance to make attackers play with their backs to goal and don't let them turn
- encourage second and third defenders to communicate to the player defending the ball carrier and give him information about which side to cut off
- once they commit to a tackle and win the ball, make sure they don't give it away right away; look for safe, easy options to build an attack rather than something they lose possession on and end up defending again right away
Scrimmage:
- bonus points for examples of good defending (your discretion)
Session #2: Focus on 1v1 attacking
Warm- up: Each player with a ball in a 30x20 area (approx) and lead them through a series of moves that all incorporate a change of direction and a change of pace. No defenders just individual work on moving with a ball as if they were approaching a defender.
COACHING POINTS:
1. encourage creativity and explosive change of pace once they've been going for awhile and are pretty warm.
2. explain that lateral movement unbalances defenders and enables them to go past them more easily
Drill: King's court (same as first session but now the emphasis is on attacking)
- Players get one point for dribbling past the defender and over the end line; two if they're able to demonstrate they can do this with close control and actually stop the ball on or very close to the end line
- Same rotation after each two minute game
COACHING POINTS
1. take a positive first touch (ie. first touch goes forward and creates momentum) that confronts the defender and forces them to react to you and not vice versa
2. use a change of direction to unbalance a defender followed by explosive change of pace to go by them
3. once by them get arm up to fend them off and get the ball positioned so their body is between the ball and the defender as much as possible
Conditioned game #1: inverse of conditioned game in session #1 (ie players score by dribbling over line)
Conditioned game #2: 2v2 in 20 (long) x 25 (wide) area with full size goals at each end.
Divide players into two teams. They play 2v2 and when their shot either scores or misses the goal but crosses the end line, their opponents are off and two new opponents come on. Players only go off when the ball crosses their own goal line.
COACHING POINTS:
1. Encourage them to recognize and exploit when 2v2 turns into a 1v1 opportunity and get them to challenge defenders, carve out a shooting angle and get their shot away
2. Players who are off and awaiting their turn have to be tuned in and ready to jump in quickly so they can take advantage of transition and get their strikes in.
3. The small space places a premium on having a good touch and change of pace over 5 yards; get them to focus on close control and a quick first step going by the defender
Game:
- bonus points for beating an opponent 1v1 in the normal course of the scrimmage.
Session #3: Finishing
Warm-up: basic soccer movements with and without a ball in a 30x 30 grid. Have one ball for every two players and put them on a three touch maximum where they receive a pass, take their touches, pass to someone else and then go look for another ball from someone else. After each pass, incorporate runs of different lengths, checked runs, backwards running, side strides etc. As the warm-up progresses increase the length of the passes.
Drill: Man Utd Shooting Drill
Put two goals 20 yards apart, facing each other and make two lines that stand three yards off each goal's right post. Each player has a ball and they move towards the opposite goal, take a shot, retrieve their ball, join the other line and repeat the exercise. They continue in a loop.
- First few minutes just have them touch the ball five yards in front and hit it on the run
- Next, have them take a touch inside (45 degrees) followed by a quick touch outside and then a shot on a goal. This mimics moving the defender inside before going outside to open a shooting angle
- Next, have them pass to the player at the front of the opposite line at the same time so they exchange balls, have to control the ball and get it in front of them with their first touch and then shoot with their next touch
- Have them switch the lines to the left post so they have to do the same exercises but shooting with their left foot.
COACHING POINTS:
1. Small, quick steps to the ball with the last step being a longer explosive step to the ball that places the non-kicking foot next to the ball
2. Eye on the ball, after a quick look to the goal and goalie
3. Hit the ball not so much with the laces but with the area of the foot to the inside of the laces
4. Follow through completely in the intended direction of the ball
5. Tell them that three quarters of their success when shooting is determined by everything they do right up to the moment before their foot contacts the ball (ie. approach, balance, non kicking foot, angle of leg kicking the ball, part of foot that will contact the ball); get them to focus on this.
Conditioned game #1: 2v2 game described above
Conditioned game #2: King Louie
Two teams of four or five each put into a 20x20 grid with goals at each end (similar to 2v2 game) but with a halfway line dividing the area. Each team puts 3 or 4 players in their own end and one player in the opposing team's half creating a 3v1 or 4v1 in each half. Teams move the ball around and away from the defender until they can create a shooting opportunity. The lone player in each grid can score on rebounds and if they dispossess their opponents. Change the lone player every few mintues.
COACHING POINTS:
1. Body positioning that allows for a first touch to set up a strike at goal.
2. Use body to shield defender when shooting (ie. keep ball to the outside of the defender)
3. Reinforce proper striking technique
4. Lone striker (poacher) should be encouraged to focus on quickness to ball and getting 'garbage goals' as they all count!
Game:
- Keep goals relatively close together (but not as extreme as the 2v2 or King Louie games) and add a joker to increase the likelihood of scoring chances.
Chronologically through the game, here's my notes:
- keeper playing too deep (ie. too close to his goal line)
- defenders backing away from crossed balls rather than going to meet them or put pressure on attackers receiving crosses
-results in shots on goal being allowed
- first goal: keeper badly overplayed near post and left too much space at far post for them to shoot at
- defenders in general not putting pressure on attackers; giving too much time and space to spray balls around
- good job with covering defenders; decent shape at the back with second defender providing support (well balanced)
- when in possession too many players get ridden off the ball too easily by defenders
- lack of off the ball movement in attack; too much standing and watching what the person with the ball is going to do
- good pressure on opposing defenders from first person in but no back up from second and third so decent players can play through the initial pressure
- keeper improving positioning as game goes on; came off his line quickly to clear two balls with his feet outside his box
- continuing to defend way too deep and not stepping up to attackers as they approach goal
- both 1v1 defending and 1v1 attacking really need work
- group defending good
- ball movement in attack is good despite limited off the ball mobility
- work rate fading as game progresses
- many players need considerable improvement striking the ball, especially balls moving away from them
- by the end of the game defenders were dropped back so far they were almost on top of their keeper
Based on this here's what I would work on in training
Session #1: Focus on 1v1 defending
Warm up: incorporating movements related to defending; jockeying, side strides, etc
Drill: King's court - a series of 10x15 yard boxes with two players in each.
- They take turns playing the ball to each other, closing them down and preventing them from dribbling past them to the far side of the box.
- Defenders get points each time they either knock the ball out of bounds or win the ball in a tackle
- Let them play for two minutes, stop, get scores and whoever wins moves up one grid towards the end. The grid at the end is the "King's Court". Whoever wins in King's court is the "King." Whoever loses goes to the "dungeon", the grid furthest away and has to start working their way up a game. Those who lose in the other courts just stay where they are.
COACHING POINTS:
1. Close the gap quickly but slow as they get to within two or three steps away, get low, get balanced and focus on the ball.
2. Over play the side you want to take away from the attacker and force them to the other side. In a game, for example, they would take away the most direct path to the goal and push them to the other side
3. Wait for a bad touch and from a balanced, crouched position quickly move to the ball separate the attacker from the ball
Conditioned game: 3v3 with a joker (on both teams) in a 20v20 grid; teams score by dribbling the ball over the end line.
Because of the small space and the fact they are always out-manned when they don't have the ball, this game forces defenders to get to the ball carrier quickly and prevent forward movement.
If it's proving too easy for attackers to score, remove the joker or make 'goals' at each end that the attacker have to dribble through rather than giving them the entire end line to cross.
COACHING POINTS:
- be aware of losses of possession and have them 'switch on' quickly to defending so the attackers can get easy points.
- encourage them to apply pressure quickly when they have a chance to make attackers play with their backs to goal and don't let them turn
- encourage second and third defenders to communicate to the player defending the ball carrier and give him information about which side to cut off
- once they commit to a tackle and win the ball, make sure they don't give it away right away; look for safe, easy options to build an attack rather than something they lose possession on and end up defending again right away
Scrimmage:
- bonus points for examples of good defending (your discretion)
Session #2: Focus on 1v1 attacking
Warm- up: Each player with a ball in a 30x20 area (approx) and lead them through a series of moves that all incorporate a change of direction and a change of pace. No defenders just individual work on moving with a ball as if they were approaching a defender.
COACHING POINTS:
1. encourage creativity and explosive change of pace once they've been going for awhile and are pretty warm.
2. explain that lateral movement unbalances defenders and enables them to go past them more easily
Drill: King's court (same as first session but now the emphasis is on attacking)
- Players get one point for dribbling past the defender and over the end line; two if they're able to demonstrate they can do this with close control and actually stop the ball on or very close to the end line
- Same rotation after each two minute game
COACHING POINTS
1. take a positive first touch (ie. first touch goes forward and creates momentum) that confronts the defender and forces them to react to you and not vice versa
2. use a change of direction to unbalance a defender followed by explosive change of pace to go by them
3. once by them get arm up to fend them off and get the ball positioned so their body is between the ball and the defender as much as possible
Conditioned game #1: inverse of conditioned game in session #1 (ie players score by dribbling over line)
Conditioned game #2: 2v2 in 20 (long) x 25 (wide) area with full size goals at each end.
Divide players into two teams. They play 2v2 and when their shot either scores or misses the goal but crosses the end line, their opponents are off and two new opponents come on. Players only go off when the ball crosses their own goal line.
COACHING POINTS:
1. Encourage them to recognize and exploit when 2v2 turns into a 1v1 opportunity and get them to challenge defenders, carve out a shooting angle and get their shot away
2. Players who are off and awaiting their turn have to be tuned in and ready to jump in quickly so they can take advantage of transition and get their strikes in.
3. The small space places a premium on having a good touch and change of pace over 5 yards; get them to focus on close control and a quick first step going by the defender
Game:
- bonus points for beating an opponent 1v1 in the normal course of the scrimmage.
Session #3: Finishing
Warm-up: basic soccer movements with and without a ball in a 30x 30 grid. Have one ball for every two players and put them on a three touch maximum where they receive a pass, take their touches, pass to someone else and then go look for another ball from someone else. After each pass, incorporate runs of different lengths, checked runs, backwards running, side strides etc. As the warm-up progresses increase the length of the passes.
Drill: Man Utd Shooting Drill
Put two goals 20 yards apart, facing each other and make two lines that stand three yards off each goal's right post. Each player has a ball and they move towards the opposite goal, take a shot, retrieve their ball, join the other line and repeat the exercise. They continue in a loop.
- First few minutes just have them touch the ball five yards in front and hit it on the run
- Next, have them take a touch inside (45 degrees) followed by a quick touch outside and then a shot on a goal. This mimics moving the defender inside before going outside to open a shooting angle
- Next, have them pass to the player at the front of the opposite line at the same time so they exchange balls, have to control the ball and get it in front of them with their first touch and then shoot with their next touch
- Have them switch the lines to the left post so they have to do the same exercises but shooting with their left foot.
COACHING POINTS:
1. Small, quick steps to the ball with the last step being a longer explosive step to the ball that places the non-kicking foot next to the ball
2. Eye on the ball, after a quick look to the goal and goalie
3. Hit the ball not so much with the laces but with the area of the foot to the inside of the laces
4. Follow through completely in the intended direction of the ball
5. Tell them that three quarters of their success when shooting is determined by everything they do right up to the moment before their foot contacts the ball (ie. approach, balance, non kicking foot, angle of leg kicking the ball, part of foot that will contact the ball); get them to focus on this.
Conditioned game #1: 2v2 game described above
Conditioned game #2: King Louie
Two teams of four or five each put into a 20x20 grid with goals at each end (similar to 2v2 game) but with a halfway line dividing the area. Each team puts 3 or 4 players in their own end and one player in the opposing team's half creating a 3v1 or 4v1 in each half. Teams move the ball around and away from the defender until they can create a shooting opportunity. The lone player in each grid can score on rebounds and if they dispossess their opponents. Change the lone player every few mintues.
COACHING POINTS:
1. Body positioning that allows for a first touch to set up a strike at goal.
2. Use body to shield defender when shooting (ie. keep ball to the outside of the defender)
3. Reinforce proper striking technique
4. Lone striker (poacher) should be encouraged to focus on quickness to ball and getting 'garbage goals' as they all count!
Game:
- Keep goals relatively close together (but not as extreme as the 2v2 or King Louie games) and add a joker to increase the likelihood of scoring chances.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Warm up activity: Sequenced keep ups
One of my favourite warm up activities is what I call sequenced keep ups. Regular keep ups are great and serve their purpose well. They force players to react quickly and be ready and able to use any part of their body, often without much warning.
But by applying a sequence to the keep ups, by making players taking certain touches in a particular order you force a much more precise touch and force them to plan ahead rather than reacting to where the ball happens to go.
If you tell the players, "Right, first touch on your left thigh, then your head, then your right thigh." it forces them to think through the type of touches they'll need to take in order to get the ball to those body parts in that order. It adds direction and appropriate weight (light touch or heavier touch) to each contact of the ball and forces players to prepare their body by quickly adjusting their balance to take the next touch where it has to be taken.
There are loads of sequences you can have your team do. Remember though that the key is to be specific with what part of the body they can use for each touch.
For younger players or those still developing basic technique, try these:
* right foot, bounce on the ground, left foot, catch (and reverse order)
* right thigh, left thigh, catch (and reverse order)
* right thigh, right foot, catch (and then on the left)
* head, bounce on the ground, right foot, left foot (and reverse order of touches with feet)
* right thigh, left thigh, bounce right foot, catch (and reverse order)
Some intermediate sequences:
* right thigh, right thigh, left thigh, left thigh, catch
* right foot, right thigh, head, catch
* right thigh, head, left thigh, catch
* right shoulder, bounce on ground, right foot, catch (and same on left)
* head, right thigh, right foot, catch (and same on left)
And some advanced sequences:
* round the world : right thigh, right foot, left foot, left thigh, catch
* foot over: right thigh, left thigh, right leg swings over the ball as it bounces and then right foot brings it up to hands to catch
* should, head, shoulder, catch
* right foot, head, left foot, catch
* and lastly, the pyramid: right foot, right thigh, right shoulder, head, left shoulder, left thigh, left foot, catch.
The pyramid is the ultimate one that we work towards. Here's a video below of the Pt.Grey Roadrunners 15 Girls Gold team doing the pyramid (they've been doing these exercises for three years and this may have been the first time that three girls got it in the same session).
But by applying a sequence to the keep ups, by making players taking certain touches in a particular order you force a much more precise touch and force them to plan ahead rather than reacting to where the ball happens to go.
If you tell the players, "Right, first touch on your left thigh, then your head, then your right thigh." it forces them to think through the type of touches they'll need to take in order to get the ball to those body parts in that order. It adds direction and appropriate weight (light touch or heavier touch) to each contact of the ball and forces players to prepare their body by quickly adjusting their balance to take the next touch where it has to be taken.
There are loads of sequences you can have your team do. Remember though that the key is to be specific with what part of the body they can use for each touch.
For younger players or those still developing basic technique, try these:
* right foot, bounce on the ground, left foot, catch (and reverse order)
* right thigh, left thigh, catch (and reverse order)
* right thigh, right foot, catch (and then on the left)
* head, bounce on the ground, right foot, left foot (and reverse order of touches with feet)
* right thigh, left thigh, bounce right foot, catch (and reverse order)
Some intermediate sequences:
* right thigh, right thigh, left thigh, left thigh, catch
* right foot, right thigh, head, catch
* right thigh, head, left thigh, catch
* right shoulder, bounce on ground, right foot, catch (and same on left)
* head, right thigh, right foot, catch (and same on left)
And some advanced sequences:
* round the world : right thigh, right foot, left foot, left thigh, catch
* foot over: right thigh, left thigh, right leg swings over the ball as it bounces and then right foot brings it up to hands to catch
* should, head, shoulder, catch
* right foot, head, left foot, catch
* and lastly, the pyramid: right foot, right thigh, right shoulder, head, left shoulder, left thigh, left foot, catch.
The pyramid is the ultimate one that we work towards. Here's a video below of the Pt.Grey Roadrunners 15 Girls Gold team doing the pyramid (they've been doing these exercises for three years and this may have been the first time that three girls got it in the same session).
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