Training - Thursday, Feb 23

5:00PM - 6:30PM Field Training

I. 2v2 Long Ball Rally

Setup
- 40x12 yard grid with a 20 yard No Man's Land in the middle
- teams of 2 players at each end of the grid

Procedure
- Teammates interpass, then attempt to serve a ball in the air so that it bounces in their opponent's grid (12x10 yard box)
- Ball must not die (come to a dead stop) in any grid or it is a point for the other team

Make It Competitive
+1 point for the serving team for a successful long ball over No Man's Land and into (must bounce in) their opponent's grid
+1 point for the receiving team if they can control the ball before it goes out of their grid
+1 bonus point for the serving team if they ace their opponents (like in tennis, the serving team plays a successful long ball that bounces into their opponent's grid but then bounces out prior to an opponents touching the ball

Coaching Points
- Positive prep touch prior to serving the ball
- Get your body into a good position
- Use proper long ball technique

Variations
- Two touch ball all players
- One touch services (players must serve the ball without controlling it first)
- Everything one touch
- Bonus points if the server can call the name of the opponent she is passing to and the ball goes where she aims it

II. 4v2 to 6v4 to Goal

Today I wanted to work on direct attacking play from midfield.  Specifically, springing our wide players into dangerous space down the flanks.  I came up with this drill in a coffee shop yesterday and wanted to give it a try with the girls.

Setup
- 6 attacking players (Blue), 6 defending players (Green), and 1 GK
- Attackers have two wide players LW and RW starting at designated positions marked with disks
- The other 4 Blue attackers are in the midfield playing area (30x15 yards)
- Two Green defenders representing central defenders wait by their assigned starting disks just outside and goal side of the midfield playing area
- Two Green defenders play in the midfield playing area as midfield defenders
- Two Green defenders rest as target players at midfield
- Coach has all the ball at the top of the midfield playing area

Procedure
- Coach plays a ball into one of the four Blue midfield players
- After a certain restriction is met, Blue mids try to spring either of the two wide players with a through ball and join in with the weak side wide player to attack with 6 players
- Two Green central defenders are live when the ball passes them and join the two Green midfield defenders who are recovering to defend effectively defending with 4 total
- Play until a shot is taken or the ball is played out of bounds

Make It Competitive
+1 point for the attacking team for a shot on goal
+3 points for a goal
+1 point for the defending team if at anytime they can win the ball and play to either one of their two resting targets at midfield 

III. 7v7 Small Sided Scrimmage