Training - Saturday, Mar 3

8:15AM - 8:45AM FIT Training

8:45AM - 9:15AM Video Analysis

Wasn't a very productive session (relative to our other Video Analysis sessions) this morning as I forgot my laser pointer and the remote control for the DVD player that I keep with me.  Without the remote, I can't rewind the player to go over portions of play as the only rewind button on the DVD player we use restarts the entire chapter.  So I basically sat the girls down to watch around 20 minutes of Manchester United's goals.  I tried to point out stuff and we discussed some of the play, but it was not as effective as when I could run a sequence over and over again for them to see.

9:15AM - 10:45AM Field Training

I. Ball Masters Program

• Fake Shot Push
• Fake Shot Cut
• In & Out

II. Attacking the Lead Foot

I wanted to give the girls the 1v1 technique of beating players at speed by attacking their lead foot.  In general, at our level opposing defenders usually get the concept of side on defending (as opposed to defending square).  When presented with this body position, I want the girls to be able to first recognize this, and then second look to exploit it.  They can do this by dribbling the ball across the defenders lead foot.

In the illustration below, the Blue defender is defending side on with their right foot forward.  The Green attacker should look to take the ball across Blue's lead foot to the attacker's left.

I just had the players working in pairs, standing about 20 yards apart.  A would play the ball to B and the close B down, making sure to take a side on position.  B would look to recognize this position and take the ball across the defender's lead foot.  Defenders defended at minimal pressure to begin with.

III. Duelling 1v1s to Goal

We then looked to take this idea to goal in the next exercise. 

Setup

• 2 teams of 7 in a 45x30 yard grid
• 2 goals with GKs
• Defending Disks are about 12 to 15 yards apart at midfield
• Teams split their players between the Attacking Disk and the Defending Disk
• All the team's soccer balls with the players at the Defending Disk

Procedure

• First defenders come out to the Defending Disks with soccer balls
• (1) On the "Go!" signal from the coach, defenders play the ball to the opposite team's attacking player and defend
• Attackers go to goal, if their ball gets knocked out of play or they score a goal, both attacker and defender go and help their respective teammates (playing 2v2 until the second ball is out of play)
• After both balls are out of play, players who were just playing switch lines, and the next two players in each team's defending line come out to the Defending Disk to await the next "Go1" signal for round #2

Make It Competitive

• +3 points for the first goal scored (I want to award attacks at speed!)
• +1 point for the second goal
• +1 point for a successful attack of a defender's lead foot (encourage the players to work on the skill)

Coaching Points

• Attack at speed!
• Don't worry about skill moves until you are slowed down
• Recognize body position of the defenders and exploit it

IV. Volleys

The girls were tired from the 1v1s, so we took a break to get some light shooting working on volleys.

V. 7v7 Small Sided Scrimmage