Training - Tuesday, April 10

7:15PM - 7:45PM Ball Masters - Individual Skills Development

I. Active Touches Warm Up

This is an activity that I first saw the Eclipse Select team at our age go through at an event a few years back.  I use it sometimes as part of a pre game warm-up at tournaments when we might not have lots of space/time on the field prior to kickoff.  It gets the girls touches in a more active setting than simply working with a partner in a static setting. 

Set Up

• Ball per two players, with the players in lines as indicated below

Procedure

• On the coach's go signal, players with the ball serve to the player across from them
• Players receiving the ball work on a specific skill to get the ball back to the server, then shift one player to the left (or right if the coach so chooses to move in that direction)
• Player at the end runs back down the line to work with the first server
• Work for a set period of time then switch roles

Make It Competitive

• My girls yell out "Hoot hoot!" if they make it through a complete cycle (working with every server) without having had any errant touches - meaning that every server they worked with was able to catch the return ball back to them without the ball touching the ground

Coaching Points

• Technical coaching depending on the skill being worked on

Variations

• Inside of the foot volleys
• Instep (laces) volleys
• Headers
• Jumping headers
• Thigh control + volley
• Chest control + volley

II. Technical Relay Races

More skills work in the small space we had to warm up in prior to taking the field

Set Up

• 4 teams of 4 players, one ball per team
• Teams lined up as shown below

Procedure

• A serves to B who executes a specific skill to get the ball back to A's hands
• A then tosses the ball to B, B takes A's place and serves to C
• A goes to the back of the line

Make It Competitive

• Each successful execution of the specified skill followed by a catch by the server is a point
• First team to 15 yells "Whoo hoo!" and sits down
• All other teams take 15 minus their score and do that many push ups, sit ups, or another fun/fitness penalty

Coaching Points

• Technical coaching depending on the skill being worked on

Variations

• You can get as creative as you would like hear depending on the skill level of your players.

Comments

This is a very enjoyable and competitive activity for the girls.  No one wants to be on the losing team and you'll see the players tense up when they know their close to their end goal or they hear other teams nearing the 15 point mark.  Have fun with it... your players will!

7:45PM - 9:00PM Field Training

I wanted to build off of our last session and once again focus on wide play.  My thoughts here are that we may likely face teams in State Cup who choose to bunker in and defend.  One of the best ways for us to break down this type of defense is by stretching the defense out across the field by playing wide.  Some of the stuff I did today was fairly complex.  I demanded a lot from the girls in terms of focus to pick things up, and by the end of practice we were humming right along.

III. Battle in the Box - Early Cross

Same basic set up and procedure as we worked on last Saturday, except that I had to make adjustments for 17 players instead of for 12.  I also varied the angle of the incoming pass today as well to give the wide players a different look.

Set Up

• 4 teams of 4 players in different color vests
• 35x60 yard field set up as in the illustration below (with a penalty box, goal, GK, and starting disks for attackers/defenders and wide players)

Procedure

• Blue team attacks, green defends, gray team on deck, gold team serving
• Gold 1 passes to gold 2 who takes a short prep touch and serves in a cross from the right for blue to finish
• Green tries to clear the ball from the box
• When the ball is dead (in the goal, out of bounds, or out of the penalty box), defending team exits the area and is on deck waiting, attacking team (blue) becomes the defending team, and the team on deck (gray) attacks a cross that will be played in from the other (left) side
• Gold pairs alternate positions after each cross

Make It Competitive

• +2 points for the first team that makes contact with the ball in the box (looking for aggressive movement towards the ball by both the attacking and defending teams)
• +4 points if the defenders clear the box in the air directly from a cross (so +6 total if they get to the ball first and clear the box in the air)
• +2 point if the attackers get a shot off
• +4 points for a goal

Coaching Points for the Crossers

• Good first prep touch, under control but away from your feet to set up the early cross
• Find a target for your cross instead of just kicking the ball (far post, near post, or a player's feet)
• Look up as the ball is being passes to you to see what you are going to do when you get it

Coaching Points for the Attackers

• Initial movement should be away from the ball to force your defender to work hard to see both the attacker and the ball
• Be creative and careful on your runs (careful about offsides) - lose your defender with quick changes of direction, starts and stops, or bursts of acceleration
• Don't get all 4 runners flat in the box, someone has to stay at the top of the box in the event of a poorly cleared ball from the defenders or to offer a lay back pass option
• Work hard to keep the ball in the box if the defending team gets to it first
• Wanting the ball is about attitude

Coaching Points for the Defenders

• Transition quickly from attack to defense and organize
• Communicate with each other and sort out who is marking who
• Don't lose your mark!
• Attack the ball, don't let it drop in our box
• Clearances should be high and wide
• Kamikaze to block shots in our box

IV. Battle in the Box - Varied Service

Same set up as above with the variation that the crosser can now take a short touch for an early service or a longer first touch down the line to play in a more endline cross.  Also, initial passer can now play a pass directly into the space in front of the crosser for the wide player to run onto.

Now attackers see three different types of crosses and must react accordingly.

V. 3v3+2 to Battle in the Box

Progressing from a more structured exercise, I now wanted to add a bit more free play to the mix while still looking to finish from crosses.

Set Up

• Two teams of 5 players (blue and gold), 2 neutral players (gray), four defenders (green), and a GK in goal
• 60x36 yard field with a 44x18 yard 3v3+2 area marked with cones, extending from the top of the penalty box outward
• Blue and gold wide players outside the main grid at the wide starting disks, with the three remaining players from each team and the two neutral players in the middle grid
• Defenders waiting at the top of the box
• Soccer balls with the coach outside the area

Procedure

• Coach plays in a ball to the middle grid
• Teams play 3v3+2 with the neutral players playing with the team in possessions (making it 5v3)
• As soon as a team completes 5 consecutive passes, the players in the middle grid can play the ball wide to either side of the field
• Once the ball leaves the middle grid, the game is live to goal
• The only people not involved from that point on are 1) the three players in the middle grid on the team that did not complete the 5 passes and spring their wide play, and 2) the wide players from that team.  All 5 of those players take a knee and wait until the ball in play is dead
• Thus, the players attacking the four green defenders are 1) the 3 players who completed the 5 passes and sprung their wide player, 2) the wide player with the ball, 3) the weak side wide player, and 4) the 2 neutral players - this means 7v4 to goal.

Make It Competitive

• +1 point per team for each shot on goal
• +3 points for a goal

Coaching Points

• Good possession in the middle of the field
• After springing the wide players, get organized numbers into the box - meaning see what your teammates are doing instead of blindly running into the box watching the ball the whole time
• Read the crosser to anticipate when the cross is coming

Comments

This would be one of the more complex activities I've run with the girls.  But they worked hard and picked it up, and some real good soccer came from it.

I also talked to the girls today about position specific training for State Cup.  So in the exercises, girls who would likely see time on the wings were the ones who took most of the crosses and girls who would likely see defense practiced in that position more than others.  We still rotated around in training, but not as much as I normally would have.