Training - Monday, June 4

Holy Angels, 14 players.

My plan for the day was a technical session, attempting to address a few areas in which we need some serious improvement prior to Regionals; clearances from the back and judging air balls.  I also wanted to continue to work on our ball striking technique. 

From what I've experienced (and read), young girls develop the skill of tracking an object in a 3D environment slower than boys do.  I assume this is related somewhat to depth perception, but I haven't done extensive research to find out exactly what all the exact cause of this is.  All I know is that many girls on this team jump to head a ball that is 10 feet above their heads, or take an approach path to an air ball that sometimes leaves them and the ball in separate zip codes once the ball is once again Earth-bound. 

This ability to pick up on and judge a trajectory of the ball flight is a key component in the game.  With all the work we've done with heading the past few years, it doesn't do any good if the girl due to poor visual coordination can't get on the end of a cross, a goal kick, a punt, etc.  It's about moving the body into the correct line of flight  and getting the body into an area that the ball will land. 

So, on my way over to Holy Angels I stopped by Toys R Us to pick up an Air Hogs Stomp Rocket set. 

I had seen these things in action in my neighborhood and it looked like a very enjoyable way for the girls to work on this visual skill.  I didn't really know how it was going to work out with this age group, thinking that the Stomp Rocket toy would be better for younger players.  I was amazed at the results by the end of training.

I set up 3 stations and divided the group into 2 groups of 5 and one group of 4.  The groups would work at each station for 8 to 10 minutes or so, then rotate through the other ones.  Each station had points associated with it and each group would tally their points to keep things competitive. 

Station #1 - Stomp Rocket

The girls took turns jumping on the air pad to launch the foam-tipped rockets into sky-high parabolas for their partners to try to get their body in position (by judging the trajectory of the air rocket) to catch the falling projectile.

Station #2 - Aerial Ball Control/Dead Ball Service

Set Up

• 1 8v8 goal with a 6x12 yard box marked with disks in front of it
• A clearing line marked with disks 12 yards from goal
• 1 ball striking disk 30 yards from goal

Procedure

• One partner in goal, one partner up at the ball striking disk
• Girls took turns striking a dead (not moving) ball at goal from 30 yards
• The player in the goal tries to either 1) control the air ball within the controlling box, or 2) clear high balls with their head past the clearing line 12 yards away and to the outside of the field

Make It Competitive

• + 5 points for the ball striker if they can score a goal past their teammate
• + 1 point for the player in goal if they are able to control the flighted ball within the controlling box
• +1 point for the player in goal if she is able to clear a high ball with her head past the clearing line

Coaching Points

• Player in goal must move her body to get in the line of flight rather than stretch and reach (off balance) for a ball wide of them
• Concentrate on the clearing headers, looking to put the ball high and wide up field

Station #3 - Aerial Ball Contact/Moving Ball Service

Same as above, this time the ball striker pushes the ball forward with one touch and strikes a moving ball at goal.  Ball must be hit from outside the 25 yard mark.

I had the girls go through the entire circuit (each station) once, then brought them together to talk about the tracking/trajectory piece.

I then had the groups go through the 3 stations again, varying Stations #2 and #3 to work on clearances.

Station #2b - First Time Clearances/Dead Ball Weak Foot Low Service

Station #3b - First Time Clearances/Moving Ball Low Service

This time the girls would accumulate points by clearing the ball up field.  Points were determined by accuracy and distance as shown by the numbers in red in the above illustration.

7v7 2 Goal, 1 Goal

We finished with a 7v7 half field game with one team going to a regulation sized goal and the other attacking the two 8v8 goals we used during the station work.  The GK of the team defending the two 8v8 goals had to defend both goals.

If readers remember, last Wednesday the skies opened up on us at Macalester College.  I failed to wash the scrimmage vests since then.  Suffice it to say that the odor emanating from the vests was less than pleasant.  Neither team wanted to wear them so I was forced to do trivia to determine a losing team that would wear the rotten-egg-smelling Nike vests. 

This whole situation garnered a bunch of smiles and laughs which I love to see.  It also helped to have an affect on the ensuing scrimmage as I told the girls in the orange vests that if they scored, the smelly apparel could be shed and had to be worn by the other team until that team scored.  It was a VERY competitive finish to training :)

Training - Saturday, January 6

8:45AM Video Analysis

9:15AM - 10:45AM Field Training

I. 1v2 No Tackling

Set Up

• 3 players to a ball at midfield

Procedure

• 1 player has the ball and is the dribbler (attacker), the other two players are the defenders
• 1st defender (1D) puts pressure on the ball, 2nd defender (2D) provides cover
• Dribbler works their way to the end line, moving at 1/2 speed and more side to side than straight forward
• Two defenders work on jockeying/delay, communication, positioning, switching from 1D to 2D - no tackling allowed
• Players change roles at the end line and a new dribbler works her way to midfield with the other two players defending

Coaching Points

• Down low, grab the grass, quick feet by the 1D
• Good buffer zone distance between the 1D and the dribbler
• Communication by the 2D ("Patience!", "Down low!", "Force her left!")
• "I go ball!" by 2D if attacker gets too far ahead of 1D, 1D then recovers and becomes 2D

1v2 Cutting Off the Passing Lanes

Set Up

• Two teams, green and blue, with designated GKs for each team
• 30x15 yard grid with two 5x5 GK boxes at each end
• Teams line up as shown below, with half the players at a corner of the grid and the other half of the players 10 yards up the side of the gird with all the team's soccer balls
• Team's GK is in the 5x5 yard box at the opposite end of the grid

Procedure

• Blue starts out as the defending team in the first sequence, so the first player in the line with the soccer balls plays a ball out to the far green player then goes out to defend
• First blue player from the back line (at the corner of the grid) also comes out to defend
• Green attacker goes 1v2 and tries to get the ball into the hands of their GK at the far end
• If blue defender win the ball they may try and play to their GK

Make It Competitive

• +3 point for the attacking team if they can play a ball to their GK
• +1 point for the defending team if they win the ball and play to their GK

Coaching Points

• 1D (first defender) must close at speed and DELAY, not dive in and make a commitment to a tackle
• 2D must first cut out the dangerous pass into green's GK.  The illustration below shows what could happen if both defenders go to pressure the ball.

• Instead, the back player's first movement should be to cut off the dangerous ball up the middle of the field

• Once the dangerous pass has been cut out, if the back defender stays put, she leaves her teammate in a 1v1 defending situations.  We always want numbers up when defending, so a 1v1 situation (even numbers) is not good for us.

• As 1D applies pressure to the attacker (get the attacker's head down looking to protect the ball from the pressure), 2D can close the gap to cover

• Good communication from both defenders

II. 1v2 Recovery Game

Set Up

• Two teams blue and green with designated GKs
• 20x35 yard grid with defending and dribbling cones as marked below (dribbling cone is 6 yards away from defending cone)
• All the soccer balls with the players at the dribbling cones

Procedure

• Green attacks first with the first green player in the dribbling line dribbling out versus the first blue defender in the defending line
• The minute the first green dribbler leaves the dribbling cone, green GK calls the first player in the green defending line out to be ready for the next attack

• The green dribbler tries to score a goal
• Immediately after a shot or a loss of possession by the green attacker, the first dribbler in the blue dribbling line attacks the green defender who was called out by the green GK

• The green dribbler that just shot or lost possession now recovers to make it a 1v2 situation
• NOTE - only the initial sequence is a 1v1 to get the game going.  All others become 1v2.  Also, it is very possible for the dribbler who took the shot or lost possession to pressure the opposing dribbler right away (instead of recovering)

Make It Competitive

• +1 point for a goal

Coaching Points

• Immediate transition from attack to defense by the dribblers
• Pressure and delay from the first defender while also encouraging their dribbler who just lost possession to recover
• Recovery runs should be at a sprint and goal side of the ball and the recovering defender should be verbally encouraging the pressuring defender to delay

• Once the recovering defending is in a good cover position, they should encourage the first defender to tackle and win the ball

Training - Tuesday, January 2

I started the month of defensive sessions with the basics of 1v1.  The idea today was to work on closing the ball down quickly with the correct angle of approach, assuming a correct defensive position, then delaying and jockeying the attacker. 

I. Closing At Speed

Setup
- 3 players to a ball (A, B, and C)
- A and B stand together, C stands about 10 - 12 yards away

Procedure
(1) A passes the ball to C
(2) B closes to defend
(3) B assumes a good defensive position
(4)  C gives B the ball, B plays to A and C closes down A

Coaching Points
* Defenders close at speed while the ball is moving

* Defenders should shorten their strides as they approach the attacker.  Why?  Long strides = less frequent foot contact with the ground = less ability to change direction.  Short strides = more frequent contact with the ground = more ability to change direction in reaction to the attacker's movements.

* Defenders need to find the correct "buffer zone" between themselves and the attackers.  Too far away and the attacker will not feel pressure, too close and the attacker can take a quick touch by you.

* Correct defensive position is side on, offset defending.  Defenders are trying to make the attackers predictable in order to help defender's teammates make adjustments. 

- Square defending allows the attacker to go either way, while also not letting the defender have a good chance of recovering if beaten.

- Side on defending allows the defender to better recover backwards if beaten, but still allows the attacker to go either way.

- Side on, offset defending allows the defender to better recover backwards if beaten while channeling the attacker to one side or the other.

I then took these concepts into a 1v1 exercise to goal.

Defense Wins Championships

After a ten-day "break" from structured soccer training, we began our Winter II (Jan - Mar) training program yesterday.  I say "break" as we had 12 girls participate in an optional two-day holiday indoor tournament over the holiday week.  We actually had 9 teams from our club participate in the Christmas Cup at the Corner Kick Indoor Facility in Maplewood, MN, and it was a fun change to have the girls play the fast-paced 6v6 boarded indoor game.  It a fantastic semifinal game, we avenged a 1-2 group play loss to the Bangu U14 girls, scoring the winning goal with 3 seconds left on the clock to pull ahead 2-1 and move to the final game.  It was actually one of the hardest fought games that our girls had in a long time and the U13 girls showed some real guts and heart to battle back from a 1-0 deficit against the older girls.  The two teams will meet for friendlies a few times later this winter/spring and then come up against each other in the U14 Premier League this summer... all the meetings are sure to be hard-fought battles!

Most of Winter I was geared towards technical shooting/finishing.  My goal for the first part of Winter II is to focus on both individual and team defending.  Once a solid defensive foundation is set, I will then look to move into attacking build up.

Defense was engrained in my blood during my days with the MN Thunder.  I think Buzz Lagos (Head Coach) was one of the great teachers of defending principles, and the long hours the team spent dedicated on defensive was the cornerstone of the success we had since the organization's inception in 1989.

Though I've been preaching solid defensive habits since taking this team back in 2004, I feel the girls are at a stage at which they can really start to understand why we do certain things on our defensive end, and how these aspects relate to the game as a whole.  All the girls who have been with me in previous years have had experience with pressure, delay, cover, channeling, double teams, recovery runs, and tackling.  After revisiting these topics for the benefit of the new girls with us this year as well as to reinforce the ideas in the heads of returning players, I plan on moving to more team defending aspects.  Here is a rough outline of the topics I want to cover and the order in which we will touch on them.

1v1 Defending

• Pressure
• Footwork
• Patience
• Angle of Approach
• Channeling
• Denying the Turn
• Moving with the Ball
• Block and poke tackles
• Tackle Feints
• Verbal and visual communication

1v2 Defending

• Recovery runs
• Delay/Jockeying vs Diving In
• Double Teams
• Cover
• Channeling
• 1st and 2nd Defender
• Communication by 2nd Defender

2v2 Defending

• Cover
• Drop Steps
• Ball Watching
• Visual Communication

2v3 Defending

• Triangle Shape
• Balance/Shape
• Double Team Opportunities
• Communication

4v3, 5v3 Defending

• Blocking Passing Lanes
• Defensive Work Rate
• Communication

High Pressure Defending

Transition to Attack

Playing a Flat Back 4

Counter Attacks

Some of this stuff will be more of an ongoing lesson (like playing a flat back, transition play, etc) but I think I can cover a lot of stuff in the next dozen or so training sessions.  With the girls be pros by the time I'm done with them?  No way.  But I think they will be better all around players and our team will end up much stronger in the long run.