Training Sunday 9-23

To me the Olympics are not about 'dream teams,' they're more about dreamers.  They're not about medals, but the pursuit of medals.  The Olympics are not about being No. 1, they're about sacrificing and trying to be No. 1.

-Herb Brooks

The goal of today's session is to work on first touch and thinking creatively.

I.  Footskills Work

Double Moves:

Scissors

Stepover

Scissors Stepover

II.  3 Person Passing and Receiving Grid

I usually never repeat a training exercise during an entire years worth of training.  But with this first touch and passing exercise I really want to work on our form so we will do this exercise a lot this year.  Today I added the challenge of having the passers moving as they pass the ball.  It is much harder to deliver a accurate pass on the run.  I am also continually asking our girls to pass the ball hard.

III.  5v2 Keep away- Split the Defenders

I love this exercise because it challenges players to think about how the defense will react to each pass.  If you challenge yourself to always be looking to receive or make a split pass you will find that you are always moving and thinking about the next pass or how to set up the split.

Set Up:

-2 Teams of 7 people

-2 players from each team defend in the opponents grid

-If the defenders get the ball they give it back to the attackers

-1 point for every split pass

-Play for 90 seconds

The first time we do this I just let the girls play and see how well they do.  Some of the girls do a good job of moving off the ball and look to make the split, but others stand around when they don't have the ball and when they get it they are only looking to get rid of it, not looking to make a play.

After asking them how it went and hearing their responses that it didn't go so well I picked out the 3 players who I felt did the best job of moving and jumped in and played 4v2 looking to split the defense.  In 30 seconds we more than doubled the high score from the groups that had gone 5v2.  "What's the difference?"  I asked the girls. 

-Movement off the ball (You have to always be creating an angle to either receive a split pass or give one.)

-You have to be looking to make the split (Again, we are looking for creative players.  Players who want to step up to the challenge and make a play.)

-Good first touch

-1 touch the split pass.  (A short pass that causes the defense to shift followed by a 1 touch split creates the most success since the defenders don't have as much time to react.)

-Hard passes (I keep telling the girls to learn how to both pass and receive a ball that is passed hard because the faster the pass is, the less time the defenders have to react.)

-Communication (Everyone is talking about where the ball should go and directing others what to do.  The more info you have, the better choice you will make.  It is not just talking to the person on the ball, but the people who are making runs.)

When I send the girls back out to work again they find themselves having a lot of success. and I added the bonus challenge of nutmegging the defender for an additional 3 points.

IV.  7v7 To Goal:  Look For Split Passes

We finished with a 7v7 scrimmage where we awarded 3 points for every goal scored and 1 point for every split pass.