5/12 Training: Moving The Ball Outside And Getting Runners Into The Mixer

Make the present good, and the past will take care of itself.
- Knute Rockne

I.  Long Distance Ball Striking
Half of the time was spent working on the weak foot.

II. Ball Masters

III. Driving the ball low and trapping on the run
For this we worked on the girls hitting a low driven ball that goes far but does not go much higher than a couple of feet off the ground.  To do this you hit down at the ball and your follow through is stopped as you hit the ground.

As we worked on the low driven ball we also worked on proper technique for trapping those awkward balls that bounce a foot or two in front of you.

IV. 7v6 Get The Ball Wide Before You Go To Goal
We played this game a week ago.  We play it on half of a full side pitch with a channel on each of the outside flanks for players to run into.  I've seen this game played a lot with the outside players already standing outside in the flanks but I like for the players to have to get outside as the ball is coming to their side better.

The key points that we focused on today were as soon as the ball begins to switch to your side to curve your run as wide as you can so you can receive the ball going at goal instead of going to the corner.  We stopped the play a couple of times to show how by just curving the run a little wider makes a huge difference in our speed of play and how dangerous we are.

We also focused on getting runners into the mixer as soon as the ball was played wide.  We talked about the players in the middle running away from the ball as it goes wide so they can be running at goal as the cross comes in and they will have more of the net to shoot at.  We already have natural support players in our formation if the dribbler on the outside needs support so we need to get players into the danger area.  Plus, running away from the ball, makes the defender choose if she is going to watch the ball or watch your run.

We had a couple of very nice crosses and finishes today and the girls are really picking up on the little things that are important at the top level.