Tuesday 11/29 

Monday, November 30, 2009 at 12:23PM
akaasa in 1 Touch Passing, 5v3, Changing The Point Of Attack, Combination Play, Defending, Off the Ball Movement, One Touch Passing, Playing Out of Pressure, Possession, Split Passes, Target Play

In an effort to save the U14's money and to help the U12's with training space I've sold part of our field to the U12 age group for all the Tuesday's in December.  While I really enjoy having half a field on Tuesday's so we can play big games at the end of training, our injuries/other sports/ and time of the year say that maybe we do not need all of this space right now.  

With the Laguna Hills Tournament not until the middle of January I decided that our money would be better used in scrimmages than in having half of the dome to ourselves on Tuesday's.  We will use half the dome again beginning in January in our lead up to the Eclipse event and then we will split the field for a couple of weeks following the tournament before we ramp up for spring again.

3-5 of Mark Yuiell's U13 Boys train with us each Tuesday and they really improve the level of our play.

I. Mark Yuiell Dribbling Activities

Mark runs the first 20 minutes of our training working on dribbling.

II. 5v3 Split the Defenders

Set Up

• 1 big grid (20x30 yds) is divided into 3 smaller 10x20 yd grids
• 5 Blue Attackers: 3 defenders, 1 mid, 1 target
• 3 Red Defenders are in the middle grid

Procedure

• The 3 Blue defenders must pass the ball 3 times before looking to play forward
• The Blues receive one point every time they play the ball into the attacking grid
• The Red's receive one point every time they stop the Blues from playing the ball into the attacking grid

Coaching Points For The Attackers

• The 3 defenders need to move the ball quickly
• The midfielder and the target need to find the gaps between the defenders and anticipate where the ball is moving
• One touch passes will have the best chance to get through the defenders

Coaching Points For The Defenders

• Work together to force passes into your help
• Keep your feet moving and recover quickly after you have stepped up to a ball 

Variations

• Allow the Blue midfielder and target to switch grids to work on the target checking to and the midfielder running through.

III. 3 Team Keep Away to Straight Diagonal

IV. Scrimmage With One Zone

Article originally appeared on Road To Regionals (http://roadtoregionals.com/).