AHA Field Training 12-15 The Killer Pass

Energy is enthusiasm . . . enthusiasm breeds confidence . . . and confidence leads to winning.

Silence, conversely, creates lulls, and lulls make people passive. 
-Ed Orgeron

Pre Training: Body Movement- Backwards somersaults, the worm, one legged tipping storks . . .

I. Tennis Ball Work
We started with small catch, then moved to having one person start far away and her partner throwing the ball up high and making them have to run forward to catch it.

II. Ball Masters
Quick touches.  Lots of sole of the foot work and a couple of juggling pick ups.

III. 4v4 To Targets Keep Away
Set Up:
Field 50x40 yards
Players 12- 4 of each team in the middle and 1 from each team on each of the end lines

Procedure:
-Players in the middle play keep away
-You get a point by playing the ball to one of the players on the end line
-After you play the player on the end line you switch places with her and she joins the 4v4 game in the middle
-Players on the end line can move anywhere they want on the end line to get open for a pass

Key Points:
-The main purpose of today is to get us looking for that killer pass.  In order to make this pass targets on the end lines must constantly be moving and looking to create a lane to receive the pass and the players with the ball have to be thinking about how they can make the pass.
-Keep your width in the middle.  By staying spread out in the middle it opens up lanes to play the ball through to your targets.  If everyone bunches you eliminate the chance for a ball to the target.
-If nothing is on going forward, keep the ball and play it backwards to the target behind you.  Having to switch places with the target after making the support pass gets players in the habit of moving after you play the ball support.
-Support players be ready for the pass.  Can you hit a 1 touch long ball all the way across the grid?

IV. 6v6 To 2 Goals
We ended with the game to 2 goals so the girls can continue to work on seeing when one option is closed down to look for the other side of the field.

Key Point:
As soon as you can score, score!  Always be looking for the shot or the killer pass as your first option.  If it is not on, then look to keep the ball.

12-11 Ball Striking Tennis Ball Volleys

Sometimes the fight is all you get.  Victory doesn't mean anything if failure isn't a possibility.
-Mark Zupan

I wanted to work on volleys again today but the point that I really wanted to hit home with the girls is that it is not how hard you swing your leg that determines how hard you shoot, but rather the contact that your foot makes with the ball that counts. 

Everyone has seen that perfect ball come bouncing to them on top of the box.  Your eyes get big.  Maybe you drool a little bit thinking about how hard your going to shoot this ball.  You step in, swing as hard as you can and then your scream out "Darn it*!#$*!" as you watch the ball go sailing a mile high and wide or you try and regain your balance from missing the ball completely.

The most important thing when it comes to volleying, and all ball striking, is making good contact.  If your ankle is locked and you hit the ball on the sweet spot, the ball will go where you want it and there will be velocity on the shot.

Today, to reinforce the "Making Good Contact" idea we did all types of volleys with a tennis ball.

I. Partner Volleys

With a partner against the wall.  One partner through the ball from the side and the other partner volleyed.  We did this with both rainbow throws, where the ball is arching up and coming down slowly, and we did this with line drive throws that are similar to crosses.

II. Competition to goal.
I divided the group into two teams and positioned them 10 yards out from goal.  One line for each team of 5.  Each team provided a goalie and I threw the balls.  A shot on goal counted as 1 point and a goal counted as 3.

When we started the competition the old habit of swinging as hard as you can came back and to the delight of everyone not going there were whiffs and misses by the people who were going.  After most of the girls had gone through and made me look like the world's greatest pitcher we stopped and talked about making good contact again.

The next girls up did not swing hard and they each laced the ball hard at goal.  Everyone else saw that, the light bulb went on, and I started to fear for our goalies lives.

We ended the competition by going back to using real balls, which now looked like giant beach balls to the girls, and we had a lot of fun.