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by Bob Christensen
Focus: Possession through passing, spreading out,
using space.
Age: U8-U10 (And older)
Equipment: Flat cones to define the playing area.
Coloured bibs to identify teams. A couple of balls.
Players: 12-16 players work well, as few as 10 will
work in a pinch, and as many as 20 can be accommodated.
Space: 30x30 to 40x40 or so. Can be done easily on
half a field.
Introduction: Getting young players to recognize the
usefulness of spreading out can be one of the most challenging aspects of
coaching youth soccer. The plaintive cry of “Spread Out!” can be heard
from the sidelines in many youth matches. This exercise should help the
young players discover the value of spreading out and passing to maintain
possession, in a fun and intuitive way.
Setup: Establish
area boundaries compatible with the age and number of players present.
Four U10's start with an area about 30 yards in diameter and define it
with flat cones. Inside the area, create another, smaller circle about
7-10 yards in diameter. This is the “Black Hole”. For older players like
U12, make the area larger, like 40 yards in diameter, and the black hole
proportionally larger, like 10-15 yards in diameter. I even use this with
U14's with the centre circle (20 yards in diameter) as the “Black Hole”.
Split the team evenly, and identify the
teams with different colored pinnies. In the following diagram, the z team
has possession of the ball, and the x team is defending/trying to get
possession.
Execution: Simply play keep away, but players cannot
touch the ball within the “Black Hole”. They may freely run through the
black hole, but cannot touch the ball inside it.
Coaching points:
- If marked, move to open space.
- Communicate to your teammates on both
attack and defence.
- Pressure-cover defense roles.
- Square and drop pass support to maintain
possession.
- If the edge of the black hole is crowded,
find space away from it.
- You don’t have to pass across the black
hole.
- Touch the ball to open space with your 1 st
touch as you receive it.
- Lose your mark by checking (moving) away, and then back.
- Play the way you face.
- Receive and turn with one fluid movement
if you are on the edge of the black hole and the ball comes across the
black hole.
- Always know your options and have a plan
before the ball arrives.
- Don’t mark too tightly on defence,
especially if you are marking near the black hole edge. You can intercept
easier if you are away a bit and the receiver doesn’t know exactly where
you are, and where you are moving.
Variations:
- If too much dribbling away from the black
hole takes place, consider reducing the size of the outer boundary,
increasing the size of the black hole, or place a touch restriction on the
players (like 2 touch).
- Place a minimum touch restriction on the
players to encourage better support. For young players, simply tell them
that they must control the ball with their 1 st
touch before passing with another. For older players, a minimum 3 touch,
or even 4 touch restriction can dramatically change the game and place a
much heavier emphasis on off ball teammates providing close support.
- You can intercept the ball within the black hole, but
must be outside the black hole before the ball enters it in order to do
this. This is good to work on cutting out passing lanes.
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