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Danger! Mines!

Age range: U6s to U10s.

Equipment required: 20 to 30 flat cones, two balls.

Number of players: Whole squad.

Set-up: Spread the flat cones randomly inside a playing area big enough for your players to move around in but not too big – all the cones need to be close together. Make sure there are no defined lanes from one side of the playing area to the other.

For eight U10s, create a 20-yard square playing area.

Divide your players into pairs.

Each pair waits just outside the playing area. In the image below, there are four pairs of players waiting to begin the game.

If you have an odd number of players, have one team of three players.

How to play: The object of the game is for each pair to pass the ball to each other as they cross the minefield and return to their starting position without touching a cone (i.e. mine) with their feet or the ball.

Dribbling is not allowed, the ball must be passed across the field.

If a player or their ball touches a cone, that pair of players has to start again.

The pair (or team of three) that can cross the minefield and return the fastest is the winner.

Progression:

Add one or two blockers – players who passively “get in the way” of the passing players.
Put your players into two teams. Each team sends out one pair of players at a time. When they get to the opposite side of the playing area, the next pair goes. The first team to get all their players across the minefield wins.

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coach Weekly.

Four square

Objective: To improve quick passing and providing support off the ball.

Age group: U8s and upwards.

Number of players: Twelve (but can easily be adapted for more or fewer players)

Equipment required: Training vests to differentiate the teams, some flat cones to mark the playing area, a few balls.

Set-up: Divide a 40×40 yards playing area into four 20×20 squares.

Split your players up into four teams of three, wearing training vests.

How to play:

Two teams play 3v3 in diagonally opposite squares. Their objective is to score a point by stopping the ball on their opponent’s end line.
Play first to five, then rotate the teams around the playing area.

Coaching tips: If your players are finding the game difficult, make the playing area bigger.

If they are finding it easy, make the area smaller.

Variations:

Move the players between teams so that you have two 4v2 games instead of 3v3.
Make small goals on the end lines with flat cones. Players earn one point for their team by scoring a goal or two points for stopping the ball on the end line.

Progression: Take away the centre lines of the playing area and place two goals on each end line. Play 6v6 in the 40×40 playing area.

Teaching point: If, as is likely, your players seem rushed and make many mistakes at the beginning of this game, talk about how to get more time on the ball.

Try to get them to tell you that they need to be more aware of who is around them before they receive a pass.

Ask your players how this can be achieved.

Tip: Encourage your players to check over their shoulder as the ball is arriving at their feet and try not to give all their attention to receiving the pass.

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coach Weekly.

How to win a penalty shoot out

People who fail to prepare, prepare to fail. People who prepare, prepare to win.

No coach goes into a cup match expecting to be involved in a penalty shoot-out. But many cup ties end up that way and it is sensible to get your players as prepared as they can be for the “lottery” of a shoot-out.

In this article, I’ll look at ways you can help your penalty takers have the confidence to put away their spot kicks. The next newsletter will look at penalty shoot-outs from the goalkeeper’s point of view.

The format of a penalty shoot-out

Penalty shoot-outs usually involve five outfield players from each team taking it in turns to take penalties.

When both teams have taken their allotted five spot kicks, the team that scored the most goals wins.

If the scores are still level after five spot kicks each, the penalties continue in a sudden-death format until one team misses and the other scores.

The rules

The shoot-out begins with the referee tossing a coin. The winning captain decides which end the penalties will be taken at or which team takes the first penalty.

Five players from each team are nominated to take the spot kicks and the rest of the players wait in the or near the centre circle.

The penalties themselves are taken in the same way as in normal play. See FIFA Law 14 for details.

Notes: Only players who are on the field of play at the end of the match can take the penalties. You can’t bring on a specialist penalty taker!

And no player can take more than one penalty unless every player on his team has taken one.

The penalty taker can feint during but not at end of her run-up. If a player does stop when she gets to the ball in an attempt to deceive the keeper and she scores, she will be cautioned and the kick will be retaken. If the shot is saved anyway, the kick won’t be retaken but the player will still be cautioned.

Taking a penalty – the technique

Choose the surface – young players can kick the ball powerfully with their instep but often find it hard to be accurate. A firm side-foot shot, on the other hand, should be powerful enough from just eight or 12 yards and it is much more accurate.
Aim just inside the post – while it is easier to shoot into the bottom corners of the goal, if the goalkeeper guesses correctly, she could pull off a save. But if your players shoot into the top corner, the shot is virtually unstoppable.
Make your mind up – wherever your players are going to try to place the ball, make sure they know where they are going to shoot before they start their run-up and tell them not to change their minds as they approach the ball.
Ignore the goalkeeper – imagine the keeper is not there. It’s just you, the ball and an empty net.
You’ve scored! – visualising the ball smashing into the back of the net may also help.

Practice by playing a small-sided game (SSG) in which players take penalty kicks in place of corner kicks. Alternatively, play three corners = one penalty.

To encourage shooting into the corners of the goal, place small cones one yard inside the posts. A penalty scored between the cone and the post counts double.

You could also hang a target in the top corners. My girls (bless them!) like to shoot at stuffed teddy bears that are strung up in the corners of the goal.

Taking a penalty – the psychology

Effective preparation is important but there are also some key psychological issues involved in successful penalty taking.

Clwyd Jones, a lecturer at Southampton Solent’s Lawrie McMenemy Centre for Football Research says that it is vital to forget about occasions in the past when you’ve missed a spot kick or failed to save one.

It is also important your players don’t think about the future either.

Thoughts such as: “What will the coach/my parents/my team mates say if I miss?” will cause them to tense up and make a miss much more likely.

So no thinking about what happened in the past or what might happen if they fail to convert their spot kick.

Players have to stay in the present and focus on the task in hand to the exclusion of everything else.

What to say to your players before the shoot-out

The final whistle blows. It’s a tied game and you’re going to penalties.

Your players are looking to you for guidance and reassurance. What do you say to them?

Tell them how well they’ve played during the match, how well they’ve played all season and how the outcome of the penalty shoot-out won’t change any of that.

Remind your five volunteers to pick their spot before they approach the ball and imagine that the keeper isn’t there.

Conclusion

Your team’s chances of winning a penalty shoot-out are, to a great extent, dependent on how well you’ve prepared your players.

But there are some things you can’t control. Goalkeepers can make wonder saves, spot kick takers can stumble during their run-up and you never really know what’s going on in your players’ minds.

So if you lose, be proud of what your team has achieved. If you win, just breathe a big sigh of relief…

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coach Weekly.

How to warm up your players before a match

Why do our players need to warm up before a match?

Physically, effective warming up increases blood circulation to a player’s muscles, ligaments and tendons. This not only reduces the risk of injury, it improves the body’s efficiency and speed of reaction.

The increased blood flow to the muscles also helps the body remove unwanted by-products of anaerobic exercise (such as lactic acid) and thereby reduces the risk of post-exercise soreness.

Psychologically, warming up before training or a match puts players in the right frame of mind for the task to come. A well-designed warm-up routine will focus your players, remove distractions and help them to start matches quickly and positively.

How to warm your players up

Young children (up to the age of eight) hardly need to warm up at all – some jogging, swinging of the arms, twists of the hips or other movements to loosen up will suffice.

Most coaches of older players do try to warm up their players before kick off but I’ve seen many coaches use warm-up routines that are ineffective. I’ve even seen some warm-ups that are downright dangerous to young children.

How can a warm up be dangerous?

Asking players to start the warm-up with some static stretches – it’s important not to do any stretches before your players muscles are warm.

So if you are going to do some stretches (and don’t do any stretching exercises if you’re not sure how to do them properly) do some gentle jogging first.

Research has shown that static stretching can be detrimental to performance and doesn’t lead to decreases in injury. Dynamic stretching (stretching muscles while moving) is much better.

Examples of dynamic stretching

Lunge Walk – loosens up the hips. Lunge walk is when you take large steps keeping the chest up, looking straight ahead and moving the arms and legs together.
High Knees – for hip flexor and ankle strength. Extend up to the toes and lift each thigh to a parallel position with the ground as you move forward.
Calf Walk – for lower limb strength and Achilles flexibility. Extend the ankle on each step will warm up the calf muscles and Achilles tendons.
Sideways running – for lower limb strength, agility and flexibility.
Backwards skipping – same as above and works on strengthening quads and calf muscles.

Tip: Do not confuse dynamic stretching with ballistic stretching! Dynamic stretching consists of controlled leg and arm swings that take you (gently!) to the limits of your range of motion. Ballistic stretches involve trying to force a part of the body beyond its range of motion and can be harmful to children.

What’s next?

As soon as your players are warm, move on to some ball work. Don’t wait until they get cold again!

This is a warm-up I often use with my U9s:

To begin, every player dribbles a ball in the penalty area. I give a variety of instructions, including: Stop, turn left/right, change direction, accelerate and slow down. Then I ask them to dribble again until I say “leave the ball and get someone else’s”. This part of the warm-up gets them moving and thinking about playing football.

Then I move on to a game of Swedish Handball. The goalkeeper can join in or get an individual warm up from an assistant coach or a parent.

Goalkeeper warm-ups

Tip: Never line your players up in front of a goal so they can shoot one at a time. There shouldn’t be any players standing in lines before a game. They aren’t warming up for a trip to the cafeteria!

It’s now about 10 minutes to kick off.

Time for a quick drink and to announce the starting line-up.

You should have already decided on the starting line-up and have it written down. Try to stick to it. Remember that during the course of the season, all players should have the chance to: 1) play in different positions, 2) be captain, and 3) start and finish games. These things are important to your players.

It’s now five minutes to kick off.

Don’t bother with a long pep talk. Your players should know what they have to do and if they don’t, it’s too late to tell them now. Two minutes is ample time to tell them to go out and enjoy themselves.

It’s now time for your players to take the field and play!

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coach Weekly.

Diving for goalkeepers

A young goalkeeper who can fly across their goal and stop a good shot hitting the back of their net always gets up wearing a big smile!

Diving is an important part of a goalkeeper’s skills set but it has to be taught carefully. Coaches should remember that their number one concern is player safety, so diving on hard ground must always be discouraged.

It’s much better to concede a goal than allow your goalkeeper to risk hurting themselves.

How to teach the correct technique

The first thing to remember is diving is – or should be – a last resort.

Normally, correct positioning, anticipation and good footwork should eliminate the need to dive but there will be occasions when your goalkeeper has to dive to save a deflected or sudden shot.

So let’s teach them how to do it

A dive begins with a quick, shuffle sideways in the direction the ball is going.

This shuffling movement should also be in a forward direction.

By moving sideways before they take off, the goalkeeper’s weight will be moving the right direction and by moving forwards they will be able to deflect the ball away from the goal.

If this movement is omitted or is backwards, your keeper may not be able to get to the ball and, even if they do, they are likely to drop it into the net. So make sure your player’s weight is shifting forwards as well as across the goal.

At this point, the player’s back leg should drive their body off the ground.

The goalkeeper’s body should be square on to the field, i.e., parallel to the goal line. This enables them to get their hands in the usual “W” catching position, with their thumbs behind the ball.

Having their body square on to the field also allows them to land on the hip/side which is the safest way to hit the deck.

This is perhaps the most important coaching point. If you allow your players to twist their body in the air they could land on their back or stomach and, if they do this, they will hurt themselves.

The risk of injury to your players will be further reduced if tell them to concentrate on catching the ball in the air and use it to cushion their landing.

Young players’ understandable fear of hurting themselves if they dive can be further reduced by making sure you don’t practise on hard ground and you take care to show them the correct technique.

However, this fear can be hard to overcome so be patient and don’t force young goalkeepers to dive if they don’t want to.

Finally, if your goalkeeper dives but doesn’t make contact with the ball, encourage them to get up quickly and get ready to make another save. A fast recovery might still allow them to stop the ball hitting the back of the net.

Time for some practice

To begin, place two balls on the ground about 10ft apart. Your goalkeeper stands between and slightly behind them in the “ready” position.

On your command of “left” or “right”, the goalkeeper dives sidewards and forwards and tries to smother one of the balls.

Progress by tossing a ball to the left or right of the goalkeeper at about shoulder height and three or four feet out of their reach.

Now the instruction is “dive left” or “dive right”.

Watch for the right pre-dive movement, body square on, hands in the correct position and a nice soft, landing on the hip/side.

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coaching Club.

Do a turn!

Objective: To practise turning technique, defending, shielding the ball, shooting to score.

Age group: U8s upwards

Number of players: Whole team.

Equipment: Cones to mark out the playing area, two goals or four poles to use as goalposts, a few balls.

Set up: Mark out a 40×30 yard playing area. Position two goals on opposite sidelines but don’t put them exactly opposite each other. Divide your players into two teams.

How to play: Nominate one team to be the defenders. The other team are the attackers. The two teams line up opposite each other on the end lines.

On your signal, one of the defenders passes to an attacker. As soon as the attacker touches the ball the defender closes him down.

The attacker’s job is to score in one of the goals while the defender tries to take the ball away from him.

Coaching points: If the defender blocks the way to one of the goals the attacker should turn quickly and attack the other one.

Make it competitive – keep scores of successful attacks for both teams.

Progression: Play 2v1 with two defenders or two attackers. Instead of shooting, the attacker has to dribble the ball into a goal.

Hit the target

Objective: To improve ball control, passing, support play and communication.

Age group: U10 upwards.

Number of players: Whole team.

Equipment: Flat cones to mark the playing area, one football.

Set up: Mark out a 40×30 yard grid with a 2×3 yard grid in the center of the larger grid. Divide your squad into two teams, Team A and Team B (you can give the teams more exciting names if you wish!).

How to play: Team A puts a player in the small center grid. They score a goal every time they can play the ball into the center grid player and back out again to a Team A teammate (ground passes, volleys, headers all count as goals if successfully played back out to a Team A player).

Team B tries to keep Team A from scoring. Team B scores a goal if it completes five consecutive passes. Team A tries to disrupt Team B and intercept passes.

Reverse the teams regularly.

Progressions: If your players find this game difficult, award team A a goal for simply getting a pass into the centre grid player (who now doesn’t need to return it to a team-mate) and team B get a goal for three consecutive passes.

If your players find the game easy, make the space smaller to put more pressure on the ball carrier and make them take quicker decisions.

How to teach individual defending skills

General principles

It’s important to emphasise to your players, no matter how young they are, that when the other team has the ball everyone on your team is a defender.

It follows that all your players (not just the “defenders”) need to be taught the principles of individual defence:

The player nearest the ball is called the “first defender”.

If possession is lost in your team’s attacking third (the third of the pitch closest to your opponent’s goal) the first defender – who will probably be one of your attackers or midfield players – has to try and win the ball back immediately and start another attack.

If your opponent has possession of the ball in midfield or in your defensive third (the third of the pitch nearest your goal) the first defender does NOT have to try to win the ball. Her job is to delay the attack, put pressure on the player with the ball and try to guide her into a safe area of the pitch, i.e. towards the touchline or back towards her own goal.

The first defender puts pressure on the ball carrier by approaching her quickly and getting close – but not so close that the attacker can simply push the ball past the defender and run onto it. About 4ft away is a good distance. Getting close quickly will force the attacker to keep her head down so she can concentrate on keeping control of the ball and will stop her looking for a pass.

The first defender’s stance is important. Her feet should be about a shoulder width apart, her legs should be slightly bent and she should stay on her toes so she can react to any sudden changes of direction by the attacker.

Her eyes should be on the ball but she should also watch the spaces around the attacker with her peripheral vision.
If the ball gets away from the attacker’s feet, the first defender can win the ball by quickly stepping between the attacker and the ball carrier.
If the ball gets stuck between the attacker’s feet, the first defender should make a determined effort to win the ball or kick it into touch.

How to practise individual defending skills

The best way to practise individual defending skills is to play 1v1 games.

Warm up by pairing up your players and get them to stand a good defensive distance (three or four feet) apart.

On your command, they try to touch each other’s knees. The first player to make 10 touches is the winner. Players can use their hands to deflect their partners attempts.

Use this game to practise the defensive stance. Say: “knees bent”, “eye on the target”, “lean forward slightly”, “stay on your toes”.

Game 1

Create some areas 20 yards long by five yards wide and divide them into three sections.

One player (the defender) stands at one end of a channel and passes a ball to a player at the other end (the attacker).

The attacker tries to dribble past the defender. The defender gets three points if she can hold up the attacker for 10 seconds in the first third of the channel, win the ball or kick the ball out.

If she can do it in the second section she gets two points and she gets one point for succeeding in the final third.

Play three or four rounds then switch roles.

Game 2

Use the same set-up as above.

Place a small cone goal at one end of the channel.

The attacker’s job is now to score a goal by hitting the cone.

The defender gets a point if she can stop the attacker from scoring for 30 seconds.

Game 3

Set up a number of 10-yard square areas with a small cone goal in the middle.

The defender starts the game by standing in the goal and passing the ball to the attacker who has 30 seconds to score. Again, award a point to defenders who can stop the attacker from scoring by stealing the ball, kicking it out or (ideally) holding up the attacker for the required time.

What to say to the defender:

“Close the attacker down quickly”
“Watch the ball”
“Knees bent”
“The touchline is your friend”
“If you’re going for a tackle, you must be determined to win the ball”

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coaching Club.