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Ball control skills

Age group: all age groups

Set up

Use a 10 by 10 yard square grid marked out with a cone at each corner.

Put players in groups of three.

One ball to each group.

Two players with the ball (players 1 and 2) are positioned on one side of the square and the third player (player 3) faces them on the other side.

Action

The player with the ball (player 1) passes to the player on the opposite side of the square (player 3).

Player 3 receives the ball with the inside of the foot and takes the ball a couple of yards to the side in one action.

On his next touch he passes the ball with his other foot back across the square to player 2.

After two or three minutes change player 3.

Coaching points

Remind players that it’s important to give a good pass so it is easier for their team mates to receive the ball and control it away with their first touch.

Allow two touches to start before limiting players to one touch.

Remind the receiving player to move toward the ball.

Ball control and team work

Equipment required: cones, bibs, 2 balls

Objectives: to improve ball control/team work

Warm up	Group: ALL	Duration: 15 mins
Set up: four cones marking out a rectangle 20×40	Zipper drill

Notes: Two teams. Players start on cone A1 and run to cone B1 (see next activity) doing what is asked of them (skipping, jogging, heading, two left two right, high knees, heel flicks etc.) then diagonally across to cone A2, then down to B2 etc.

Followed by a few stretches.

First activity	Group: ALL	Duration: 15 mins
Set up: as above	Passing drill

A1	A2

B1	B2

Notes: Start with short passes (A1-B1, A2-B2) then long passes (A1-B2, B1-A2 etc), follow pass or move to end of row on your left/right. Two touch/one touch. Then try long pass followed by short pass. Call names.

Second activity	Group: my team	Duration: 10 mins
Set up: half of practice area, one ball, bibs.	Soccer netball

Notes: Play with two 1m wide goals on a grid about 50×60. Split players into two teams. Play normal netball rules (no running with the ball etc) but score by throwing the ball into goal (1 point), kick it in (2 points), head it in (3 points) or five consecutive passes (1 point). Emphasise communication, running off the ball, play the quick and easy pass.

Final activity	Group: my team	Duration: 15 mins
Set up: half of practice area, one ball, bibs.	4-goal mini-game

Notes: Allow three touches only. Award one ‘goal’ for three consecutive passes.

Attack and defend

Objective: To improve attacking and defending skills as a warm-up or as part of a coaching session.

Age group: U8s to U14s.

Set up: Create a 20-yard square for every four or five players as shown below.

How to play: One player starts in the middle zone and has a choice of which defender to attack. The player then attempts to score.

If the player is successful, he returns to the middle zone, collects a ball and attacks another defender.

If the defender manages to stop the player, the defender runs into the middle zone, collects a ball and attacks the defender of their choice.

The practice is continuous and can be played with one or more additional players in the middle for increased intensity.

Your players will soon learn that good defending will give them the chance to attack and score.

Ask…don’t tell!

“Football is a game you play with your brain” – Johan Cruyff

Thirty years ago, in the “good old days”, a youth football coaching session usually took one of two forms:

1. A few laps of the field, some stretches, then a long time standing in lines waiting to be told the “best” way to pass a ball to each other.

2. A mass scrimmage while the coach watched and occasionally tossed in a few “you don’t do it that way”‘ comments.

Despite this, coaches didn’t have to worry about getting their players to turn up for training on time and they certainly didn’t worry if their players weren’t smiling much.

That’s because the world was a simpler place back then. There were less distractions, no Xbox, no PlayStation and hardly any televised football. Boys were grateful to be given the chance to kick a ball around the park and girls… well, girls didn’t play football anyway.

Sadly, you can still see this style of coaching. But it’s as old fashioned as typewriters and 35mm cameras.

Youth football coaches today need more than a bag of balls, some cones and a loud voice. They have to plan stimulating coaching sessions and make football as attractive as the myriad of other sports and extra-curricular interests that are available for children today.

That means taking an interest in their players as people, being patient and allowing them to have fun.

It also means creating an environment where children can discover their own answers to football problems, not make them stand in lines waiting to be told what to do.

But “let the game be the teacher” has become something of a cliche in youth football today and unfortunately it’s given lazy coaches an excuse to do nothing except mark out a pitch, toss their players a ball and hope that they will learn the skills they need all by themselves.

But letting the game be the teacher can work… if the coach creates problems in the game for his players and then helps them to find the answers.

Guided discovery

Guided discovery is an “active learning” technique in which students are asked open questions that encourage them to work out answers for themselves.

It makes children think, consider alternatives and allows them to test the solutions they come up with.

From a youth football perspective, guided discovery will develop the minds of your players and enable them to anticipate and react to situations they encounter in a game without waiting to be told what to do.

But it’s not an easy option for any coach.

Coaches who use guided discovery have to:

A) Decide what they want their players to discover in the session â€“ the objective.

B) Set up games that might lead to the required discovery.

C) Ask “good” questions at the right moment.

As you can see, it involves more than just “letting the game be the teacher”!

The objective

The objective of a guided discovery session should not be a single fact or a yes/no answer. It should be a tactical strategy or relate to the principles of play.

Attacking principles

Defending principles

The game

Any small-sided game might lead to a situation where the coach might be able to ask the question(s) that might lead to the solution he is hoping his players will discover. But that’s a lot of “mights”. It is better to give some thought to the game and ensure the desired situation arises by placing conditions or restrictions on the players.

The questions

These are examples of “good” questions:

Why didn’t that pass work? OK, how should we do it this time?
How can we get the ball to our attackers quickly?
How can we get the ball to the other side of the field?
Why is it important for you to lift your head up when you have the ball?
And these are the type of positive responses that will encourage your players:
Great! so how could we do it faster?
I like that answer! what other skill can we use to get the ball to our team mates?
Now you’re getting the idea!
Where could you position yourself so that you could see both the player you are defending as well as the ball?

Advice

Your players must feel comfortable making suggestions so make it clear that there are no wrong answers and there is no risk of being put down or laughed at by their team mates.

Encourage them to make suggestions by listening carefully and always responding positively, thanking them for their contribution and saying things like: “That’s good! What else could you do?”

Common errors

The most common mistakes a coach can make are:

Not giving players enough time to think about the question before jumping in with the answer.

Getting carried away and asking too many “good” questions in a short space of time.

Finally…

Guided discovery is a suitable coaching method for all ages of players.

Even four and five-year-olds can be asked questions that will lead them to discover how to pass the ball, for example, providing appropriate language is used.

But coaches should remember that guided discovery works best with individual players rather than large groups. In groups, only some of the players “discover” the answer. The rest hear the answer and accept it as fact rather than discovering it for themselves.

That said, helping children learn by asking them questions and letting them play the game is always preferable to telling them what to do.

“I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.“ Albert Einstein

Ball control and ‘vision’

The focus of this U7 (girls) practice was ball control and vision.

Soccer Simon Says
All of the girls dribble around in a box and on command from “Soccer Simon” do various ball control/moves (pull backs etc), leave their ball and collect another, pass to the nearest player, sit on the ball etc. (be inventive!). Throughout the game, the girls are instructed to keep looking up so that they don’t run into anyone else or touch anyone else’s ball. If they are caught by “Soccer Simon”, they have to put their hands over their head, bend over shaking their head and say “oh no, you got me Soccer Simon”.

Stop with body parts
Continue in the box and have the girls stop the ball with various body parts, ie. knee, elbow, nose, hand. Rather than a voice command, the assistant coach or I would touch the body part that we wanted the kids to use. This way, they have to keep looking back and forth between both coaches who are moving around in the box for the commands. All while keeping control of their own ball and avoiding their team mates.

Nutmeg soccer
Split the kids into two groups. One group spreads out within the box and stands still with their legs apart. Each of these players are given different coloured bibs. Each of the players in the other group has a ball. On the coach’s signal, the players with balls try to score by “nutmeging” as many of the other kids as possible within a minute or so. After they have been going for a little while, tell them that they can only score on “nutmegs” with red bibs. Keep changing the instructions as to where they can score… for example blue bibs, white socks, blonde hair, glasses, coaches etc. This keeps them looking up to see where they have to go next. Have the kids keep track of how many scores they get within the allotted time period and do a couple of rounds so that they can try to beat their record. If the kids are moving too slow, add a shark without a ball that runs around and tries to kick the other kids balls away.

4 Goal 3v3 scrimmage
Divide your team into 3v3 or 4v4 games with two goals at each end. Let them play for a while. Pick a point in the game when everyone is clustered around one goal and freeze them. Ask them to take a look at the open goal and ask them which goal would be easier to score on – the one they are currently trying to blast through or the open one on the other side of the field. They will usually see the light. Let them play some more.

Conclusion
Have the kids pick up all of the cones. Review the focus of the practice very quickly, congratulate anyone who did particularly well and send them home (providing someone you know is there top pick them up, of course).

Take a chance!

This game is called “Take a Chance!”. It is a good example of active learning – your players will decide how this game should be played.

Will they take the easy option or take the harder one and potentially win more points?

Objective: To improve decision making and teamwork.

Age group: U8s to U14s.

Number of players: Eight.

Set-up: Create a 30×20 yards playing area with a goal at each end.

Divide your players into teams of four.

How to play: The first team to get to 10 points wins the game.

One team starts with four players on the pitch. They get one point if they score the first goal.

The other team is given 10 seconds to decide how many players they will have on the pitch.

If they decide to play with all four they also get one point for the first goal.

If they play with three and score first they get two points, if they play with just two on the pitch they get three points and if one of them is brave enough to have a go on his own, his team gets four points if he can score the first goal.

Alternate the teams after every goal so that both have the opportunity to take a chance!

A simple game that every player will want to play!

The best coaching games are usually the simplest, and “1v1 Wars” is both simple and one of the best.

Children from five to 15 love to play it!

Objective: To encourage a “be first” mentality and to take quick shots on goal.

Age group: U6s to U10s.

Number of players: Whole squad.

Set-up: Place a small goal at one end of a 20×10 yards playing area. Place a flat cone on the end line opposite each goal post.

Use a goalkeeper and divide your squad into two teams. Place each team next to a goal post. You stand to one side of the playing area with a supply of balls.

How to play:

On your command, the first player in each line runs around the cone in front of their post. As they run, you play a ball into the playing area midway between the cones and the goal. Both players try to be first to the ball and score in the goal.

Scoring: One point for a goal, one point if you can stop the player with the ball from scoring for 30 seconds.

If the ball goes out of play, players return to their teams.

The first team to 10 points wins the game.

Variation: Instead of one goal on the end line, put one small goal on both sidelines. No goalkeeper is used.

Passing and keeping possession

Age range: About eight to 12.

Objectives: To improve passing, support play and keeping possession as a team.

Measure of success

At the end of the session your players will be able to:

Understand why and how to move into a place where they can receive a pass.
Work together to keep the ball away from opposition.

Pre-requisites

Before taking part in this session your players need to be able to:

a) Pass the ball reasonably accurately over a short distance using any part of the foot.

b) Catch a ball using both hands.

Number of players: Whole squad.

Equipment required: Three different coloured training vests, some flat cones, two small goals (or poles to use as goal posts) and several balls.

Timing

Each activity should last between five and 10 minutes. The whole session (including drinks breaks and the warm-down at the end) will last approximately one hour.

Warm-up: Netball/basketball

Why play this game? It’s not football!

Allowing your players to carry the ball but limiting the number of steps they can take with the ball in their hands encourages them to look for a team mate to pass to.

It also encourages players not in possession of the ball to move to place where they an receive a pass – an essential element of “real” football.

Netball/basketball is also a great way to get your players moving, warm and ready to take part in the session ahead.

Set-up

Mark out a 20-yard square with flat cones with a small goal on each end line.

Divide your players into teams of between four and six.

If you have more than 12 players, set up two playing areas and play two games alongside each other.

How to play

Players can score points by throwing the ball into the goal (or to a target player standing on an end line).

The number of steps that can be taken with ball in hand should be limited according to the age/skill of your players. Two or three steps is usually about right.

Variation

Older players can play “tag handball”, in which possession is lost if the player with the ball is tagged by an opponent.

Game 1 – 3v1 Keepaway

How to play: four players are positioned within a small area (three attackers and one defender). The defender can be identified by using a coloured vest or by holding a cone.

The attackers must try to keep possession from the defender using two balls.
The three players in possession may move anywhere within the area.
The defender’s goal is to “tag” (not tackle) the players in possession.
Once a player is tagged by the defender they switch roles.
A goal is scored for every 10 passes the attackers can make.

Try to get your players to think: “If she goes there, then I’d better go over here.”

Game 2 – Three Colour Keepaway

Set-up: Divide your players into three teams of between four and six, wearing different coloured training vests.

How to play: Using the same playing area(s), two of the teams try to keep the ball away from the third team, the defenders.

If a player gives the ball away or the ball goes out of play, the team that lost the ball becomes the defenders.

Teams in possession earn a point for every five passes they can put together without the defenders touching the ball.

Play for 10 minutes. The team with the most points wins.

Variations

1. To improve movement and encourage your players to get their heads up, tell the team in possession it can’t pass to its own colour – if the teams in possession are wearing red and yellow vests they must pass red to yellow to red, etc.

2. The defending team earns a point if it can intercept a pass.

3. To make the game more like “proper” football, place a small goal at each end of the playing area. Now the teams in possession can shoot and score when they have made X number of passes. For young players, “three passes and shoot” is about right. Older players can be set a target more appropriate to their skill level.

Game 3. SSG – no tackling

Set up a 30×20 yards playing area with a goal at each end and play a SSG (small-sided game) with the condition that tackling is not allowed.

The only way the ball can be won is to intercept a pass or force the player in possession to make an error.

Play for five or 10 minutes. At the end of that time, the team with the most goals wins. If no goals have been scored, the team in possession when you call “time” is the winner.

Finish the session with small-sided games of football. No coaching!