Welcome to the Soccer Newsletter. Today's issue will make some
suggestions for playing 3v1 as a drill.
Most of the time I see people playing 3v1 (three players on offense vs 1 player
on defense in a confined space) I see the three players each standing in a corner of the
grid. If they are doing things "right" they are moving so that whoever has
the ball
has an option of playing the ball to their right or to the left. Most coaches think
this is great if they can get this movement correct.
Let's rethink this whole thought process. When we as coaches have the players stand
in the corners of the grid we are teaching them to limit their options. When a person
stands in a corner, they only have a range of 90 degrees to pass within. If, instead
of placing them in corners, we encourage them to position themselves in an area in the
middle of each of the boundaries of the grid, they have expanded their range or options up
to 180 degrees. This is much more realistic when it comes to actual game situations
and also will make the supporting runs much more realistic.
Another thing to consider when playing 3v1 is to change the restrictions quickly to keep
it fresh. Playing unlimited touch doesn't accomplish a whole lot so I see a lot of
groups go to restricted touches real quick. I think this is a great idea (I will
usually start with 2 touch at the most and then real quickly reduce it to one touch only.
However, one of the biggest weaknesses I see in youth soccer is the inability to
possess the ball under pressure. Consider putting in a 3-5 touch minimum requirement for
each
possession. Each time a player receives the ball she must touch it a minimum of 3 or 5
touches depending upon what is predetermined. This will force the playerwith the ball to
keep the ball moving and work on shielding while the other two players are working on
constantly moving to adjust their support depending upon the position of the defender.
Done at full speed
this is a great high impact, high intensity drill that can work on ball skills, movement
off the ball as well as conditioning.
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