|
|
|
|
FineSoccer Drill 36 This is the first in a series of three drills which will work on everything from possession to attacking an offsides trap to finishing to defending a target player, to breakaways to finding one hole vs two hole passes (pretty extensive list don't you think?). Start with a field split into thirds. Your number of players can vary in these drills but I will start with 5 v 5 in the middle third with a keeper in each goal (see diagram below)
The rules of this first drill are real simple. Whichever team has the ball needs to make 5 passes in a row within the middle third of the field before they may attack the goal. Once a team has their 5 passes in a row, they may go to goal, HOWEVER, the ball must enter the attacking third of the field via a pass before anyone on either team may go into that zone. This means a player can not dribble into the offensive third as a pass is required to gain entry. Also, another player can not run into the offensive zone before the ball has been played into the area. Likewise, no defender is allowed into their defensive zone until the ball is played into the zone. Initially, this will result in a bunch of players standing on the line between the middle third of the field and their offensive waiting for the ball to be played. Luckily, players will quickly learn that this is quite ineffective as the defender will be waiting beside them. As the attacking players come to this realization, they will start to make runs off of their passes and try to slip passes through to players who are making one and two hole passes (if you don't know what I mean by one hole and two hole passes, click here). This is a wonderful way to work on possession and movement off of the ball. If the players are having problems getting to 5 passes before they can penetrate, there are a couple of things you can do. First you can reduce that number from 5 to 3 or even get rid of the requirement all together (I recommend keeping a requirement even if you have to reduce the number somewhat.). Another option which is quite effective is to add a additional neutral player or two. These neutral players are on whosever team has the ball so their is always a numbers up situation for the attacking team. It is also important to limit where the keepers can stand when the ball is in the middle third of the field. Because this is a small field, if they stand far off of their line, the keeper will be able to win most of the through balls that are played into the box. Make the keepers start on their line and then if they want to come out hard and take away some of the through balls they are more then welcome to do so. Try this drill out and once the players can do it well, then they are ready to progress to the next step. |
|
|
