Throughout this series of blogs the intention is to present a model of best practice for the development of our youngest players. An added bonus is that you will also have lots to consider as you plan, deliver, review and evolve your coaching practices and your coaching methodology. To help give you an idea about what you might consider when planning your sessions I will use the example below.
I love this practice for a variety of reasons:
1.The players get to practice similar things but never the exact same thing. This is great for developing flexible and adaptable decision makers as they must react to an environment and to situations that are constantly changing.
2. The young players get lots of touches of the ball coupled with lots of decisions to make. Is the situation one where I can be successful using my individual ability? Is now a good time to pass and share the ball (this is a great practice to start this kind of decision making)
3. The challenge for the defending team is to GAIN possession of the ball rather than kick it away and then make a pass to a teammate. Just imagine your team developing this kind of approach when defending.
4. The area size can be adjusted to the levels and abilities of your players.
5. This is a great one to increase the number of shots and is great for including your GK.
6. The practice also allows you to adapt for odd numbers as players can just rotate as long as there are two attackers and two defenders. The waiting time for any player is very short so this is also a bonus.
If you have tried this session let us know how it went and to help other coaches let us know of any changes or “tweaks” you made for your group of players. Pete