Week 3: U9/10/11

Review of dribbling and passing skills.
See previous posts for key points.

Mass warm up:
Dribble grid - players dribbling in space following directions from coach ...
using left and right foot as well as different parts of the foot (inside, outside, sole, heel), changing direction and speed. Dynamic stretching also incorporated such as toe taps, storks, burpees, ball under bum ....
Transition into passing warm up with pairs of players passing to each other in grid. Coach to review communication such as square, support, time.

Game: Uneven game.
In a large grid, play 8 vs 4 or equivalent where larger number of players try to make 5 passes in a row.
Defenders with pinnies when they win the ball try to make 3 passes. Losing team does 5 pushups or situps. Encourage players to use the whole playing area and to make triangles to ensure there is always space.

Skills developers:

Circle dance:
Half of the players on outside of circle with a ball each at their feet. Other half of group on the inside of circle. Players on inside receive and return passes from players on the outside. Focus on firm, accurate passes.  Transition to players receiving balls and having an option to pass to any player on the outside. Encourage outside players to communicate using man-on, time or turn. Outside players need to be calling for the ball.

1v1 Dribbling Attack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EadxBPmQvtg

Passing with gates/arches
Gates allow you to adjust the size
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pRJPd0FfuI (again video reviews coaching points)


Breakaway: Two nets, two goalies and two players.

Players start at half line. Challenge is to see how many goals each player can score in one minute.

Each player dribbles towards opposite nets and shoot on goalie, then return to center line to dribble ball towards opposite net. Continue until minute is up. 

Players not involved in activity can be seeing who can do the most juggles without ball hitting the ground

Feel free to do any of the activities from the past two weeks. 

Game: Allow players to play game for 10-15 minutes.