U6 - Dribble Across the Square

I wish I had video of this drill. The drill works by spreading the players out as equally as possible along all 4 sides of a square. I used a fairly small 5 yard by 5 yard square. The first time I asked my U6 boys to dribble across the square (all at the same time), it nearly resulted in an explosion of boys and balls as they all collided in the middle. It didn't take but a few repetitions before they could all somehow get across the square almost as smoothly as if they were alone. The progress was so significant, that I can't believe it myself. I wish I had it on video.

-Bill

My U6 Players Love the Pirate Game

There's probably dozens of variations of the pirate game, but my particular version involves a fairly confined space (about a 5 yard x 5 yard box) where 4 players try to keep their ball in the square and 2 "pirates" try to get the balls out of the square. I tried this game at the start of last year's U5 season and got only cries of agony as kids complained that the other player had kicked their ball away. A year later, they just can't get enough of it.

Now a variation I added is that the pirates have to dribble the ball out of the box, not just kick it. This is an important variation. It makes it easier for the dribblers to maintain possession and work on those skills. If the ball is instantly kicked into oblivion, the 1 v 1 engagement time is very limited. Also, it encourages the kids to actually win the ball rather than just kick it out of bounds. Keep an eye out for fouls like kicks in the ankle. This type of reckless kicking should not be permitted. Also, when a player has his ball dribbled out of the box or kicks it out himself, he's out of the game (which is usually over within a minute anyway), but he should practice his pull backs and other moves on the side so he can do better next time.

The games are over quickly and we restart by letting the last 2 dribblers remaining become the next 2 pirates. The coach can conveniently misremember which kids were last to make sure all the kids get to be pirates.

-Bill

Tie-Dye Print Youth Girls Soccer Jersey

Coaching Two Teams

I thought I could coach my boys team and my girls teams at the same time by sharing some drills and better utilizing my assistants. However, it just reduced the total time I spent with the kiddos, meant larger groups, and an uneasy feeling in my mind. I'm separating the practices this week and feel better already.

-Bill

What Surprised Me at Practice - A Good 1 v 1 Game

I've been way behind and have so much I want to add to this blog. I have practice ideas, plans, notes on what worked and didn't. I will make this one a quick note on something that surprised me in a good way.

I setup a short / wide field with 2 small goals at one end. 1 v 1, the game started with a player kicking the ball from the goal end of the field to the far end of the field where the other player was located, she was the attacker. The attacker would dribble and try to use some moves to score in either goal. This gave the attacker some tactical advantage that surprisingly seemed to give the girls a lot of confidence on the ball. They were trying and pulling off moves I would never seem them try in a scrimmage. We need more of this. One note in particular, they wouldn't finish their moves with a burst of speed. They'd earn the advantage with a good move, but wouldn't turn on the afterburners. Their turn was over when the defender won the ball, a goal was scored, or the ball went out of bounds.

For today, I plan to setup a similar size field, but with 2 goals at each end. Play will start with a goal kick after every stoppage. The game will end after one of the players gets two goals. You can get a goal in the expected manner, OR, if the ball goes out on your opponents touch. This should be strongly discouraging of just kicking the ball away from the attacker AND wild shooting. The idea of this 1 v 1 game is to work on pressure and dribbling. With this special rule for balls that go out of play, controlling the ball will be the highest priority.

-Bill

A Story about a Great Soccer Player

At practice, I was encouraging the girls to try some "moves" between passes. Several of the girls showed reluctance to even try. I wasn't asking for anything more than the simplest of fakes or change in direction. So I told them a story.

One of the greatest soccer players in the world, Ronaldinho, had the ball in the corner. He goes to put a move on the back. The back wins the ball and dribbles away.

They looked at me kind of quisically. So I asked who knew who Ronaldinho is? Most knew, several didn't. I explained that he had some of the best moves in the world. So I told my story again. Still the quisical looks. Then I added, "So even the best players in the world mess up sometimes. They still try." "Ohhh," they said. "So that's your point."

"Yes. I just want you to try!"

-Bill

First Practice for the Fall

We had our first practice with my now U10 girls and it was just a ton of fun. We fell back to some fundamental skills work and the girls really seemed to savor the challenge. Simple stuff like ticky-tocky dribbling, inside-outside dribbling. Doing this drills with your head up looking at your teammates and making sure they had their head up. Making a move (outside push followed by a chop back) against a cone. Faking out the cone. Doing a step over. Scrimmage, monkey in the middle, and a couple of other things.

Maybe were all just fresh after the summer break, but even though it was 100+ outside, we didn't really seem to notice because we were having too much fun.

-Bill