First Touch and Getting it First

I expect the girls' off the ball movement to improve slowly with our current plan. However, their first touch is still a problem. Also, while we still need a lot of work on seeing all the possible passes, we get miscommunications; one player will be looking for a through-ball and the passer will send it toward her feet. The result is the defender steps up and wins the ball. We're going to have to learn how to read the defense so we are all on the same page.

Even more importantly, our first touch still needs work. The ball is bouncing all over the place. To address this, I'm thinking of a game where players will have to keep it close and keep it safe from a defender. Perhaps a game where we have small boxes setup around the field and a player from each team in each box. The blue team will have to receive the ball without letting it rebound out of the box and at the same time shielding it from the opponent in her box. Then she needs to pass it to a teammate in another box. With these constraints, I think we'll be able to make the lack of first touch obvious to the players. However, I'm a little concerned that this drill may encourage them to wait for the ball rather than coming back to it. Hmmm.