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.

Passing the Point

We have been working on "passing the point" and I like what I see. The girls started off real shaky, but got better quickly. It takes a lot of concentration to be working on setting up a contract to get the ball from one teammate and give it to another all while the ball is bouncing around you. They just want to watch the ball. It's hypnotic. We have to break that spell with a disciplined effort.

We simplified things by first just passing the point, no ball movement at all. After a few rounds of making sure everyone had both of their contracts, they got better at just this step. Then we had them pass the point and when everyone had their contracts, they passed the ball to complete the contracts. It took several rounds of this to get them in the habit of remembering who to expect to get the from and who they would give the ball to (pardon the poor grammar). After that, we tried getting the ball moving before all the contracts were complete. We still have a way to go. However, we now have a common understanding and a common language to describe this fairly complex topic.

Passing the Soccer Ball - Make a Contract

Passing the soccer ball effectively requires that you have a plan before you get the ball. While the technical skills to receive and pass the ball are certainly prerequisites, teaching the girls to stop ball watching and start thinking isn't easy. I tried out a new idea and it looked like it was working.

I first explained to the girls what a contract was - in our case, an agreement between players to pass and receive the ball. Each player needed to first get a contract from a teammate to pass the ball to them. Next to get a contract with a different player to whom they would pass the ball. That doesn't sound very simple, does it. A simple means of communicating this contract is the key.

Here's what we did:

• If you don't have a contract, raise your hand.
• A player who has a contract to receive the ball looks for a player with their hand in the air and points to that player. If a player points at you, you have your first contract.
• Now you lower your hand and point to another player that needs a contract. When that deal is done, you're ready to receive the ball.

In essence what happens is you "pass the point". The players will be pointed at and then do the pointing all before the ball arrives. Now you have player anticipating the action, watching off the ball movement, and ready to move the ball quickly to another player after receiving it. After the pass is made, she raises her hand again and tries to get a new contract.

This gets them thinking the right way, then you make sure they're moving to get open so the first pass is an easy one for their teammate. Just standing with your hand in the air is not the idea.

We'll keep working on this and see if it translates to the game.