By Anthony Hazelwood
The following activity has three lines of players working on patterns of play. Players will be working to adapt their speed production within the creatine phosphate system. Play will begin from the attacking middle third area. To begin, three lines of players will work on different patterns of play to goal. The important factor here is the speed of play the activity is performed in. Make sure sprints are maximal.
When preparing the activity, if needed, concentration and difficulty levels may be increased by having players execute something extra unique by setting more restrictions. Every activity may be modified, and it is up to the coach to be creative. However, it is important to respect the parameters of the exercise time, the rest, the types of actions used and the weekly periodization of the activity.
Additionally, it is beneficial to train a soccer team and its players with all the elements of the game is present in the session. By doing so, it will promote soccer specific adaptations to the player’s body, mind, and emotional triad. Ultimately, these adjustments will enhance their real-time game performances on a physical, emotional, conscious, and subconscious mental level.
Area Size: Half a field.
Total Activity Time: 15 minutes.
Sets: 3
Number of Repetitions: 9 (three reps on each cone.)
Intensity: High.
Objectives:
• Tactical: Patterns of play.
• Fitness: Maintain high intense corporal actions.
• Technique: Proper fitness and off/on the ball execution/techniques.
• Mental-Emotional: Players fully engaged and concentration is high.
• Concentration Level: High.
Setup:
• Put three cones at the attacking third portion of the field.
• Put players on cones.
• Perform Pattern #1: Repeat on Both Sides.
• Perform Pattern #2: Repeat on Both Sides
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Coaching Points:
• Technical and Tactical executions at speed.
• Timing of runs.
• Keep lines at proper work to rest ratio. Players need more rest to recover to perform the action maximally again.
By Anthony Hazelwood
Coach Anthony is a USSF “A” licensed coach with an M.S. in Sports Training and Nutrition and a B.S. in Physical Education. Currently, he is an Assistant and Sports Performance coach with the Miami FC. He has previous European youth academy coaching experience as a soccer fitness and strength/conditioning assistant coach with Levante U.D. and Getafe SAD in Valencia and Madrid, Spain.
