By Jebreel Bubtana
This is a great way to work on your player’s fitness and technical ability on the ball, with passing, first touch and dribbling included in the circuit.
Get your team to partner up and set up the field as shown below in figure 1.
There are 5 stations in this circuit described in more detail below:
Station 1 – The player without the ball must shuffle through the ladders as quickly as possible. After this is done, that player then receives the ball from the feeder who is stood 10 yards in front and must control and pass the ball back with their right foot. They then receive another pass from the feeder, which they must control and pass back with their left foot. The player then returns to the start to perform the same thing again. After 2 minutes the two players switch.
Station 2 – The two discs are places 4 yards apart with the feeder 5 yards in front of the discs. The player without the ball must shuffle to the disc on the left to start the exercise. They receive a pass from the feeder and must pass back to them first time with their left foot. They then shuffle to the disc on the right and receive a pass from the feeder to pass back to them first time with their right foot. This continues for 2 minutes, then the two players switch.
Station 3 – The player with the ball must dribble in and out of the discs using both feet. After they have dribbled through, they pass the ball to their teammate who is stood 10 yards in front of them and take their place on the disc. The player who has just received the pass now dribbles to the start to dribble in and out of the cones. This continues for 4 minutes.
Station 4 – This station is similar to Station 2 but when the player shuffles to the cone on the right, they feeder throws the ball in the air so that the player can control with their thigh and pass back on the ground. When the player shuffles to the cone on the left, the feeder throws the ball in the air so that the player can control with their chest and pass back on the ground. This continues for 2 minutes before the two players switch.
[wpsharely id="1886"][/wpsharely]Station 5 – Set up a 5 x 5 yard square. The feeder stands 5 yards out of the square and the working player stands in the middle of the square. The feeder can throw the ball anywhere in the square and to any body part they want. The player in the middle must control the ball and pass back to the feeder as quickly as possible. The player in the middle’s first touch must stay in the square and not take them out. The idea is that the feeder must challenge the player in the middle and not just throw the ball lightly to their teammate. After two minutes, the two players switch positions.
It is important to ensure that, as the players get tired, correct technique is not compromised throughout the full circuit. Much like you would expect your players to maintain their technical ability, as they get tired during a game.
Variations:
Be creative and come up with different stations for your players to perform, which can involve different passing, dribbling and first touch techniques.
Jebreel Bubtana
Director of Marketing at BRASA Brazilian Soccer Academy
NSCAA Advanced National Diploma
NSCAA Director of Coaching Diploma
Follow me on Twitter @jib1989
