By Alex Trukan
This type of practice is designed to develop strength to stay on the ball under pressure. It will heavily overload leg muscles and joints, forming new connections and increasing their stability. This will help players to be more effective not only in staying on the ball, but also in physical duels both in and out of possession. Apart from the conditioning element, it also heavily develops players’ ability to manipulate the ball and use disguise. The practice is organised in a way that will engage players and make a session more competitive and demanding. It is also suitable for almost all age groups and group sizes.
Set-Up and Directions
Organise three 5 x 10 yards rectangles (5 x 5 yards boxes can be used as well) next to each other. Divide the group into pairs. Every pair should find their own rectangle. One player from a pair starts on the ball and the other one starts as a defender. Every pitch represents a ‘league’, i.e. Premier League, next pitch is Championship and the next one, League 1. This will be later used for promotion/relegation purposes. More pitches/boxes might be set up to suit numbers.
The rules of the game are simple, the player that has the ball, tries to stay on it for the duration of one round. The player that doesn’t have the ball, tries to win it back and stay on it as well. Both players need to stay within their area. Defenders should be encouraged to win possession back and not poke/kick the ball out of the area.
After the round is finished (duration explained in ‘timing’ section), the player that has the ball gets promoted to the pitch up (i.e. from Championship to Premier League) and a player that didn’t have the ball, gets relegated. As a progression, two or three pitches and pairs might be combined together and play 2v2 or 3v3 games. Similarly, the team that finishes in possession, wins the round.
Another variation might include goals placed next to the pitch. The team that keeps the ball for certain amount of time, tries to score in goal to get a point. This is a progression to add end product to staying on the ball for players to see more relevance of it.
Timing
Each round should last up to 40 seconds with breaks in between of 15 seconds. This should be repeated 10-15 times.
Variations
- 2v2/3v3
- Stay on the ball to score (add goals)
- Increase/decrease the size of the area
By Alex Trukan, Development Coach, Nottingham Forest
@AlexTrukan
