By Chris Kouns USSF A License (USSF Coaching Education Instructor) – NSCAA Premier Diploma (NSCAA Coaching Education Associate Staff Coach) – Head Coach Georgia Gwinnett College Women's Soccer Activity 1 There are four teams of four players each divided into the following groups. In each end zone there will be two players from one team. Then,
Continue readingTeaching players the technical skills of the game is the most important job of a coach who is working with young players. Finding new and creative ways to help the players groove passing technique is one of the more challenging things to do. The players need hundreds of repetitions of the correct technique before their muscles can repeat the motion accurately. There's only so long that two players can stand across from each other and pass the ball back and forth before they'll grow bored and loose focus. But if you move too quickly into competitive passing and possession games, which are fun and engaging, then the players won't use the correct technique and they'll end up repeating poor passes. Remember, practice doesn't make perfect; practice makes permanent.
So new ways to present the same technical challenge becomes the objective. One of the variations I've used is from a session that I found in our, 'Training Sessions of Europe's Top Teams'. It's a session that Jan Prujin of Ajax F.C.
Continue readingBy Chris Kouns USSF A License (USSF Coaching Education Instructor) – NSCAA Premier Diploma (NSCAA Coaching Education Associate Staff Coach) – Head Coach Georgia Gwinnett College Women's Soccer Activity 1 Two Grids running at the same time with each grid containing five (5) Possession Players and two (2) Defending Players. Activity time can range from 30
Continue readingBy Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.
Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on defensive shape and passing.
Start with a 60 x 40 field broken into vertical quarters. There are 4 players in each quarter, with one team in 2 quarters and the other team in the other 2 quarters.
One team starts with the ball on one end. The opposing players in the
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By Chris Kouns USSF A License (USSF Coaching Education Instructor) – NSCAA Premier Diploma (NSCAA Coaching Education Associate Staff Coach) – Head Coach Capital University Women’s Soccer (OH) These activities will put players into situations where their space is limited forcing them to recognize tactical options more quickly and develop better problem solving. Activity 1
Continue readingBy Sean Pearson
Session Length: 90 mins
During my days as a trainer, a lot of head coaches were (and still are) obsessed with the give and go, as if it’s the lifeblood of being a good team. While it is definitely a great combination to get behind opposition lines of defense it is not the be all and end all of attacking. Players and coaches alike need to understand it is a tool to use for specific scenarios to progress an attack, not to be used all the time as different scenarios will not allow it.
So to keep coaches happy and work on the give and go I developed a session that constantly worked on using the combination in the
By Alex Trukan
This exercise is a modification of a passing pattern with additional pressure from a defender to create sprinting situations. The main focus from a physical point of view is to improve starting speed and sprinting over short distances in a football specific context. Apart from that, this practice demands good quality of passing and receiving skills.
Set-Up and Directions
Organise six cones as shown on the diagram. Set up two small gates on the half way between two side cones. Organise two players on the middle cone, one player on each side cone and rest of the players with one ball each on the bottom middle cone. Minimal amount of players for this
Continue readingBy Chris Kouns USSF A License (USSF Coaching Education Instructor) – NSCAA Premier Diploma (NSCAA Coaching Education Associate Staff Coach) – Head Coach Capital University Women’s Soccer (OH) These finishing activities are designed to allow players to feel pressure (from competition and technical components) but not face defenders while working to improve their finishing. Activity
Continue readingBy Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.
Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on defensive shape and preventing the penetrating pass.
Start with a 20 x 10 grid just beyond the top of the D. There are three attacking players and two defending players. There is also a keeper in goal.
The three attacking players start with a
Continue readingBy Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.
Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on developing play out of the midfield.
Start using half a field with a line 35 yards out. There is a keeper in goal, two attacking players and two defending players in the final quarter and four attacking players and three defending players in the area near midfield.
The attacking team starts with the
Continue readingBy Alex Trukan
The following practice is aimed at developing functional football strength. It is a modification of a classical 6v3 possession game which is designed to further develop core strength needed in shielding and protecting the ball situations. It is physically demanding practice which makes the players working using mainly anaerobic energy system. Apart from that, it also challenges their ball control and retention skills under the pressure from the opponent.
Set-Up and Directions
Organise an area of approximately 20x25 yards. Divide the
Continue readingBy Chris Kouns USSF A License (USSF Coaching Education Instructor) – NSCAA Premier Diploma (NSCAA Coaching Education Associate Staff Coach) – Head Coach Capital University Women’s Soccer (OH) These activities are designed to help your players focus on mastering the situations that your players may find themselves in on game day Activity 1: Technical and
Continue readingBy Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.
Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on passing, receiving and overlapping runs.
Start with an area 30 x 15. There are 2 players on each end and 2 players in the middle. One of the players on an end starts with a ball.
The player with the ball starts by passing to one of the
Continue readingI use diamond passing drills as often as possible in my sessions because of how closely they resemble the shape of the game. They relate to every age and and every level of the game.
They are the most powerful when you're able to connect the passing movements in the drill with the movements on the field in a game situation.
This progression of exercises increase in complexity and finishes by putting the patterns on a field using the formation the team will be using in the game.
Diamond Drill - Passing & Turning
In the following diagrams, five players are lined up in a diamond formation 20 yards apart. Each drill begins with X1 starting with the ball.
• X1 begins by passing to X2 and follows the pass
• X2 moves away, first to create space in front, and then checks back
• X2 turns with the ball around the OUTSIDE of the cone
• X2 then passes to X3, and follows the pass
• X3 moves away and then checks in
• Repeat sequence
Diamond Drill Passing &Turning - Variation
Players must now
By Alex Trukan
The presented practice focuses on speed and power endurance. These physical qualities are needed to be able to produce high quality actions throughout the game and especially towards the end of it. This modification of a classical 3v1 possession game is engaging for both attackers and defenders due to often rotations between the roles and high intensity physical work.
Set-Up and Directions
Set up a square of 10 x 10 yards. Divide the team into two groups of three. Attacking three starts outside the square, one player on one side. The second group starts in line next to one of the outside cones. Supply of balls should be organised and ready to use.
The game starts by coach playing the ball in to
Continue readingBy Sean Pearson
Session Length: 90 mins
This session focuses on players recognizing when, where are how to move the ball away from pressure on one side of the field to a point on the other side of the field to attack from. One of my frustrations with players is not seeing the ‘bigger picture’ of the situation in front of them when the space around them is crowded. Players either force the ball further into the ‘scrum’ or if the ball gets passes out or pressure, because of a lack of awareness and incorrect body position the player receiving this ball, plays the next pass back where it has come from. The end result? Usually a loss of possession. So below I talk about when to switch the ball, player movement to help the switch and where to attack from after the switch. The reason I talk about this last point is the point of a switch is to change the point of attack to create a scoring chance, not to just keep possession by going back and forth over and over again.
Warm Up: 10 mins
Use a basic passing warm up to get players moving, receiving, passing and making decision.
By Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.
Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on playing off of the target player.
Start with a target player at the top of the 18, a defender right behind him (and players prepared to take their place) a server 40 yards out and a line of attackers even with the server. The server has balls and there is a keeper in goal.
The server starts by playing a ball into the
Continue readingBy Alex Trukan
This practice involves high intensity, power and strength work in a ball challenge situation. The demands placed on the players help in developing body capacity to deal with a pressure of a defender when challenging for the ball and receiving it. It also focuses on dealing with man to man marking and movements to receive.
Set-Up and Directions
Organise a square of approximately 10 x 10 yards. Four players should be positioned outside the area, one on each side. Two players start inside the square, one being an attacker and the second one, defender. One of the players outside the square starts with the ball.
On a coach’s signal, inside attacking player attempts to receive the
Continue readingBy Lawrence Fine, Author of the FineSoccer Coaching Bible.
Welcome to the FineSoccer Drills Newsletter. Today’s featured activity works on quick passing combinations and shooting.
Start with three players in a triangle just outside the 18. The first player has a ball. There is a line of players outside the triangle with balls waiting to take the first player's spot. There is also a keeper in goal.
The first player passes to the
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