Training Plan: Decision Making - Dribble or Pass?

Objective: Create opportunities for decision making - Dribble or Pass?

The Set Up: Magic Rectangle - The overall pitch size is 40x30 with the central third being 16 yards long.

 

Ball Work - This takes place in the central rectangle, players are asked to go and stand along the line of yellow and red cones or the orange and blue cones - there choice. Players are then asked to dribble the ball across to the opposite line of cones performing various feints or change of direction moves that the coach has chosen from this blog post, at least once.

Players work back and forwards between the lines of cones and change to the next skill on the coaches request. Allow them at least 4 or 5 attempts at each skill before changing.

Duos - This is a drill from the old FA Level 1 club coaches handbook. Split up into pairs, with a ball between two, standing opposite each other. The first player runs towards their partner with the ball, when they shout “Take” the partner takes the ball turns and repeats.

The way to develop this exercise further is as follows: The first player passes to their partner, shouts “Overlap” runs around them and receives a return pass and dribbles the ball back to where he had been standing. And so on…taking turns to overlap

The next way to progress is where the first player runs towards their partner with the ball then calls “Foot on” while stopping the ball with the sole of their foot. The partner takes the ball then and runs to the opposite end and then repeats.

Then, you can leave it open as to which one of these (take/overlap/foot on) perform. so players can do what they like.

Communi-Gates - Arrange two teams. One of the teams must stand in the gates, marked out by the cones. The other team must dribble around the area and communicate with the players in the gates. The players that are dribbling can choose do the following actions:

a) dribble towards a gate, call "Take", perform the movement and wait at the gate.
b) dribble towards a gate pass to the player, shout "Turn" and then wait at the gate
c) dribble towards a gate, call "One-Two", perform the movement with the player in the gate.

Knock the Cones Over - An adaptation of the vision game, instead of scoring in the goals, the objective of the game now is to knock the cones over with a push pass. First team to knock all the opponents cones over wins.

Follow this with a normal game. Focus on the skills learnt in the session, giving particular praise to players taking players on or passing to create scoring opportunities

Our diagrams are produced using session template software (with new functionality) from Academy Soccer Coach. Click here to visit their website and access free soccer downloads

Practice Plan: Dribbling

Objective:
Dribbling - Giving players some basic skills to go and practice

Warm Up:
Ball Work
In betweens (15 in-betweens up then stepover turn and go back 2 times.)
Toe touches moving forward alternating feet (Do 15 up and back 2 times with "pullback" turn.)
Toe touches moving backwards (Do 15 up and back 2 times.)
Side rolls moving forward, first right foot then back with left. (Up and back 2-4 times.)
Outside foot touches with "fast feet" between touches. (Up and back 2-4 times.)
Outside to inside roll right foot across body, touch forward with left foot. Alternate. (Do 10 up and back 2 times.)
Inside to outside roll, right foot out to the (right) side touch forward with right foot. Alternate. (Do 10 up and back 2 times.)
Skip Touches (Skip forward touching the ball with the front foot, each skip.)
"Run Throughs" Smother or trap while running through a tossed ball. (Up and back several times.)
All the techiniques above demonstrated here

Work in small groups:
Reaction Tag - Players are split into two teams and stand facing away from each other about 2m apart. If coach calls "A", players in team A sprint to goal line infront of them, players in group B chase them and try to catch and tag them. Return to starting positions and repeat as many times as you like, with and without the ball.

Work in small areas:

Dribbling through Pirates -  Split groups into 3, a team on the outside, on both sides, and one in the middle. The players in the middle are pirates ....groups take turns as pirates. Players try to dribble through river to other shore. Pirates in the middle try to the steal ball. Pirates winning tackles can kick the ball to shore and the outside player must get it. All groups get turn as pirates

Group Work: Normal Match – Focus on the skills learnt in the session, giving particular praise to players dribbling well with the ball.

Our diagrams are produced using session template software available at Academy Soccer Coach. Click here to visit their website and access free soccer downloads.

Practice Plan: Dribbling

Objective:
Dribbling - Giving players some basic skills to go and practice 

Warm Up:
Ball Work
In betweens (15 in-betweens up then stepover turn and go back 2 times.)
Toe touches moving forward alternating feet (Do 15 up and back 2 times with "pullback" turn.)
Toe touches moving backwards (Do 15 up and back 2 times.)
Side rolls moving forward, first right foot then back with left. (Up and back 2-4 times.)
Outside foot touches with "fast feet" between touches. (Up and back 2-4 times.)
Outside to inside roll right foot across body, touch forward with left foot. Alternate. (Do 10 up and back 2 times.)
Inside to outside roll, right foot out to the (right) side touch forward with right foot. Alternate. (Do 10 up and back 2 times.)
Skip Touches (Skip forward touching the ball with the front foot, each skip.)
"Run Throughs" Smother or trap while running through a tossed ball. (Up and back several times.)

All the techiniques above demonstrated here

Work in small groups:
Moving Keepers - Split players into two groups and randomly place one more goal than players, using cones, in the area. All but one goal should have a keeper. Players with ball dribble through goal without GK in it. When the coach shouts "change" the keepers should change goals so that a different goal does not have a goalkeeper, forcing players dribbling to find new target. Change goals every 30 seconds and rotate the players after 2 minutes.

Work in small areas:

Reaction Dribbling - Players are split between 4 squares as shown below and freely dribble inside square. The coach then calls a direction (to the left, to the right or across) for them to dribble in and they dribble to that squareOn command by coach, they dribble to that square.

Group Work:
Normal Match – Focus on the skills learnt in the session, giving particular praise to players dribbling well with the ball.  

Our diagrams are produced using session template software available at Academy Soccer Coach. Click here to visit their website and access free soccer downloads.

Practice Plan: Dribbling

Objective:
Dribbling - Giving players some basic skills to go and practice

Warm Up:
Ball Work - 3 Taps and Roll-Out - Do 3 taps and instead of the touch, put the sole of the foot on top of the ball and lightly roll it to the outside of the body Move the foot outside of the ball and start the pattern again. When you can do this move well, your foot will actually slide down the outside edge of the ball while doing this move

2 Taps and Roll-In - Just like 3 taps and Roll-Out except do 2 taps then lightly roll the ball to the side in front of your body. Continue moving your foot with the ball and step across your body. Move the back foot to the outside of the ball and start the pattern again

Work in small groups:
Dibbling between Squares - Players dribble between two squares about 10 yards apart, Coach tells them which part of the foot to use

Work in small areas:

Passing and dribbling - Players work in pairs, passing the ball to each other inside the square. When the coach says the players with the ball dribble into the other square and their partners run after them. Once in the square they start passing again.

Group Work: Normal Match – Focus on the skills learnt in the session, giving particular praise to players dribbling well with the ball

Our diagrams are produced using session template software available at Academy Soccer Coach. Click here to visit their website and access free soccer downloads.

Practice Plan: Dribbling

We have had so many kids joining our training group that as well as getting extra help from the parents with the coaching we have also split the group in two, the more developed players who where dominating the matches and the less developed (mainly younger players).

I will be working with the less developed players so you may find that the lesson plans are targeted at that sort of player for the time being.

Objective:
Dribbling - Giving players some basic skills to go and practice

Warm Up:
Ball Work

Tap-Tap (Fast Feet)
Place the ball in between you feet, with your legs shoulder width apart and slightly bend your knees. Knock the ball in between you feet as quickly as you can, using the instep

3 Taps and Touch
Like Tap-Tap, do 3 taps, then instead of the 4th tap, lift the foot and do a light touch on the top of the ball. Continue the pattern starting with the foot that touched on top so you use both feet to touch the ball

3 Taps and Roll-Out
Do 3 taps and instead of the touch, put the sole of the foot on top of the ball and lightly roll it to the outside of the body Move the foot outside of the ball and start the pattern again. When your players do this move well, their foot will actually slide down the outside edge of the ball while doing this move

Work in small groups:
Tag - Every child dribbles a soccer ball in a defined space while trying to tag other players with their hand. Players cannot leave their own ball. Have them keep count of how many people they have tagged and, if playing more than one game, see if players can tag more people than they did in the first game.

Body Parts - In designated area, all players dribble a ball. When the coach yells out the name of a body part, players must touch that body part to the ball as quickly as possible. Vary body parts and rate at which he calls out body parts. At times, call out body parts consecutively (i.e. tummy, nose, elbow) during one stoppage or call out two body parts at once (i.e. both hands or both feet).

Work in small areas:
Hospital Tag - Same as tag in that each player dribbles a soccer ball and that they try to tag each other with their hands. In this game, each time a player is tagged he/she must place their hand on the spot on their body where they were tagged. Obviously, if tagged a third time, players have no more hands to cover those spots, so they most go to the hospital to see the doctor. The coach acts as the doctor and performs a magical task (pretend) to heal the injuries of all the little soccer players so they can continue playing the game.

Traffic Lights - All players have a ball and dribble in a limited space (or towards the coach). When coach says “red light”, players must stop ball and put foot on top of ball. When coach says “amber light”, players must dribble very slowly. When coach says “green light”, players dribble fast. The coach controls this game with the frequency of “light” changes and variety of changes. Once players catch on to this game, add other color lights and affix different actions to them. (i.e. white light = hop back and forth over ball, blue light = run around the ball)

Group Work:
Normal Match – Foxus on the skills learnt in the session, giving particular praise to players dribbling well with the ball