|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Fundamentals of Passing Once the fundamental technique is
acquired it is time to move on to actual passing. At this point coaches
tend to amplify the lesson into both passing and receiving. As the players
get older this is more and more appropriate since they have been exposed
to both. In addition you really need to be able to do both to effectively
work the passing skill but at the real young ages if you introduce a
second skill you will dilute what you are trying to get across. In
general, teaching one skill at a time is the better course of action at
the younger ages. Progression of
the Passing Skill Have the players form two lines about 10 yards apart
facing each other. Each player in one line starts with the ball. Make sure
there is adequate room between the players for errant passes. If you find
that the distance between the lines is too great stop the drill and bring
them closer together. The drill must be geared for success to build
confidence. Have the players begin passing to their partner. As
with the static drill mentioned above watch for proper striking technique,
proper foot placement, eye-foot coordination (head down) and follow
through. But now in addition to these coaching points you must
look for: Again work both the dominant and non-dominant foot.
Build success first with the dominant foot and then begin to work the
non-dominant foot at a rate equal to twice that for the dominant one. Basic Passing Progression #2
–The Triangle The basic "shape" on the soccer field is
the triangle. And the first basic tactical concept, which we will not go
into in depth here, is the concept of support. In its simplest form the
concept of support should find the ball carrier with players to his/her
right and left giving him passing options. One coach I know used the
approach of having the players "draw his six-shooters", holding
their hands out at approximately 45o from their bodies. The
fingers of the six-shooters then point at the two support players. Coaching Points Basic Passing Progression #3 –One Touch Passing Have the players form two lines about 10 yards apart
facing each other. Each player in one line starts with the ball. Make sure
there is adequate room between the players for errant passes. If you find
that the distance between the lines is too great stop the drill and bring
them closer together. The drill must be geared for success to build
confidence. Have the players begin passing to their partner. At
the youngest age you may want to have the ball served by hand, i.e. have
the ball rolled to the kicking partner who now has to one touch (or one
time) the ball back to their partner who picks it and rolls it back. Once everyone is comfortable with one-touch you can
progress to having both partners kick the ball one touch to each other.
Make a game of it. Have them count how many times they can keep the ball
going without either missing. Progress to a game where on each successive
kick the players take one step closer to each other until the ball is
ricocheting back and forth at a rapid pace. Basic Passing Game U7: Keep Your
Yard Clean Create a 5 - 10 yard neutral area
that no player can enter. Use a minimum of one ball per two players (for
best results use a ball for each player). On command, each team tries to
keep it's side free of balls by kicking through the neutral zone to the
opposite side. Play for a specific time limit. Basic Passing Game U7: Rabbits Create a grid 10 yards wide by 30 long. Line players
up on both sides of the short side of the grid. Each player has a ball.
One player starts on one end of the long side of the grid without a ball.
Place a cone at the opposite end. The player without the ball has to run
to the other end, grab the cone and return. The players with the balls
have to try and hit the player carrying the cone with their ball below the
waist. Place several cones within the grid. The player has
to retrieve them all one at a time. Advance to retrieving two cones at a time so that
the player stays in the grid longer. Basic Passing Game U7: Bowling Place cones within a 10 x 10 yard grid. Each player
has a ball. The object is to pass the ball into the grid and knock over a
cone. Basic Passing Game U7: Trick or
Treat This is a drill suggested by Ivan Mann, a coaching
colleague from the soccer-coach-l mailing list. Make a square with pretty small sides - players line
up on each side. Put an adult in the middle of each side (that means four
adults) holding a dozen or so flat cones (you could use anything else
similar size and shape). 50 cones or 50 slips of construction paper will
do. On a go signal, players dribble across the square,
stop the ball with a foot on it, say "Trick or Treat ", take a
cone from an adult, turn the ball, dribble back across, take a cone, etc.
When all the cones are gone, who has the most? This requires dribbling at
speed, avoiding the clump in the middle, controlling the ball around an
opponent, but minimal coordination holding the cones. After a few rounds dribble across the square, dribble
around the coach, and then stop the ball, say "Trick or treat,"
etc. Or place the adults randomly in the square, moving at a walking pace.
This makes them keep their heads up and look for the target (i.e. the
adult) Basic Passing Game U7 to U12:
Numbers Passing Players are numbered 1 to 5. (Make multiple teams and
keep the numbers low so each player gets multiple touches on the ball.)
Players pass the ball to the player with the number one higher than their
own. (e.g. 1 passes to 2, 5 to 1). Ball travels through the entire team. Progressions:
Fundamentals of Receiving (or Trapping)
As with passing, there are many different ways to trap the ball in soccer. Some of them are basic and some more advanced. Trapping, and then preparing the ball for the next action, is possibly the single most important skill in soccer. So important that it has been given its own terminology, the first touch. What we’ll be concerned with here initially are the fundamentals of basic receiving, what you would teach to a 7 year old (and up) to build a foundation for more advanced techniques. The coaching points for basic foot trapping , From the Nose to the Toes are:
Sounds simple right? Well lets break them down one by one and then suggest ways and means of teaching this technique. First, head up…the opposite of what you do just before you pass. Requesting a pass, non-verbally, is an important and overlooked aspect of receiving the ball. Players at the young ages will probably shout for a pass to be sent to them. And that is all right when they are young, but as they progress the non verbal cues, eye contact, starting a run to space, etc. etc., become more important. Second.. knees flexed…if the player stands rigidly, with the knees locked, in order to move after an errant pass he/she must first flex the knees and then move. This wastes valuable time and often results in the player not being in a good position to receive the ball. Remember, not every pass is going to be right on the money. Third... heel down, toe up. This is a common mistake. Many young players will leave the foot flat on the ground. The result is that many balls will just run over the toes and keep going. Balls that take a slightly bad bounce will do the same. The pass in this case is received on the inside surface of the foot. On very young players you can have them receive a pass with the heel down toe up on the sole of the foot. A common mistake here is that the player tries to step on the ball, timing exactly when the pass will move underneath their foot. Obviously this requires a degree of eye – foot coordination that is not necessary if the child would simply plant the heel on the ground and raise the toe. Fourth…Play the ball outside of your footprints. Have the players visualize where their footprints are as they prepare to trap the ball. If you are working in a gym you can outline the footprints with athletic tape to illustrate the point. The training technique is to set the ball outside of where they are standing, i.e. outside of their footprints. A common mistake that young players make is to stop the ball dead at their feet. They then have to take a step or two backwards to get set to play the ball to the next player. Last.. soft touch. Many young players are too rigid when the ball is played to them. Many even "attack" the ball. The result is that the ball bounces away and is lost. The foot has to give a little, moving back away from the direction the ball is coming, ball so that it can be set up for the next action, either another pass, a shot or some dribbling move. With more advanced players you will see them actually lifting the foot and then bringing it down in a slight "slicing" motion to bring the ball to a standstill.
Teaching the Fundamental Skill of Trapping Have the players form two lines facing each other, pairing up with a partner across from them. Assuming that basic passing has been taught, have each pair pass the ball back and forth. Start out simple by using a sole of the foot trap. Make sure that the non-dominant foot is used as well as the dominant one. Progress to an inside of the foot trap using first the dominant foot and then the non-dominant one. Allow multiple touches on the ball to start, then progress to two touches and finally to one touch. Basic Receiving Progression #1 –The Triangle The basic shape on the soccer field, as was discussed in passing, is the triangle. Now we use the same passing progression to work the trapping skill. Here instead of the player at the apex being the distributor of the balls have the players pass around the triangle. Initially all balls come from, lets say, the left. The receiving player traps the ball on the inside of the right foot, i.e. plays the ball across their body and opens up to the field prepared to pass to the next player. The direction is then reversed and the ball comes from the right. The receiving player then traps the ball with the left foot and opens up to the field prepared to pass to the next player. Remember to emphasize the points discussed previously, heel down – toe up, play the ball outside of your "footprints", soft touch – give a little as the ball hits the foot.
Basic Receiving Progression # 2 – The Triangle with Movement Set up a square grid with cone and place players at three of these cones. Player # 2 starts with the ball. He initially has support to his right and left from Players # 1 and # 3. He now passes to Player 3. Player 3 now only has support from Player # 2. Player #1 therefore must recognize this and run to the unoccupied cone and re-establish support in two directions for the ball handler
So the basic idea is to pass and have the player off the ball react to the pass and provide support by running to the open space, in this case, the unoccupied cone.
Now that we have introduced the basic pass and trap concepts, there are several basic types of passing that we would like to acquaint you with along with basic drills to teach them. The basic pass types are:
A key ingredient of a good passing game is player movement. There are two types of positive movement. The first type is towards the ball. This is also called "showing" for the ball. The second type of movement is away from the ball. This type of movement stretches out the defense or causes the defense to have to adjust. Showing for the ball is characterized by a quick burst of movement towards the ball at the time. This type of run demands the ball to be played to the feet of the player showing. Runs away from the ball are often into undefended space. These runs usually provide a long pass opportunity. Passes should be targeted into space for the player to run onto. Players must be trained to constantly adjust their position based on the ball position and location of the other players. When one player moves, this generally creates space for another player to move into or exploit.
A pass is defined as "square" when the passing and receiving players are basically in line with each other shoulder-to-shoulder. The three players below are square to each other. The pass sequence is 1-2-3-4, pass and return.
Now of course it would be extremely boring, and not of much tactical use if this is all that the players did, so we combine the square pass with either a diagonal or a through pass to create an opportunity. As the name suggests, this pass is made on a diagonal. The easiest way to teach it is to make a grid of cones as shown below.
Player #1 makes a square pass to his/her partner (Player # 2). He/she then runs to the next cone in line and receives back from his/her partner a diagonal pass. The player making the diagonal pass immediately runs to receive back a second square pass. This type of pass is to space and causes the defenders to adjust their position The sequence is repeated for as many repetitions that you have room on the field for. At the end of the sequence the players switch positions and the player originally making the square passes now receives them and plays the ball back diagonally to his/her partner.
In the simplest form of the thru-ball pass the receiver will make a bending run, initially around a static defender, and then receive the ball.
Player #2 has a ball. Player #1 makes eye contact with Player #2 and then starts out on a bending run around the cone directly in front of him/her. The run ends at the cone directly in front of Player #2 Player #2 passes the ball to player one at this cone (leading him into the cone). Again this pass is to space. Space is exploited by the person making the run and causes the defense to adjust. Player 2 then makes a diagonal, cross-field run and receives a square pass back from Player #1. Player #1 then repeats his bending run in the opposite direction and receives another thru ball from Player #2. Player #2 repeats his diagonal, cross-field run and receives back a square pass. This sequence is repeated for as many times as the coach wants and then is reversed so each player gets to make the bending run and the thru-ball pass.
In this case, instead of making a square pass back to the original passer, the player receiving the ball should two-touch it to the player making the diagonal run
Thru-Ball Pass in the Triangle We now want to introduce the thru ball pass and relate it to the basic shape the team takes on the field, that is, the triangle. In order to perform this exercise we set up a rectangular grid of cones, approximately 10 yards by 15 yards. Place a player at each cone. What you effectively have here are two triangles.
The ball is passed from player to player in any order. Every third (or every fifth, you decide) pass is a thru ball. The thru ball is to the player diagonally across from the passer. Initially, players should yell thru ball as they let the pass go so that the concept becomes ingrained.
This is a good drill for working progressions from easy to difficult while teaching the concept of a thru-ball pass.
One of the most effective passing techniques/tactics for soccer is the give-and-go pass. The give-and-go (or wall pass) is basic to the games of basketball, hockey as well as soccer. In simple terms, the player with the ball passes to their teammate, who, at the beginning, is stationary. The receiving player is, in essence, the wall. And what happens when a ball hits a wall? It rebounds. If it hits it at an angle it rebounds at the same angle. And that is all we are trying to do here. Perhaps the easiest way to introduce the wall pass is to use a wall. If you have a gym you can spread players out along the walls and just have them pass to each other as shown below.
If you are outside start the fundamental skill by putting three people together in a triangle. The player at the apex of the triangle is now the wall. In order to teach this skill correctly, you want the center player to truly act like a wall. In order to do this you want this player to one-touch the ball on to the next player. With the younger ages the wall player should start out as a coach or a parent so that the drill builds success. One of the good coaching points about wall passes at the younger ages is that when the pass is given it always moves on and /or comes back. Skilled players sometimes tend to hold the ball longer than is prudent simply because they think that when they give it up, it will never come back to them.
Wall Pass with Movement (The Give-and-Go) The next progression of the wall pass is to add player movement. I would suggest for the younger levels that you start this drill with a coach acting as the wall to build success. Timing the run of the player is critical and takes a lot of demonstration and a lot of practice. The basic setup is shown below:
Player passes to the coach and immediately makes his run to the second cone on his side. The coach times the run so that the ball and the player arrive at the same time. If there are two coaches repeat the process. Otherwise have the players pull a move after they receive the ball and rejoin the line at the end.
More Games/Drills To Put the Passing and Trapping Skills Together Basic Pass/Trap Game : Passing Warm Up Divide the team in two. Place players in a 20 x 20 yd grid without a ball. Place an equal number of players on outside of the grid each with a ball. Inside players move around the grid freely, receive a ball from an outside player and return it as quickly as they can. Switch positions after a while.
Basic Pass/ Trap Game U7: The Ladder Relay Divide the team into two or three groups depending upon how many players are at practice. Set up a "ladder" of cones as shown. Players pass and receive moving the ball up the ladder. Last player in ladder dribbles ball to bottom and re-starts the passing. When the original bottom rung player gets back to the lowest rung the team "wins".
Basic Pass/Trap Game: U8 Triangle Goals This is a simple game wherein you set up two (2) goals next to each other with three (3) players as shown. The object is for the players labeled "A" to make a wall pass to Player "B" through the goals. Have several goals set up and see who can make the most passes in one minute. Eventually the players will understand that to "win" the game they have to be able to accurately one-touch the pass through the goal and be able to use both feet equally well.
Basic Pass/ Trap Game U9: The Circle Set up a circle of players and place one player without a ball in the middle. All of the outside players have to have a ball. Start simply by going around the circle and having each player, in turn, pass to the player inside. The player inside must either multiple touch, two touch or one-touch the ball back to the same player depending upon what the coach has chosen. If the player inside misses he/she is replaced by the player who passed them the ball.
Progression of the Circle Game 1. Have the player return the ball to the next player in the circle:
Have the player in the center call out the name of the person he/she is going to return the ball to. Have the player in the center play first with the right foot and then with the left continually alternating. Have the player in the center shout ‘Through ball" and let the ball pass by them to a waiting player on the outside of the circle.
Basic Pass/ Trap Game U9: Circle Pass and Switch
Basic Pass/Trap Game U10 The Name Game: Players in a circle. One ball to a group. Players call out the name of the player to whom they are passing. Progression of this drill is to have them pass and switch., have them pass only non-dominant foot. Basic Pass/ Trap Game U10: Circle One Touch and Go This is a drill that I picked up from Gary Rue (NSCAA Coach in KY). It is a more advanced drill than the one above and similar, though not as complex, as the Pass and Move shown later in this section.
Progression of the Circle One Touch and Go
You will see some of these drills repeated as part of the Possession and Increasing the Speed of Play section further on in this manual.
Basic Pass/Trap Game U10: Chaos in the Circle The following game is used as a warm-up by the U.S. Women’s National Team as a way to work trapping skills in a match related type of environment. Four (4) players are inside a 15 yard diameter circle with the rest of the team outside. Four (4) of the outside players have a ball. The inside players have to run around within the circle and free themselves for a pass coming from the outside. Initially let them just return the ball to the outside player and then move on to take another pass from another outside player. After they have become relatively proficient at trapping the ball have them trap it and perform a three touch move and then return it to another outside player. The quick movements within the circle, the heads up required so that you don’t run into a teammate all help to simulate match type conditions
Basic Pass/Trap Drill U10: Width – Depth - First Touch Away From Pressure The following drill is a simple pass and move that gets players thinking about width of the field, depth of the field and preparing the ball from a pass with their first touch away from pressure Start the exercise with four (4) players, one at each corner and a spare player behind each. Use one ball to start. The field should be rectangular (since a soccer field is rectangular) and s you should adjust it to the passing abilities of your players. Ball goes down the long side of the field first. Tell your players to think of this as a pass back to a midfielder. The midfielder now wants to play the ball away from oncoming pressure. The first touch prepares the ball to her right. The second touch makes the pass to her support player. This switches the point of the attack and widens the field. The player receiving the ball follows the same pattern… first touch away from pressure, second touch to make the pass. In this case tell your players that they are a midfielder looking to hit a target player, a forward, down the field. This creates depth. After the players make their passes they follow them, switching their position in the exercise so that everyone plays the midfielder and target player positions
Progression of Width – Depth – First Touch Away From Pressure
Progression of the Fundamental Phase
Player 1 plays as a passive defensive player against player 2 (Red Triangle)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
