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by Gary Rue
garyrue@bellsouth.net

NOTE:  Gary did not write these exercises and tips with the idea that someone would publish them.  I subscribe to the Soccer-Coach-L e-mail list and Gary is one of the coaches that posts extremely well thought out replies.  These are some of Gary's posts that I collected for use in coaching my own teams.   I approached Gary and he was gracious enough to allow me to publish them here.  If you like what you see or have a question about one of the exercises you can reach Gary at garyrue@bellsouth.net There are 50+ more pages of Gary's posts categorized at the Home Page of Exercises of the Day by Gary Rue. Click here and enjoy.

Practice Tip - Enney, Menney...

         Picking teams or exercise groups can be a nightmare to a coach, because we all too often try to create. Sometimes creating equality in groups of players is necessary, but more often than not, it is not worth your valuable time and effort.

General guidelines for grouping players:

        Select the players quickly and don't make a big deal out of it. If the sides are too out of whack, switch players during the exercises. If you need a particular group of players together, then know who they are up front.
         Be careful that you don't denigrate certain players. The players know who the top studs are, but no one wants to feel like they are bringing up the rear and the coach should not reinforce this negativity.
        Use a different method to select and make sure the same players are not always grouped together. It may be better to separate players by attitude, than by skill level-if you put two "clowns" in the same group, then you can kiss that group's productivity good-bye.

Here are some selection technique possibilities:

• When starting an exercise, cull the players out as you go down the group. Don't worry about whom is with whom.
• When you are doing small group exercises, keep the groups from the prior exercise and divide players from another group. For instance, if the initial exercise is a 1v1, then merge two groups to make a 2v2. A 3v3 ensuing 3v3 exercise can created by taking a 2v2 group and spreading them into the remaining groups. A 6v6 game can be created from the 3v3 group or the three players with pennies from two groups could combine to play against the other non-pennied group. This way, once the pennies go on, they don't have to be exchanged, except for a few players.
• Use birth month or birth day as a dividing point. For instance, all players born on an even month or even day, then adjust.
• Use first letter of first or last name. For instance, all players whose first name begins with A-M, then adjust.
• Use playing cards (I can't remember who suggested this, but it is a great idea). Anyone who picks a black suit is on this team or any number in the range of...
• At the high school in the early season, I may set up teams with a senior, a junior, a sophomore, and a freshman, where possible, to make sure I get a good age range on each team.
• Have players count out a number up to the number of teams you want. The players with that number are on a team.
• Choose based on normal playing function. For instance, backs against strikers or halfbacks or a combination of backs, halfbacks and forwards on the same side.

Practice Tip - Establish Your Goals

        I have started defining the different instructional areas I want to address in a season. I got this concept from the book, "Successful Coaching by Rainer Martins. Each goal is stored under a category. I have adopted Martins' categories, which are:

• Technique - the motor skills needed to perform the sport
• Tactical - knowing when and how to use the various techniques
• Legal - knowing the rules and basic procedures
• Physical - training athletes to be physically prepared for practices and contests
• Mental - training athletes to be psychologically prepared for practices and contests
• Moral - teaching athletes sportsmanship and their responsibilities to others

        Just before the season begins, the goals are prioritized as to when they will be introduced. I can put them on a calendar, generally a week in advance.
        More importantly, the written goals are reminders, especially in the non-technical areas. For instance, fights have not a common problem with my teams, but they do occur from time to time. When a fight does erupt, I want to make sure I have told the players that no one is to leave the technical area to try to stop the fight as they will be ejected regardless of their contribution to the situation. I will talk to the team about this just prior to the first game. Having my goals written down helps me to remember them.
        I am currently using a database to store and categorize the goals, but a written notebook, word processing document or spreadsheet could be used as well.

Practice Plan - Dribbling

        Last night, I ran the following practice at the high school that yielded good results. I hope this session can be of some benefit.

Focus-Dribbling, 1v1, shooting off the dribble, transition dribbling

Pre-practice: Coach discusses practice with the team of 30 players, identifying focus and briefly what activities they will be doing.

Warm-up:

• Players started in a pass and change line setup, 3-4 players per group.
• After a couple of minutes, the players are to dribble to the next player. They are to speed dribble, do moves, cuts, etc. Change of pace is mandatory. The hips and shoulders are to be very loose, with head fakes and movement. The first touch is also watched.
• When the dribbler get to the other end, he does a takeover with the next player, who dribbles back.
• Two groups are merged so there are 6-7 players per group. The first player with ball plays a long pass to the player across from him and closes down. The defender may not tackle but is to apply pressure on the first touch. The receiver is to try to beat the closing defender with the first or second touch.  The attacker is to make an aggressive move to meet the ball.
• A stationary defender is about half way between the goals. The defender cannot move until the attacker passing between his goal. The attacker is to generate some speed on the dribble, passing through his goal as he attacks a stationary defender. This is to reinforce the rule of thumb, take on a slow or stationary defender with speed.
• (Note, we moved quickly into a more technical and tactical warm-up as the weather is warm and the muscles get warm very quickly.)
   

• Cones are set up as small goals, 15 yards apart. 6-7 players are per group in order to allow a 3-1 or 4-1 rest break. Player A plays ball to B and closes down as players go 1v1. Players are to dribble between goals.
• With the defender set even and wide of the attacker (between the cone goal), the ball is served from the opposite end as the attacker moves to the ball, the defender recovers. One point that is emphasized is the possibility of charging the attacker off the ball. The attacker must attack the pass to stay ahead of the defender.
• A second attacker is added behind the first attacker. The second attacker cannot move until the first attacker touches the ball. The defender is still on the side, but moved down a little. The second attacker is to overlap with the first attacker either beating the defender on the dribble or laying off a ball to the overlapper. The decision making of the dribbler is watched.
• Goals are set up. In my case, a portable flat faced goal is set between two regulation goals and off to the side. The team is divided into four groups of 7-8 players, each about forty yards in front of  a goal. The players dribble at speed and take shots from about 18 yards away. The speed of the dribble is watched and as is the last touch prior to the shot. After the shot, the player collects his ball and goes into the adjacent line.
• The players move their dribble to side and angle in on the goal for shots at about a 45 degree angle.
• The front foot shot is requested as the players turn their dribble towards the middle. The target is the far post, looking for a bent shot away from the GK before turning back towards goal. The dribble touch to the inside is watched as well as the shot technique.
  

• The flat goal is moved between the two regulation goals, as the teams are divided into 6 groups of 4. Three teams play on each side of the flat goal. Whenever the ball crosses a goal line, the team that was idle come in from the side, replacing the defending team and quickly attacking the other goal. The GK of the goal line that the ball crossed is to immediately get a new ball and distribute to the team coming in. The attacking team must quickly recover. 1v1 opportunities are the coach's focus, compelling the players to take on the defender in many circumstances.
  

• Players do 90 sit-ups of 30 crunches, 30 bicycles and 30 full sit-ups, before moving into partner stretching.
  

• Coach quizzes players on lessons learned, comments on the quality of practice and what is on the agenda for the next practice, tells daily joke and send the players home.
  

In response to a follow-up question Gary further explained:

       Gary:
                Could you be more explicit about the setup for the quoted part of your warmup?  Thanks, Joseph.

        Sure Joseph. I wasn't as happy with this exercise, but it did give me a vehicle to get my point across. Many dribblers tend to slow down if the  defender in front of them is stationary, when they should be causing the defender to make a quick decision. I was using the existing setup from prior exercises where two goals were about 15 yards apart. Making use of one of the goals as a gate, the dribbler could start further back from the gate and generate some running speed on the stationary defender 7-8 yards away. As soon as the attacker went through the gate, the defender could move and every thing is real time. If the defender steals the ball, he can try to score in the goal that the attacker used for a gate.


      *                     *
A.       - - ->      D
      *                     *

Hope this helps.

Practice Tip - Clean Scene

       There is nothing worse than coming to a field where a prior team has left their garbage laying around, such as orange peels, tape, etc. One of the first things we discuss on the first day of practice is how we leave our practice and game sites.
       On the second day of practice last week, the whole team went through a series of pushups on the ball because someone tore off some tape at the end of practice and left it on the ground. I watched the rest of team just walked by the debris when there was a trash can 10 feet away.
       This same philosophy carries over to bus trips when we stop at a fast food place. They are to leave their eating areas cleaner than what they found them unless the restaurant specifically says to leave the cleanup to them. The older players know that they have to check the area out before I do.

       A humorous and worthy reply to Gary's article "Clean Scene"  from ront is included:

       Neat freak or what?   Reminiscent of recent story of man in Newport, RI who lives on yacht and vacuums it on the average of 5 times EVERY DAY!!

       But whilst we're on the subject, my "coach's backpack" always carries (in addition to pass-cards, rosters, cell phone, first aid kid, tape for nets, etc. etc.) a small garbage bag which gets broken out on the sidelines and is the designated repository for ALL trash whether it be tape or empty sports drink bottles or orange peels at half-time! My players quickly catch on that I am NOT their mom (now that WOULD be a trick) and that they WILL pick up after themselves.
       Of course they STILL leave behind jerseys, sweats, etc. at practice at least at BEGINNING of season which just get chucked into my ball/cone bag and sprayed briefly with the hose before the next practice. They are then handed out to the fortunate ones with an apology for the dampness and an explanation that the cats keep peeing on the ball bag and their stuff was in it. Only takes once :-)
ront@ids.net

Practice Tip - Open and Shut

       At the beginning of practice, tell your players what you want to accomplish in that practice. At the end of practice, ask them to tell you what the main points of the practice were. Reinforce these points quickly and send them home.

Emphasize (Fun) Defense

 

       Gary posted the response below to the following question from Dave Teetz.

Hello Group,
      I was searching through the archives for some defensive drills.  I came to realize that there are very few that have been listed that are equally as  fun as the offensive drills that are posted.  Examples of the fun offensive games include tag games, relays, shooting, etc.  Yes, defenders need to learn ball control, but where is the fun in instructing the players not to dive in?  I've also found a lot of theory, rules of thumb, responsibilities, etc. for defense, but no drills that can be truly labeled as FUN.  Like 1v1's, it's either win the ball or lose the battle (unless force out of the play).
                Defense boils down to ball carrier vs. defender.  Then it expands to First Attacker, Second Attacker vs. First Defender, Second Defender (, etc. for
both).

Questions:

1.  What exercises do coaches use that incorporate defensive fun?

2.  What modifications can be made to offensive drills to make them defensively oriented?  (An offensive exercise that works on the ball carrier beating the defender-- How can this be changed to emphasize the defender winning the duel?)   (This is just an example to clarify the question.)

3.  What restrictions/alterations can be used in a scrimmage (end of practice/single team divided into two teams) to enforce or stimulate the defense's enjoyment?

4.  How does a coach assist in developing defensive pride?  Included in this   question, How can the defensive team (fullbacks + sweepers + stopper, or whatever system that is being used) develop a sense of oneness?

       One thing that I use to incorporate fun, or encourage the defense, is to assign points for various aspects of defense.  If I want the team to work on patience and forcing the attacking player to the outside, I'll offer them a higher point value if they are able to shepherd the attacker out of a tunnel grid (a tunnel grid that extends out from the goal).  At the same time, I  will offer various point totals for the offense, like one point for a shot,  two points for a goal.  The teams play to a designated point total then switch roles.
      My team happens to be U12 girls, but this question is intended for all age groups, or as general discussion.
                Later,   Dave

        We did several things last night as a matter of fact where I thought we had some "fun." My focus was double teaming (we are doing okay on the 1v1 and showing passive aggressiveness).

• 8 players dribbling in a 12 x12 with two defenders; the defenders are to double team a dribbler and win the ball or cause the dribbler to kick it out. The dribbler can come back in if the defenders kick it out. I timed each of the groups for the fastest knockout. Key points were a) communication between defenders; b) working as a team, one guided the dribbler into his partner, else they chased the ball; c) not being split or not allowing the dribbler to get through them if the
  ball did split them.

• 4v2 compressed; each set was timed at 45 seconds with a switch of defenders; the attackers were to stay as compacted as possible; no boundaries as the whole group moved with the ball; the defenders were to stop any pass that split them. Coaching points were the pressuring defender had to announce he was on ball; the support defender had to react and pressure any pass; when the dribbler was in trouble, the support defender was to double team; the pressuring defender had to take away one attacking option and force play towards his partner.

• 1v2; 30x12 grid; defender at one end plays to attacker on side 25 yards away and closes down ball; attacker tries to dribble to the defender's end line. A second attacker is on the other end line and recovers for a double team. Coaching points: 1st defender must stop or slow down ball; angle of approach of second defender; cooperation and teamwork of the pair. If possible, pair up a fullback 1st defender with a halfback or a halfback as 1st defender with a forward.

• 1v2 takeover; same as above, except the soon to be second defender does a takeover with the attacker who run at a waiting defender; the second defender now recovers as if he had his dribble tackled from him.

• 7v7 game with a 3-4 shape. I want to emphasize the 3 back system early on. The players are constantly "asked" by the coach to look at their shape. I am looking for lateral shifting towards ball; pressure on ball, with double team pressure from behind.
  
          You could spruce up the last two a little by having a goal the defenders can go to after they win the ball.
          My son brought back these zone ideas from his week at the Regional II camp in Bowling Green, OH:

  • Play small sided tag, 3v3, 4v4; players on one team try to cross one end and visa versa. Players may hand pass to teammates. After play, coaches are to reinforce the idea of how hard the "1st defender" tried to "pressure" the ball.
     
  • 3v3 to end line. Defense is one up on ball, two back in support and flat ready to close down any square pass. Play to theme of all defenders behind ball.
     
  • 4v4+2N; play to end line. The 2 Neutrals are all time attack. The defense should adopt a flat back formation with one defender pressuring ball. Again the theme, all defenders behind ball.
     
  • Transition games are very good at emphasizing defense to attack and attack to defense. Try a 3+3v3 game where when a team loses the ball, that team converts to defense and the defensive team converts to attack with the other team. Put 3 goals in the corners of a 25x25x25 triangle.
    
    
    I don't know how much of this can be classified as fun, Dave, but as a coach you can certainly try to instill pride in the defender's decision making, because when on defense, the whole team is involved and reacting. If you focus your coaching session on defense regardless of what is happening on the attack, so will your players.
    

Practice Tip - Praise the Attempt

       You want your players to extend themselves into areas of deficiencies. If you expect perfection during skill development, then they will only try up to the level of their current abilities and confidence. You have to make them understand that practice is a time for experimentation and failure. Therefore, when a player tries something different (e.g., shooting with the "other" foot), make sure the attempt is praised.
       We coaches do not have to accept mediocrity, but poor results in skill development is the player's time to learn. First, establish the quantity, then go for the quality.

Exercise of the Day:
Switching the Point of Attack

Rule of Thumb: Any time the ball is played towards the middle of the field, this is an opportunity to switch (or to consider switching) the point of attack.

Skills to work on:

* vision - awareness of the central player of what is behind him BEFORE receiving the ball. Practice looking away from a passed ball then re-sighting on the ball before being received.

* movement to receive the ball--the central player must go meet the passed ball and position himself to receive it.

* turning - the central player must be able to receive the ball into space behind him. More often than not, the ball should travel across the receiver's body to the back foot. The back foot needs to redirect the ball into the proper space. Generally, this space is several yards away from where the player first touched the ball.

Exercise:

Setup - 4 players (3 or 5 can be used) per group. The players are in a "circle" about 20-30 yards apart.

Procedure - a ball is played from player to player in either a clock-wise or counter clock-wise direction. The players are to move to the ball, positioning themselves to receive it off their back foot, look behind them to locate the next player, redirect the first touch towards the next player and play the second touch with the receiving foot. After a couple of turns, add a second ball. Switch directions every 30 seconds or so.

Coaching Points: positioning for the reception (towards and behind the passed ball); looking behind (ability and confidence to take eyes off the ball, then to pick it up again); receiving across the body (which opens up the player to see the field); taking the first touch several
yards past the reception point (not being a stationary target for the opponents and to carry the ball closer to the next player); playing the second touch with the receiving foot (this places the support foot between the ball and the probable position of the opponent).