When I say I goofed, I felt bad because the boys had worked hard, listened and I didn't leave time at the end for competition. The boys deserve competition and it's bad coaching to not do that. Bad me. I would kick my own rear-end, but I have a sore knee. Or else I would. The number one question when you self-assess is "Did the players enjoy the session?" Not having competition will affect that answer.
Tonight we touched on a lot of things that Coach Paul and I want to fix, but the plan aimed towards working the ball to the winger in our 4-3-3 and across into the box. The lessons had to aim in one direction.
We started with a 5 minute run immediately followed by 6 field length runs. We divided the field into thirds. You walk the first third, then jog the second and sprint the third. My friend who coaches rugby gave me that one.
Coach Paul took our keeper aside to strike some balls from his hands and off the ground. He struggled with that a bit last game and we thought we would give him a chance to do it uncontested to regain some confidence. His big brother comes to our sessions to help and was helpful to coach Paul.
One our end, we started with 7v3 keep-away. Very little coaching, just whooping it up having some fun. I did remind them of receiving the ball first touch away from pressure. My main goal was getting used to the grass again. It was wet, not very short and a little bumpy.
We then addressed three things that Paul and I agreed that we need work on. Driving the ball with the laces, heading and crosses.
The main weakness with our boys is their bodies seem to come undone at the moment of contact with the ball, with the foot and head.
For striking the ball we just had 3 players moving within a square receiving balls, turning and long pass to a teammate without a ball. Coaching points were:
- Ball out from the feet
- Setup before striking: not directly inline with you and the target, strong steps towards ball and spacing your steps in approach
- Locked ankle, knee bent, toes down, with laces
- Hit ball through the middle, vertically
For heading we did a basic heading sequence, straight on and heading a ball coming from the side.
Coaching points:
- Drive entire body through the ball
- Attack ball
- Use forehead
- Eyes open
- You hit the ball, it doesn't hit you
For crossing we worked on setting the ball and body up for the cross. Once we sorted that out the quality of the crosses improved.
Then we setup a little functional setup where we had 4 attackers and 5 defenders and players crossing balls in from both sides. So there was a chance for defensive and attacking head balls. Some players were attacking balls then backing out at the last second. DANGEROUS. We will keep practicing until they are comfortable. Coaching points:
- Get to the ball first, regardless of defending or attacking
- Play the ball out of air.
- Follow through on commitment to play the ball (don't duck)
- Assume ball is coming to you, in case the first guy misses or ducks
- Attacking - redirect towards goal
- Defending - clear the ball
This is an area where we will have to drive the boys for improvement, but be patient as it's a new facet to the game. Heading the ball makes exciting things happen, but it's a big step in becoming a dangerous player in the air. We'll get there.
We ended the session with a lesson on what can happen between the right defender, attacking midfielder, right wing and striker. We reviewed different combinations that can happen to get the ball behind the defenders and crossed into the box.
The plan was to get to that point.. I am disappointed that I let it get to the point where practice ended and the kids did not get a chance to compete. I hope to avoid that in the future with better planning and a closer eye on my watch.
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