Last night we had training with our U13
boys, and I think I made it a bit too long, or planned the ending poorly.
We had a 2-hour session on one of our club
fields. I had 2 parents help us,
which was a very good thing. I wanted to cover a variety of things
before getting to my main topic, hitting the ball firmly with the laces.
Before getting to our topic we did:
- Keep-away (they are getting better at it)
- Heading
- Flick-ons, redirecting an oncoming ball over the defender behind you
- Playing the ball out of the air while running, from the front and side
I was glad we touched on all those things
and I see the boys’ confidence continue to build slowly.
When we got into striking the ball with the
laces, I set up several scenarios:
- With a partner, pushing ball out and striking after 1 step
- Running with the ball and striking with laces
- Receiving, turning and striking a low, penetrating pass with laces to a running winger, through 2 poles serving as defender
The coaching points were:
- Toe down
- Knee bent, over the ball
- Head and Chest in appropriate positions depending on purpose of strike
- Jump into kick with plant foot, leaving hips open
- Lock ankle
- Follow through
I still see a reluctance to hit the ball
cleanly with the laces. There is
still a tendency to revert to the inside of the food if they can get away with
it.
The mini-game at the end is where I feel I
blew it. There was quite a bit of
running before we got to this point and the game was a giggle-fest. A more appropriate ending might have been
a spirited competition testing their accuracy with a laces-driven pass. Maybe I should have let them play
and left them alone.
We have 2 more training sessions before our
season opener. I will have to make
sure to spice them up with exciting endings.
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