Drill Image
Hello to our readers! Today we created and we are happy to demonstrate a different exercise in many aspects. This particular passing game necessitates higher level of football understanding and of course a broader technical ”benchmark”. We will try to exhibit in an easy way, how you can enhance your player’s first touch while, the ”constant moving nature” of this exercise will produce collateral benefits like, better ball drive, team communication and curvilinear runs. In addition, our players will encounter circumstances which will allow them to avoid moving players (teammates) or incoming passes from other sport peers who continue the sequence of the passing game (Evasion skill). We are confident to recommend you few of our post which extent the discussion around different coaching topics like, passing capacity, speed, diagonal movement and more. Lets now dive deeper!
Description of the Exercise
Our exercise is a Passing Game. A passing game is a very helpful and effective tool in the hands of every coach. With this ”tool” we can refine a lot of football attributes while simultaneously our players play with the ball and accumulate combination play experience. We have 3 teams of players. Every group can have 2-3-4 or even 5 players when the dimensions of the exercise are set respectively. Balls are placed at the center of the exercise just next to team B. Players are requested to get ready and when everything is set, coach can blow his/her whistle. Let’s elaborate a little more! Players of B team execute a pass towards the first player of team A. The players from the A team have to execute a directional touch. The next phase is the long distance pass. Our player who executed the directional touch, always according to his/her will, has to drive the ball inside the pole zone (decision). A well balanced pass is played towards the player of team C who already initiated his/her movement according to the position of the ball (player of team A). The last part is the ”final touch”(team C player). This touch has to be a ”sharp” and ”well controlled” one in order to help the receiver to forward the sequence of the passing game. Our players have to move from their starting position to the next position and so on. We recommend to execute this exercise for 3 sets of 2:30” minutes. Dimensions vary according to team’s technical and physical capacity.
Animated Example
My Coaching Suggestion – Instructions
In this part of today’s blog-post we will try to share our personal coaching insights. First pass: We always observe the game and we stay constantly ready. The initial first pass is highly significant for one simple reason. It is the first action of this game. In the unfortunate scenario that this pass is not properly executed, the prospective ball receiver will ”face” a very difficult first touch. An ideal pass demonstration is recommended from the very start, in order to clarify the expectations that we set alongside with the meaningful impact of this technical attribute. Directional touch: This is the ”heart and soul” of our exercise. In order to evoke the reaction of our teammate (team C player) we need what we call trigger stimulus. At this exercise this stimulus is the directional touch. Our players should receive the ball nicely and concurrently while they stop the generated momentum of the ball, they should give it a guided trajectory towards the square of their will. All these contemporaneous actions will dictate the reaction of team’s C player. We expect precision, quickness, body posture and communication between our players. Communication: All passing games are characterized by one mutual parameter which is the inter-play communication. We encourage our players to speak up and express their intentions by speaking to each other or even by generating mulligan signs (pointing directions or showing willingness to receive a pass). It is a matter of significance to convey a message during the game! If so, then why we don’t do it during our practice?
Evasion: Another ”factor” which plays a major role and potentially determines the ball possession, is the skill to evade opponents. But what do we specifically mean? A football player should be able to protect the ball and sometimes secure the possession. However, there are occasions in which our players just have to avoid their opponents. Without getting in contact, they can save vital energy which they can utilize to refine their game with the ball. We should always remember that a player who positions him/herself at the best place at the right timing, ultimately has more chances to keep possession and lead the game to a promising situation (offensive tactic). As an extra plus, with today’s passing game our players will experience many situations in which they have to avoid incoming players and drive the ball quickly and diagonally away from them. Ball drive: We expect a controlled movement with aggressive ”ball drive profile”. A player must reach a level to drive the ball with ease. No lack of stepping, bilateral feet engagement and wider space vision when controlling the ball. Curvilinear runs: As we mentioned previously this exercise is a very creative approach because it creates a lot of space for curved runs. In addition, the ball receivers are becoming moving ”obstacles” which ”force” our players (team A players) to avoid them without stopping. The aforementioned ”blend” of actions create a suitable ”frame” for many curvilinear runs. We recommend a specific intensity of 75-85% of maximal running speed. We support that the proposed speed percentages will maximize the magnitude of the adaptations, while the intensity will be ideal for all the players.
Mistakes to Avoid
- Wrong first touch. We should always correct the touches of our players. First touch has to be a good one in order to execute the passing game effectively
- No communication. As we underlined before, communication is very significant. Our players must communicate constantly and guide each other.
- Lack of ball. Always be on your toes and check for missing balls in order to maintain the flow of the passing game
- Intensity drop. We do not sacrifice intensity for any reason. We push our players to stay resilient and consistent
- Poor passing. We need good passes. A poor pass only leads to bad ”results” Pause the game multiple times and provide feedback
- Players to not cover all the ”Curvilinear distance”. Our players should give their 100% on the pitch. Teach them early, to be disciplined and to ”believe in the process”
- Lack of concentration – Players collide during the runs. Our players should be concentrated. If they lose their concentration they may end up making a wrong decision. A wrong reaction , a poor pass can ruin the passing game. Extra emphasis must be placed when executing the curvilinear runs! A mistake may cause a player collision. We want attention and concentration to every detail
Prospective progressions – Suggested
How can we make this game more engaging? What about including more players? Have you considered to add mini posts in order to work on target hitting? What about distances? If we enlarge the dimensions of this passing game, we can swiftly turn it into a long ball passing game! These are few quick ideas which we love to place on the table.
We motivate you to try this passing game and reflect upon the subjective outcomes which you may observe. Be creative, be ambitious and we from our side we assure you that we will try our best to share constantly our best football insights.
Until the next one Ciao
