Drill Image
Do you want to work on your player’s ball driving skills and Ball shielding? There is always space for development and what is more suitable to focus on than football foundations! The ”Hunting Duos” is the exercise that you may have to consider and potentially put under your scope. With this football exercise you can work on ball driving skill, change of direction with ball and ball protection (Ball shielding). With this descriptive and easy to understand blog-post you can have a clear understanding of all the components and hints you may need to place your emphasis in order to develop your players. It is recommended from our side to spend some extra time reading our posts which deliver insights for training objectives like Warm-Up, fun and passing capacity for footballers. Lets dive deeper.
Description of the Exercise
As we mentioned before the ”Hunting duos” is a very simple exercise. Our players work in couples (Duos). One of the players keeps the possession of the ball while the other player (teammate) tries to interfere and apparently cause the interception of the ball. Coach controls the progression of the exercise and dictates the intensity of the ”mini battles”. With the blow of the whistle players that control the ball switch roles. Each player counts the times which he/she manages to ”steal” the ball. In the end players who intercepted the most balls win the game between the couples (Duos). We must also announce to our whole team who is the best player at this exercises (Most interceptions executed in total). We should appreciate and deliver our great credits to the one who tried the most and of course executed the exercise effectively and deliberately.
Animated Example
My Coaching Suggestion – Instructions
There are specific points and hints that we should be more cautious about. First and foremost the 2 distinctive roles of this exercise are, player with and player off possession. Lets start with the players who control the ball. At this point the expectations seem to be more complicated. The player has to stay constantly on his/her toes while controlling space and distance from the opponent. He/she has to put his/her body between the ball and the opponent while concurrently controlling all the actions executed from the interceptor. Opponent actions foreseeing. Here is the smooth moment where things start to become ”tricky”. Shielding the ball is not just a ”ball-contact prevention action”. We as coaches, hold the responsibility to demonstrate and elaborate in detail all the principles and advantages of proper Body involvement (Ball protection-shielding). Principles like, Securing possession, Directional body positioning to break the tempo of the opposition and allow teammates to assume proper positions for effective built-up. Body ”ball shielding” can also have tactical incentives. Proper body use can end up in a booking (opponent player) which can completely change the tactical approach of the opposing team for our favor. We support that additional emphasis should be placed on principles like the aforementioned and an in depth analysis revolving around them can be another post in the future . Now we can break down few of the responsibilities that the ball interceptors should have in mind while trying to ”steal the ball”. First of all, slowing down the opponent. Time is the equivalent of assistance from teammates. Stopping the movement of the opponent. A non-moving opponent is incapable to ”forward the play” and we gain extra time to structure our ”interception” behavior, as a single player or as a sub-group (sub team tactical behavior). Cutting line connection and visual connection with teammates (regarding opponent). Our players should be educated and trained to ”shut” the connection of the opponent between the lines. With such an approach none of the opponent players can provide assistance and passing line to the ”under pressure player” As a nice conclusion we highlight the importance of Fouling. A players should be able to detect when and how to foul in order to favor his/her team while avoiding adverse bookings (Tactical incentives). Remember, exercises like the ”Hunting Duos” can be a fantastic educational tool for all coaches and players.
Mistakes to Avoid
- Slow reaction. Reaction speed is extremely vital for any ball protection action. We should assist our player with additional feedback and reflective questions in order to enhance their shielding effectiveness
- Aggressive – Goofy Body Use. Unfortunately when dealing with the development age there are ”obstacles” that we should avoid. Young players in many occasions do not know how to use their body. We should demonstrate how to execute ball shielding in a proper way without ”doing a foul” in our endeavor to protect the ball. In addition many concerns are raised around security and safety, so we should educate our players from very young age how to play the game safely. Remember football is fun
- Lack of communication. Players need to communicate constantly. Even if shielding the ball is an individual action, this do not actually mean ”working alone”. Players must be educated to communicate while being in a subgroup to maximize the effectiveness of the team.
- Unilateral side use. While observing our players it is sometimes evident that they may demonstrate a tendency to execute actions completely unilaterally (Dominant side). We should work with our players in order to use both sides. Remember we aim to maximize effectiveness and efficiency.
- Lack of checking. The opponent is always on a move, why our players stop checking where she/he is? We have to be very careful with this observation whenever we detect it. It takes just an instance to lose possession. When we shield the ball we should always check for the opponent, the ball and the nearest teammate for the next safe pass (securing possession)
Prospective progressions – Suggested
And now few progressions. First and foremost small goal posts. We can easily create mini spaces for mini 1 vs 1 battles. Now our players have 2 objectives, keeping the ball and scoring goals. Another nice variation is the subgroup version. In this variation our players have to collaborate as a team and compete in a game of 2 vs 2. You will instantly realize that the intensity will peak and your players will love it. It is completely up to you what kind of rules dimensions and regulations may be applied. Be creative and optimistic, a mixture which will secure success.
As a conclusion we keep few but very significant points. Enjoy the game and learn how to utilize your body for the benefit of your team. A player who demonstrates space awareness at high level and an efficient ”Body game play” is already significant steps closer to success. We are happy and intrigued to check your own variations based on the ”Hunting Duos” exercise and we hope that this post generated ”few football sparks”
Until the next one Ciao
