Football/Soccer Session (Moderate): SSG

SSG (40 mins)

Game Related Practice (GRP) OR SSG

Organization:

Cones, Pinnies, Balls, Small Goals. 40x20 yd marked area. Middle third coned off (Neutral Zone for Neutral Player). Reactive decision making (offensive & defensive transitions) SSG. Head Coach controls re-starts. Ball is served to the Neutral player in the neutral zone. Neutral player cannot leave the neutral zone. Neutral player can play for both teams (orange & white). Neutral player can play into white, then recieve the ball again from white and turn and play to orange for them to score. The focus is on reactive decision making both offensively and defensively for both teams. The players in the two end thirds can both score in the goal.

Key Focus/Coaching Points:

-The purpose of the session is purely for reactive decision making between offense and defense

-Encourage your players to be brave and take a risk. Are your players brave enough to make a run or pull wide to receive a pass from the neutral player knowing full well they may not receive the ball, and do they react quickly and positively (defensive mindset) if they don’t receive the ball.

-Encourage your players to test themselves and to not take the easy and uncreative action of guarding the goal. The purpose of the game is not to score goals, it is to create quicker reaction times between transitions of play, and developing the ability to think offensively and defensively in a split second. Goals and intelligent reactive defending should be a byproduct of the key aspects and fundamentals of the session.

-Constant communication is vital. Can you work intelligently with your partner to test your opponent.

-Encourage the neutral playmaker to reward good movement with a pass, but don’t be afraid to encourage him to test his teammates…….leave the majority of the decisions to his/her judgement. Plant the seed and see what the player does with the information. Remember, if you have to, you can always take control of the decision making process of the neutral player if you want to influence the outcome of the practice, or if the practice isn’t quite going as you planned.

-Change the neutral player to profile characteristics of the individual. This will help you figure out the way a player thinks, what he values and how he is influenced.

-Communication is vital. Simple key commands (show left or right, win the ball, pressure, show line etc)

-Do players show a positive reaction after a negative outcome (slow reaction to transition from offense to defense resulting in goal scored via poor defending)

Progression:

-Limit neutral player to three touches

-Take away goals and add in an end line

-Play with three goals spread across either end (more targets to defend or attack)