Football/Soccer Session (Beginner): Striking the Ball

Cone Strike (Engage 10-15mins) (10 mins)

OVERVIEW: 

• Setup a 20 x 20 playing area. 
• This is an unopposed (no tackling) skill intro game/warm-up. 
• This is simple passing exercise that combine the elements of competition and fun. 
• As per the diagram, place a cone with a ball resting on top (target cone) for each pair. Have players stand 5-7 yards away from the target cone. Players have one ball between two and have to simply strike/pass the ball to hit the ball off in the middle (target cone). Players get 1 point for every time they hit the ball off the cone. 
• Once the ball has been knocked off the Target Cone, the ball must be immediately placed back on the Target Cone and the game continues.    
• Play 2-3 min rounds. The player with the highest score wins the round. Rotate players after each round. 
• The player who wins the most rounds gets to choose a funny dance for the coach to perform e.g., dance around like a monkey or ballerina etc. Make it fun!  
• Have parents/volunteers retrieve loose passes. This will increase game time.  

COACHING DETAILS: 

Body Shape when Passing/Striking the Ball:

• Players are to approach the ball on a slight angle, never straight on. This helps kids eliminate "toe-bashing".  
• Players are to place their standing foot (none striking foot) approx. 6 inches next to the ball. Their standing foot is to point at their target – in this case the Target Cone. 
• Players are to bend their standing leg to maintain good balance when passing/striking the ball. 
• Players are to keep their chest over the ball with their eyes fixed on the ball throughout the passing movement. 
• For beginners, players are to learn to pass/strike the ball using the inside of their foot. This increases pass accuracy. 
• As coaches it's very important to repeat these coaching details over and over without becoming impatient. Make sure to encourage all players no matter their skill level. 

• Have players use their weaker/less dominant foot. This is especially important for players who are more skilled at using their stronger/more dominant foot.  
• Have players use different parts of their foot – inside, outside, laces/instep. 
• Have players stand further from the Target Cone. 

• Have less skilled players stand closer to the Target Cone. 

Bingo Game (Explore 25-30mins) (30 mins)

OVERVIEW:  

• Setup a small player area approx. 35 x 25 with goals either end. 
• Have two even teams with either goalkeepers or rush defenders i.e. defenders that act like goalkeepers. This is 3v3 or 4v4 or 5v5 small-sided game.
• Have a whiteboard in the middle of the pitch with you (the coach) with different types of finishes/goals listed on it such as: power shot, curled shot, first-time shot, right-foot shot, left-foot shot, volley, half-volley, even headers. 
• Each team has to try and tick off as many of these different finishes/goals throughout the game. 
• Points: teams score 1 point for a goal. The team that manages to tick off the most goals listed on the whiteboard is awarded 3 bonus points at the end of the game. The team with the most points wins!   

COACHING DETAILS: When playing proper small-sided games, it's important for coaches to 'coach on the run'. This means only stopping the flow of the game if it's absolutely necessary e.g., when wanting to stress a coaching point that's relevant to the objective of the training session. For example, if your training session is focusing on 'running with the ball', then you'd only interrupt the flow of the game when wanting to coach a key aspect of running with ball. Additionally, coaches shouldn't stop the game (approx. 25-30mins in duration) more than 2-3 times (approx. once every 10mins). Players just want to play the game! So let them play, offering the majority of your coaching points 'on the run'.  

Body Shape when Striking the Ball &  

Scanning. 

• Reiterate the same coaching points as above.   

Principles of Play: It's also important to coach kids the 'Principles of Play' (POP) during their small-sided games. Like every sport, Football (Soccer) is built on certain principles that should inform and shape our coaching sessions. For a helpful summary of the Principles of Play, please refer to your Club Coaching Handbook. For this session, focus on the following Principles: 

Attacking Principle: 

• Width: when coaching younger kids you will need to constantly teach them to not bunch up. All young players tend to follow the ball instead of look for pockets of space. This is why coaching the Attacking Principle of width or stretching the play –horizontally/laterally across the pitch & vertically up the pitch – is so important. The idea of width is to make the pitch big, which often creates gaps to play through. At this age group keep it simple by constantly (and patiently!) encouraging the team in possession of the ball to maintain good width and shape i.e., not bunching up. Tip: Before (and After if need be) each training session, use a mini white board or tactics board to help your players visualise the principle of width. A good visual aid says a thousand words.  

Defending Principle:

• Press/Pressure: one of the key defensive principles in football (soccer) is pressing. Pressing is when the defending team (out of possession) applies pressure on the attacking team (in possession). At this age, encourage the closets defending player to press/apply pressure on the attacker who has the ball. Encourage them to follow the 3 'S' pressing approach: Speed / Surf / Steal. The pressing player is to approach the attacker with Speed. This will cause the attacking player to panic. Then the pressing player is to get into a Surfing body position (side on). This makes it harder for the attacker to dribble past them. As the pressing player then waits for an opportunity to Steal to ball from the attacking player.