Pre-season: practise set pieces

Set pieces are a vital part of your match day experience… often they present your team with a good chance to score a goal, and they are the key link to restarting the game when the ball goes out of play.

Throw-ins, corners and free kicks all give an opportunity to score goals and goal kicks are the launchpad for a possession game that takes the ball up through the thirds and into dangerous areas of the pitch.

You also need to look at set pieces from the defending angle – organisation is key to making sure silly goals are not given away. This can be the winning difference for your team if they can get organised to cover the moves of your opponents.

Here are some ideas and sessions to help you get your team ready in pre-season to use set pieces effectively.

Start by making sure your players know how to take a throw-in.

First of all, every one of your players should be able to take a throw-in – they need to be able to take long throws and short tactical throws. I use How to take long throw-ins which includes technique and a game, and Feet first which explains the best way to take short throw-ins.

For the younger age groups, my AskDave subscription question service is always getting questions about being organized at throw-ins – read my advice to the question “My team are disorganized from throw-ins”.

Goalkeeper kicking is always difficult right through to Under 18, but with the right technique, you can ensure your players don’t give the ball away. Use my EasiCoach Goalkeeper Kicking activity to give your players the correct technique for clearing the ball and try the game Goal Kick, which helps your players to get into the correct positions to receive the ball from the goalkeeper.

For corners, your team must be organized to defend opposition corners and to attack their own corners. The two best sessions are How to set up an attacking corner and How to defend at corners.

For free kicks, you should be experimenting with all sorts of different ways to create goals, but you can start with Unstoppable free kicks and develop your team’s ability to come up with different ideas from there.

How to set up an attacking corner

in Attacking, Set pieces

Watching France score the only goal in the semi final against Belgium in the World Cup shows how well set up teams can cause problems at corners for the defending team. This set up ensures your team will have a great chance of scoring a goal. MORE

How to take long throw-ins

in Set pieces, Small Sided Games

A long throw when teams are in the attacking third of the pitch can be as effective as a corner kick or a free-kick. Use this session to identify a couple of players who can perfect the technique. MORE

How to defend at corners

in Defending, Set pieces

This session looks at the roles of defenders and the goalkeeper in corner kick situations. It’s vital that, when setting up to defend a corner, each man knows his exact task, working as an individual and as part of a bigger unit within the penalty area. MORE

Feet first (Short throw-ins)

in Core Skills, Practice plans

Short throw-ins should be viewed as more than simply a way of restarting play – they’re also a means of keeping possession and gaining territory, and the best way to do both is to throw the ball to a team mate’s feet. MORE

My team are disorganised from throw-ins and we often...

in Ask Dave

Throw-ins can be stressful for youngsters. Not only does the player need to get the ball back into play legally, but he’ll want his team to retain possession too. MORE

Goal kick (U7-U8 game)

in EasiCoach, Goalkeeping

The game starts with a kick from one of the goalkeepers. He puts the ball down in front of goal and kicks out as if from the edge of the penalty area. MORE

Goalkeeper kicking (U13-14 activity)

in EasiCoach, Goalkeeping

The ball is usually kicked either using the inner side of the foot that runs along from toe to heel, or using the small area around the inside of the big toe. MORE

Unstoppable Free-Kicks

in Ball Control and Footwork, Set pieces

Every team needs to be able to score from a dead ball situation, so get your players to try this game to practice the perfect free-kick MORE