One man army

 

What this session is about

1. Dribbling with the ball.
2. Improving close control and retaining possession.
3. Shielding the ball from opponents.

 

What to think about

Dribbling – keep the ball within playing distance. Use the inside/outside of both feet. Take quick, small steps. Keep the head up. Shielding – keep the body and legs between the ball and opponent. Be side-on to the opponent. Use a crouched, but balanced, body position with the arms out. Control the ball with foot farthest from opponent. Use the outside and soles of feet. Remain strong throughout.

 

Set-up

Use the centre circle. Place eight cones, an equal distance apart, 10 yards outside of the centre circle to create an outer circle. Use eight players or increase/reduce the number of cones and balls you use depending on how many players you have.

Warm up	Session	Development	Game Situation	Warm Down
10 minutes	10 minutes	15 minutes	15 minutes	10 minutes

 

What you get your players to do

Each player has a ball and dribbles at jogging pace inside the inner circle.

The players perform a command that you shout out at regular intervals, such as: “dribble at full speed”, “turn” (the players perform a turn), “all right/left foot”, “step over’ (do a step over) and “cross” (cut across to the other side of the inner circle avoiding other players).

To progress, players dribble their ball within the inner circle without bumping into each other. Give commands as before but add, “break out”, where the players dribble at pace around one cone in the outer circle and back again.

It is one player per cone, so each player must find an unused cone. The first player back to the centre with their foot on the ball wins.