Staying on the ball – Warm-Up
in Soccer dribbling drills, Warm Ups
Allow your players to develop confidence and technique in this three-part session. By HANNAH DUNCAN MORE
4v4 games tournament
Each direction in each game gives the teams different problems to solve in attack and defence. The winning team will be the one that can adapt the quickest.
What this session is about
- Reacting to different situations.
- Forcing the shape and direction of play.
What to think about
- Make sure you have a supply of balls ready to feed in when one leaves play (always remember to roll balls in rather than throw them to avoid head clashes).
- Ask a parent or assistant coach to help monitor the two games. If you are running the session on your own, you may wish to stand between the two pitches so that you can feed the new balls in to either pitch easily.
Set-up
60 x 40 yard area split into two 30 x 20 yard pitches. One pitch has a full-size goal at one end and an end zone at the other. The other pitch hasone mini goal positioned centrally at one end and two mini goals at the opposite end.
| Warm up | Session | Developments | Game Situation | Warm Down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 minutes | 10 minutes | 15 minutes | 15 minutes | 10 minutes |
What you get your players to do
- Split your players into four teams plus a goalkeeper. The teams rotate in order to attack and defend each scoring target so each team will play the following games:
- defend two mini goals and attack single mini goal.
- defend the big goal with the goalkeeper and attack the end zone.
- defend the end zone and attack the big goal with the goalkeeper.
- defend the single mini goal and attack the two wide mini goals.
When attacking the end zone a team scores a point when the ball is brought under control by an attacking player inside the zone.
Set the pitches up as above with different targets at each end.
Development
Change the size of goals and number of players to make the games harder or easier.
The white team has a choice of goals in which to try and score.
Game situation
Now turn the game into a competition between all four teams at once. The teams must keep a tally of their goals for and against as they move from game to game. The team with the best total result is the winner.
The white team has to be in possession in the end zone to score in this game.
What to call out
- When attacking the two mini goals – “Can you switch play quickly?”
- When defending the single mini goal –“Defend narrow, don’t get pulled wide”
- When attacking the goalkeeper – “Can you shoot from distance?”
- When defending the goalkeeper –“Close them down quickly”
