 Posted 23/05/2007 10:52:34
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| Hi guys, I coach an under 9's and under 10's team and am having real trouble in getting the under 10's to pass the ball and moving forward together. before the season i thought that maybe they were too young too learn this but now the seasons finished i can see were far behind a lot of the teams, due to them being able to get the ball down and play. they pass, they move and they all go forward and back together. where as my boys in defence just hoof it up field and then sit on the edge of area waiting for it to come back. i have spent hours on passing drills and games in training but it doesn't seem to be having much effect during games. any suggestions?
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Posted 23/05/2007 15:13:32
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Marcus
I have brought my teams up on 4v4 small sided games where they have to pass because they can do so with so much space on the pitch. If you play this in training you will see huge benefits on the pitch. Set up a 4v4 game with two very small goals at either end that they have to play the ball along the floor through and you will create an atmosphere within your training set up of passing. If they pass they will more than likely create an opportunity to put the ball through one of the small goals. We have covered this quite a lot in Soccer Coach Weekly. It is how the Dutch team Ajax under Louis van Gaal began to train all their youth teams in the 70s and it has become folklore the number of quality players that have come out of that system. Forget throw ins, corners, goalkicks, get one or two dads to help throw balls back on when they go out. Keep it very focused simply passing the ball to score goals.
During matches if your team is not passing I often take of one of my midfielders, stand him next to me and show him what is happening and what you want him to do. Show him how futile it is when your team just boots it down field and loses the ball. Take one or two players off for five minutes each and talk to them tell him the areas passes should go into. You will see a huge difference over a small number of games.
Dave Clarke Soccer Coach Weekly Editor
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Posted 29/05/2007 18:55:10
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| Marcus, I currently work with an U-9 competitive boys team. I use a drill that is on 20x30 field setup with 6 flag goals or gates. Each flag is two yards apart from each to make one gate. Two gates are in the center of the 20x30 field and one gate in each corner. To score a player must pass a ball through a gate and a teammate must receive the pass on the opposite side of the gate. I have done 4v4 5v5 and 6v6 with this drill depending on what I have for practice that night. It will teach your players that it takes three teammates to make this work. With this drill my players move without the ball and look for the open spot to receive a pass. You will also have to condition (running) your kids to move as well. I find that teams that are unconditioned do not move on the soccer field. Sincerely, Ian Pitkoff
Ian
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Posted 29/05/2007 22:25:52
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Marcus,
If you try the 4 v 4 as Dave suggests and they still don't work together, then put limitations on the number of touches that each player can have with the ball. This will force them to pass vs. dribble.
Lynn
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Posted 08/06/2007 10:28:22
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| I used to watch a young team who had a very different way of teaching composure and passing during a game. They would start from the back and what the manager wanted more than goals was that they had to make a number of passes before attempting to score. It helped with getting players to think about the pass and players around him during the game rather than thinking 'i need to get rid of the ball' which many young players do. I know it sounds strange to play like this but they became very good at passing and moving and created many goal scoring chances playing this way.
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Posted 26/06/2007 15:51:41
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| Marcus, In my experience... at that age they can get it on the pitch... but then lose their mind when the ball is at the feet. A few flashes here and there are your reward! All the suggestions are good, I would like to add two more: 1. The keeper gets the ball a lot so practice one set play from goal. My 7 v 7 9 yr olds have "kick out positions" for when the keeper has the ball. All three defenders in deep, two very wide and one in the middle screaming for the ball. The three forwards stand higher. On every kick out the keeper is to put the ball to a wide defender who must play it right away up to the wide forward. Once he is challenged he must pass to center not take on the defender. Once center has the ball he must do same and pass to the other wing if challenged. We practice this with no opposition, passive opposition and full opposition. Do they always do it.. no! If teh other team reads it do we boot long down the middle to counter.. yes! However, it's one play that gets them thinking GET IT WIDE - MOVE IT FAST - LET THE BALL DO THE WORK. It also starts the conversation around switching the point of attack. Patience is the key, do it every practice for ten minutes. I even come early to games where time permits to practice the play. You can design any play you like. I just chose this as the keeper has the ball a lot and the ball is normally dead for a while so they have time to think. On a throw in its more manic! 2, Players do what they get praise for. Dad buys Johnny a smoothie for every goal he scores! Talk to Dads and have them reward passing. When a goal is scored give praise to the scorer but HEAP praise on the passer that set it up. So practice, patience and praise are the key words Marcus. If you are on this site asking you are already a fine coach in my opinion!
Steven Bergg
The poor mans billy Bremner on the pitch and Don Revie off it!
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Posted 20/10/2008 15:24:28
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| Pass & Move is the mantra I repeat over and over to my U8's and they are starting to really get it. What I need to get to next with them is moving to a good space! Making a run to support and that sort of thing. I read this thread yesterday morning and there's a few really great suggestions that had me thinking ahead to next season (we're finished here). I REALLY love Dave's idea of siezing the moment and taking a kid from your bench and standing him next to you as the game is going on. I think that's a wonderful simple opportunity to take and far better than barking at the players on the bench as a group or just turning around sometimes and making short off the cuff suggestions or pointers to them. To take a player and put your arm around him so to speak and take him aside and point out real situations as they happen on the pitch with your own team is a great idea. I would almost adapt that and ensure I take at least one or two through that scenario every game regardless of circumstances. Story to relate on Pass & Move... I had a small get together with my new group yesterday afternoon (first time together for this group). It was really intended to be a parents meeting and I just told the kids to get a game going. I set up a mini field with Pugg nets and had my assistant coach get them organised while I chatted with the parents about the season ahead and plans etc... I'd join in later. It turned out we had a one hour mini game of kids versus Dad's just for pure fun and the only rule for the kids was to try and pass and move and be creative/show off their skills. Other than that we gave them no real coaching apart from some reminders to see the pass and make a move - it was just an informal kick-around. They were absolutely fantastic! And I think part of the reason why was they noticed how much the Dad team was passing and moving... we did rather well for a bunch of +40s fellas! It so happened that we had 4 of 7 Dads playing who were very very good players (2 ex semi-pros) and I think the kids saw how much we could open up their defence and get free and create scoring chances by lots of quick one touch passing so they started trying it with some encouragement from us. They didn't always get it right but I was amazed (and really happy) at how well they did as a team and the beauty of the smiles and lightbulbs going off when it really worked. It was incredibly encouraging to me as their coach. I suppose my point is that almost by happenstance the kids wanted to copy the Dads (as kids often do) because they saw how effective passing and moving can be. I think given this was highly informal and not even intended to be a practice session at all, actually helped because it wasn't a "learning environment/session". The players got the pass and move thing down by having no restrictions and the whole thing was a happy accident! We just played for fun and perhaps because there were no real rules the freedom to play helped. We played last goal wins and of course the kids won it with a great string of 4 passes and spreading the play wide to get the winner leaving our 6'4" dad-keeper sprawled on the grass! I'm wondering now if they really need me!
Gav Coach - U8 Boys (Toronto, Canada)
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Posted 22/10/2008 15:18:40
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Gav (20/10/2008)
I suppose my point is that almost by happenstance the kids wanted to copy the Dads (as kids often do) because they saw how effective passing and moving can be. I think given this was highly informal and not even intended to be a practice session at all, actually helped because it wasn't a "learning environment/session". The players got the pass and move thing down by having no restrictions and the whole thing was a happy accident! We just played for fun and perhaps because there were no real rules the freedom to play helped. We played last goal wins and of course the kids won it with a great string of 4 passes and spreading the play wide to get the winner leaving our 6'4" dad-keeper sprawled on the grass! I'm wondering now if they really need me! Have to agree with all you have said Gav. We have a saying in the UK - 'Let the game be the teacher' and I think that is exactly what you have done. It's not always looked upon well to let adults join in with the kids but I believe that on occasion and as long as they don't tackle it is beneficial for the lads to see what yours saw. We sometimes finish off with us 3 coaches playing and very rarely do we dribble it - pass it and move exactly as you say. I also have another saying that makes me smile now when I hear the boys saying it 'Use it - don't lose it' to try and get them to do something positive rather than be tackled. When you see them passing and moving in a game it is so rewarding but it won't happen every game so we just have to keep drumming it in to them.
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