Mass Youth Soccer Academy - Passing
Main Coaching Points: locked ankle, toe up (inside) or down and in (outside), follow thru to partner, strike ball solid thru the middle or a bit above to keep it down, knees bent, head down, placement foot pointed to target and parallel to ball, pay attention to proper weight and angle. May have to touch on support play a bit as well---get to an angle at which passing lane is clear and have your hips open to the playing field, communicate, have head up, check to ball.
1) Colors-Warm Up---half of the players in red pennies, half in blue. Teams playing together in the same space combine in the passing sequence blue-blue-red-red-blue-blue-red-red etc. etc. Ball can never stop, players can never stop moving, and ball cannot leave area of play. Coach can limit touch-count, mandate which foot to pass with or which side of foot to pass with as sees fit. When players can do first sequence adequately and without frequent errors change the sequence to blue-blue-blue-red-red-red-blue-blue-blue etc. etc. Stress communication and technical passing points throughout. Make this activity competitive by counting errors and setting goals by lowering allowed errors. (14 minutes)
2) 5v2 Possession Game---in a 6yd X 6yd grid, five players keep the ball away from two. If the two defenders win the ball they must dribble out of the grid to score a point, four or five passes strung together is a goal for the five, change defenders every 2-3 minutes. Stress that players must always be moving and on toes to support play. (14 minutes)
1 minute water break
3) 2v2+2 or 3v3+3---three distinct teams in colors (red, green, white), one team starts as defenders and the other 2 teams play together to keep the ball away from the defense (so it is actually 4v2 or 6v3). When the ball is taken by the defense, the color (two/three players) they stole it from becomes the new defenders. Players must pay close attention to who the defenders are, to score the teams in possession must pass the ball into an endzone (one on each end of the field)—the one in the opposite half of the side they won the ball in. (14 minutes)
1 minute water break
4) 4v4 to goals---Round Robin Tournament---Try to get each team three games of four minutes each. Play to goals (2 pts.) and with 5 consecutive passes without losing possession equaling 1 pt. (14 minutes)
5) Review---Ask players to teach you the technical coaching points to insure complete understanding in the group.
