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THEME: DEFENSE
===FIRST 30 MINUTES===
Inform players that theme is defense.
One-v-one back and forth: Put players in pairs, one ball for each pair.
Make a line across the field about half way between the midfield stripe and the goal line.
One player in each pair will dribble the ball from the midfield stripe towards the line.
Other player plays defense. Objective is for the attacker to dribble the ball across the opposite line.
Then switch roles and go back to the midfield stripe.
- Progressions
- Progression 1: Start everyone at the same time, award a point for defender who stalls attacker the longest
- Hints
- Hint 1: Don't lunge for ball, simply contain.
Defense walk-through: Explain man-to-man defense (guarding any opponent in our half of the field)
and goal-side defense (always between your man and the goal) in the context of dangerous attackers.
Whether or not an attacker is dangerous depends on where the attacker is, where the ball is, and how skilled the attacker is.
A skilled player with the ball in the middle close to the goal is the most dangerous.
The same player without the ball, farther from the goal, and on the wing, may not be a threat at all,
but has to be watched as he gets into the play. Set up three attackers just outside the penalty area.
Give the ball to the central attacker. Pick two other players and ask them to setup on defense.
Correct their positioning if necessary. Move the ball to one of the wing attackers and ask the defense to shift.
Correct positioning if necessary. Repeat with a new group of player. Mix up offense and defense.
===SECOND 30 MINUTES===
Remind players that theme is defense.
No ball soccer: A goal (a pair of cones about 5 feet apart) is placed at each end of the playing area.
Two equal teams are created. A player on one team is given the "ball," which he indicates by placing his hand on his head.
To pass the ball, he calls the name of a teammate and removes his hand from his head.
The teammate puts his hand on his head and play continues until a player with the "ball" runs through the opponent's goal.
To steal the "ball," a defender needs to tag the attacker and then put his hand on his head to start
the play the other direction.
- Progressions
- Progression 1: Give man-to-man assignments and only allow the assigned defender to make the
tag on a given player (that is, A1 covers B1 and B1 covers A1)
- Progression 2: Have the man-to-man assignments differ on offense and defense (that is, A1 covers B1 but B1 covers A2)
Contain-only defense: Set up two small games of 3v2, or a larger game of 4v3 or even 5v4.
Offense against defense. Offense trying to score on a goal, no goalkeeper.
Instead, set up two cones within the goal mouth, roughly 2 feet from each post.
Goals only count if the ball goes between the post and the cone, not up the middle (I call this "conekeeper").
Defense is allowed to play hard, but can only win the ball by intercepting passes, not by tackling the ball
away from the dribbler. Instead, defenders need to contain to keep offense from advancing.
===THIRD 30 MINUTES===
Remind players that the theme is defense.
Scrimmage: "Freeze" to stop play occasionally to make coaching observations, especially about defense.
Full field if possible, 5v5 with no goalkeepers (instead, use conekeepers, see above), full size goals.
Start with rule that tackles can only be made by assigned players, or after communicated switches.
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