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by Gary Rue
garyrue@bellsouth.net
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NOTE: Gary did not write these exercises and tips with the
idea that someone would publish them. I subscribe to the
Soccer-Coach-L e-mail list and Gary is one of the coaches that
posts extremely well thought out replies. These are some of
Gary's posts that I collected for use in coaching my own teams.
I approached Gary and he was gracious enough to allow me to
publish them here. If you like what you see or have a
question about one of the exercises you can reach Gary at
garyrue@bellsouth.net
There are
50+ more pages of Gary's posts
categorized at the Home Page of Exercises
of the Day by Gary Rue. Click here and enjoy.
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Exercise of The Day - Diagonal Runs |
The
diagonal or lateral run is an excellent way to setup the attacker
for a through ball. Below, exercises are presented to train the
diagonal run and the vertical through pass at the back of the
defense.
- Step 1
Passive defender (D), dribbler (A1) who takes the ball at D, a 2nd attacker (A2) who makes
a diagonal (lateral) run AT D. A1 plays the ball past D on the side opposite A2, before A2
reaches D.
A1
:
A2
:
/
:
/
: D - - - - -
: /
V /
Coaching Points
- Timing of A2's run - based on A1's
situation; A2 may need to slow down or speed up.
- Timing of A1's pass - based on A2's
run, passing angle, D's position and commitment, pressure on A1.
- Step 2
D moves up and back randomly, but is still passive; A2 must adjust run to D's movement to
still stay on-side. By running AT the defender, on-side status is maintained.
Coaching Point
- Direction of the A2's run - stay
onside by reacting to D's movement and not getting caught closer to the goal line than D.
- Step 3 - 2v1, A1 & A2 about 20
yards apart (for good long run by A2); D passes to A1 and plays defense.
Coaching Point
- If A1 delays the pass to long, the
passing angle will be taken away.
- If D stays back, A1 may have to
commit D by dribbling at D.
- Step 4 - 2v1 on goal
Other progressions could be 3v2, 4v3, 6v4 with diagonal runs being requested of the
attackers without ball.
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Practice
Tip - Play the Score! |
Your team is playing the last 5 minutes of the game. They are down/up by one score. How
are they suppose to play? Are one of the backs supposed to go forward. Should a forward
player drop back and play a dual sweeper? Are the passes to be more direct or should play
be more possession oriented?
Like anything else, teams must practice these
scenarios. You say you have no time to add this to an already crowded practice schedule?
It's not as hard as you may think. Just establish the score situation during your
scrimmages. For instance, one team is up by a goal and the other team is down by a goal
and you have 5 minutes to play.
It is important that your players understand and have some
shape of play
during their scrimmages. The coach may have to give each team a shape and formation
depending upon number of players per team.
Things to watch for--over commitment by the losing team; under
commitment by the winning team; not enough patience by the losing team; failure to take
advantage of counter attacks by the winning team.
Another thing you can do is make it clear one team is
playing down a man, especially if you have an odd number of players. Now coach one of the
teams on how to use or adapt to the extra man.
You were going to scrimmage your team anyway, so take
advantage of the
opportunity.
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Rules for First Defender |
Following are "my" RULES for the first defender in the
order of importance:
- Do not allow dribbler to get behind
or past the first defender
- Stop or slow down dribbler
- Take away shooting or passing behind
the defense options
- Force dribbler sideways or backwards
- Force dribbler to a certain area
determined by these factors:
Field position of the dribbler
Ability of the dribbler (uni-footed, fast, etc.)
Location of supporting defender(s) or boundary
Location of supporting attacker (passing options)
Keep dribbler's eyes on ball, not allowing the dribbler to look around
Look for and take advantage of opportunities to tackle the ball
Maintain defensive presence with dribbler that goes forward after releasing the ball
Recover quickly into second defender support position when dribbler
releases the ball
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1v1
Defending - Turning |
"Ground which forms the key to three contiguous
states, so that he who
occupies it first has most of the Empire at his command, is a ground of
intersecting highways." Sun Tzu, The Art of War |
When the attacker has been contained, but still
maintains possession of the ball, the defender would do well to force the attacker to move
to the side or even backwards. By forcing laterally, the supporting defenders can gain
time to recover. Once recovered, the supporting defenders can enhance their
positions as they have more time to adjust. An attacker that is allowed to go forward,
causes the whole team to adjust their vertical defensive positions.
If the defender can force the attacker to go
backwards, the defender must try to maintain close pressure to keep the attacker from
opening up space. The supporting defense should use this opportunity to push forward as
well, compressing the attack away from it's own goal. If the on ball pressure is not
there, then the supporting defense would do well not to compress as the attacker will have
time and space to find and take advantage of the defensive weak spots.
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1v1
Defending - Defensive Presence |
"Those who were skilled in conflict, put
themselves beyond defeat and
awaited their opponent's reach for triumph." Sun Tzu, The Art of War |
Step 1 to training defenders is to teach the defender
to maintain a defensive presence. Even if the attacker is dribbling at top speed, he's
options are restricted if the defender stays between him and the goal.
If a defender allows a dribbler to get behind him,
the supporting defender(s) must immediately step in and create a defensive presence. This
often means that the defensive support structure and shape starts to give way. Fewer
attacking options can be defended as the defenders must choose which are the most critical
options.
The key coaching points to defensive presence is
footwork and positioning. The defender should be between the goal and the defender in most
cases, unless the defender is forcing the ball to an area (step 5). The distance from the
attacker is determined by the attacker's current pace and potential speed. The defender
must get as close as possible without allowing the attacker to get past by using shuffling
short quick steps. The defenders balance at this time should be slightly back towards his
own goal, if not in full sprint backwards.
The number one defensive rule is to always maintain
defensive presence by never allowing a dribbler to get behind or past you. All of the
other rules build on to this first concept.
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Following are
"my" RULES for the first defender in the order of importance:
-
do not allow dribbler to get
behind or past the first defender
-
stop or slow down dribbler
-
take away shooting or passing
behind the defense options
-
force dribbler sideways or
backwards
-
force dribbler to a certain area
determined by these factors:
- field position of the dribbler
- ability of the dribbler (uni-footed, fast, etc.)
- location of supporting defender(s) or boundary
- location of supporting attacker (passing options)
-
keep dribbler's eyes on ball,
not allowing the dribbler to look around
-
look for and take advantage of
opportunities to tackle the ball
-
maintain defensive presence with
dribbler that goes forward after releasing the ball
-
recover quickly into second
defender support position when dribbler releases the ball
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1v1
Defending - Containment |
"Disciplined
and calm, to await the appearance of disorder and
hubbub amongst the enemy: This is the art of retaining self-possession."
Sun Tzu, The Art of War |
After the defender has been positioned to
prevent the attacker dribbler from getting into paradise (behind the defense), step 2 is
to contain the dribbler. That is, to stop or slow down the attack so the defense can
recover and organize.
When the attacker is "stopped," the
defender can get closer by inching forward via a side-on shuffle, keeping balance or
slightly leaning backwards to react to any forward movements by the attacker. The defender
should be in constant movement with short hops to keep the feet alive.
If the defender can get the attacker to turn his
back, then has won that battle. There are two schools of thought on how to deal with an
attacker that has turned his back. The first is to get close with minimal contact, so as
not allow the attacker to know exactly where the defender is. Skilled attackers can easily
turn on a defender by feeling which side is not being pressured.
The other theory is to apply extreme pressure
by charging through the back. The decision making of the referee comes into play on this
technique. The defender should be okay, if enough pressure can be applied to keep the
attacker off balance, so as not to turn and can keep from pushing or charging in a
dangerous manner.
A compromise to the two extremes is the
"pop and release" technique. As the attacker turns, the defender
"nudges" the attacker and bounces off a little, keeping the feet active. After a
second or two, the bounces into the attacker again to make him aware of the defender's
presence and bounces off to stop the attacker's turn attempt.
In a team defensive scheme, there should not be
supporting defenders and
perhaps a teammate to double team the attacker. Once support is there, the defender can be
more aggressive in an attempt to take the ball from the attacker.
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1v1
Defending - Reducing the Angles |
Once the defender has applied pressure and contained the
attacker, he
should prevent as many forward passing options as possible. The responsibility of the
through pass still remains with the supporting defender (if present), but the first
defender can help the team by also being attentive to the dribbler's passing option. The
closer a defender can get to the attacker without compromising his containment position,
the fewer passing options an attacker has.
As the defender is keeping the attacker under
control, he should try to stay aware of the near ball runs made by supporting attackers.
An overlap run will be the easiest to see by the defender and a slight shift towards the
over-lapper's side could be enough to discourage. Again, the defender needs to be careful
not to give the attacker the angle to fake the pass and drive by the defender to the other
side.
One other passing option is the nutmeg. Defenders
that maintain a side-on position and keep their feet from getting too spread apart,
greatly reduce the possibility of this pass being successful.
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1v1
Defending - Pressure |
"By
persistently hanging on the enemy's flank, we shall
succeed in the
long run in killing the commander-in-chief."
Sun Tzu, The Art of War |
Once the defender is in control of the
attacker, forcing him in the defender's direction of preference, it is important that the
defender continue to maintain a high level of pressure on the attacker. The defender need
not confront the attacker with a tackle attempt, until the defensive support is in place
and the defender is ready.
The feint tackle is one way to keep the attacker
off-balanced. The defender feints a reach for the ball, yet maintains excellent balance
and position. The defender should not actually get caught with the body weight going
forward, only the feinting foot.
The attacker will have to react (if there is a
reaction) in one of two ways. First, he may protect the ball by pulling it back or
stepping in with a shielding motion. Or secondly, he may attempt to push the ball past the
defender, assuming he is off balance.
In the first case, the defender is forcing the
attacker to focus totally on the ball. In the second case, the defender should be in good
position to cut-off the attempted pass and possibly be able to step between the attacker
and the ball.
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Following are "my" RULES
for the first defender in the order of importance:
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-
do not allow dribbler to get behind or
past the first defender
-
stop or slow down dribbler
-
take away shooting or passing behind
the defense options
-
force dribbler sideways or backwards
-
force dribbler to a certain area
determined by these factors:
- field position of the dribbler
- ability of the dribbler (uni-footed, fast, etc.)
- location of supporting defender(s) or boundary
- location of supporting attacker (passing options)
-
keep dribbler's eyes on ball, not
allowing the dribbler to look around
-
look for and take advantage of
opportunities to tackle the ball
-
maintain defensive presence with
dribbler that goes forward after releasing the ball
-
recover quickly into second
defender support position when dribbler releases the ball
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Practice
Tip - The Write Stuff |
"A winning
strategy is like a pound balanced against an ounce."
Sun Tzu, The Art of War |
All coaches have tremendous memories. Unfortunately, the recall
sometimes occurs well after that point in time when it most needed. Every coach is
different from a pre-organization standpoint. Some need to have a very specific plan,
whereas others want to stay flexible and adjust to the situation as it happens. Most
coaches fall somewhere in-between these two extremes.
Clip boards are very useful for carrying notes and reminders, but
they are difficult to track of during a training session.
For most coaches, a 3x5 or 4x6 card should be large enough to jot
down a general practice plan. Even those coaches who do not plan practices, may need
written reminders or items for the players (or parents). A physical reminder (e.g., 3x5
card) can save a lot of post practice phone calls.
As an added tip, find a plastic transparent casing, such as
a CD envelope for the 3x5 card. Attach a neck lanyard or a clip to the envelope. The
plastic will keep the notes dry. The lanyard or clip will keep the notes out of the way,
but accessible. Clip on a pen or pencil for those out-of-the-blue comments, such as,
"Hey, coach, I won't be here next practice."
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