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by Gary Rue
garyrue@bellsouth.net
 

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.

Finishing Drill

         One of the keys elements of finishing is accuracy. Power is nice, but it's a distant second in priority. In the past, I have always stressed the need for shooting with the instep. Though, I don't want to downgrade the importance of this technique, I am starting to believe it is more meaningful to emphasize first and foremost accuracy by "passing" the ball into the goal. Power can be trained later after the player understands a slow roller into the goal is worth more than a rocket shot not on frame. 

Warm-up -- Set up two lines (of 1 to 2 players), six to eight yards apart (goal post width); these two lines are directly across from two other lines of players; the distance between the sets of two lines are ten to fifteen yards (coach should adjust to player age and ability). 

    A2    C2
    A1    C1    
    | ^  ^|
    |   \/  |
    |   /\  |
    | /   \ |
    V      V
    B1    D1
    B2    D2

A1 passes straight across to B1 and follows the pass to the B line; B1 receives, makes an angled pass to C1 and follows pass to C line; C1 receives, makes a straight ahead pass to D1 and follows pass to D line; D1 makes an angled pass to A2, etc. 

Warm-up Progression

• Ask players to pass with specified foot 
• Restrict number of touches to control ball before making next pass 
• Switch to an instep pass, if accuracy can be maintained 
• At some point, have the team envision that each line is a goal post; the straight ahead passes are to the near post, the angled passes are to the far post 
• Ask the players to pass to the inside foot of the receiving player (i.e., inside the post) 

Warm-up Coaching Points:

• Ensure the inside of the foot is used to pass (as this normally is the most accurate type of pass for a player) 
• Play should be continuous, have extra balls ready between groups A & C and groups B & D. Bad passes can be chased down by the passer while the next player puts a new ball back into play 
• Make sure receptions are toward the target 

Shooting Drill:

Setup -- Structure the drill exactly like the warm-up, except with a goal between groups A and C. When A passes to B, B finishes with an angled pass to the far post; when C passes to D, D finishes with an angled pass to his/her far post 

Drill Progression: 

• Change drill so that A passes across to D who finishes (to the near post) with a straight on pass; C passes across to D who finishes with a straight on pass 
• Restrict number of touches before shot 
• Use instep (if accuracy can be maintained) 
• Add a GK; initially position the GK away from the post the players will be shooting; that is, the GK should be shaded toward the side that makes the initial pass 
• Let the GK be active and allow the attacker to finish to the appropriate post and appropriate part of foot 

Drill Coaching Points: 

• Stress accuracy, not power, constantly 
• The position of body and support foot should be towards the finishing point 
• Have player look up to side of goal they are finishing; when GK added, player should look to near post, if not covered shoot there, else go to far post (do not look at or try to find the GK) 
• Make sure player is looking at the ball at the point when the shot is taken 
• Team and coaches should reinforce every made goal with some kind of positive exaltation; save the loudest for the accurate goal as the power shot will get its fair share of "oohs" and "aaahs." 

Defensive Recovery

Purpose: To teach defensive recovery angle, delay and support

Setup: Initially serve a through ball to an attacker near the touch about 30 yards from the goal line. The defender is about 10 yards inside the touch. 10-15 yards from the touch near the goal line is a set of cones parallel to the touch about 3 yards apart. The attacker receives the pass and attempts to cut the ball to the inside or dribble the ball to the goal line and deliver a pass through the cones. The defender must try to keep the attacker wide and block any pass through the cones.

Progression: Start with the attacker at the halfway near the touch and a defender about 20 yards from the attacker, also on the halfway. A through ball is served down the touch for the attacker to run onto and attack goal (with keeper). The defender is to recover, then close down and delay the attacker.
* add second defender near the center mark of the halfway
* add second attacker outside of the second defender
* add third defender (near opposite touch)

Coaching Points:
Recovery - run should initially be towards the near post. The first priority is to get between the attacker and the goal, keeping him/her taking the ball to the middle. Defenders often make the mistake of running at the ball too soon, allowing the attacker to cut to the inside.

Close down - as the defender gets closer to the goal line than the attacker, s/he can start angling towards the ball. Closing down the ball from a position that is not between the attacker and goal may allow the attacker to beat the defender to the near post. Closing down the ball is the defender's second priority.

Delay - once the defender has recovered, then closed down the ball, s/he must slow down the attack until support arrives. The attacker should be shepherded to the outside and kept from cutting to the middle.

Support - normally, support needs between defender and goal and far enough away, that the attacker cannot beat both defenders on one dribble touch and sprint (5-10 yards?!) Support must be able to close down second attacker if pass is made.

Off ball marking - second and third defenders must recover to support first defender and maintain awareness of second attacker.

Comments: The direction and weight of the serve can offset some physical mismatches between attacker and defenders. Make fast defenders recover properly, else they will feel they can run at the ball from any angle because of their speed. The defender's run can be delayed by the coach if necessary.

Practice Tip - Close Down

           A pass is made to an attacker, the defender 10 to 15 yards away must close down the attacker with speed. As the attacker prepares to touch the ball, the defender go into a side-on stance, while quick stepping towards the attacker, the defender is actually leaning away, ready to go backwards on the attackers move. The defender must attempt to get within an arms length (give or take an elbow length) of the attacker with quick short shuffle steps. If the defender runs at (not side-on) an adept attacker , the attacker will beat the defender most every time. We tell our players to assume the attacker is going to try to beat them on every touch and be prepared to go back with them.

Coaching Point:

Be sure players have lowered their center of gravity by bending their knees and not just bending at the waist.

Off-the-Ball Training

         Use small amounts of off ball training to improve sprinting, pivoting, and turning techniques at the high school level and U14 and above select level. Below are some of these things I try to address:

Sprinting

-- 20-40 yard 60% speed sprints, watching for technique breakdowns. The key emphasis is on the arms. I tell my players to pull their legs through with their arms. Gradually raise the percentage up. Don't tire them out before technical deficiencies can be identified and addressed. A training can't look at all players, so run them in small viewable groups.

Pivoting

-- start with 60% 15 yard sprints to a point (line) and have players make 90 degrees cuts; key point is the plant foot should be at 90 degrees to run direction
* plant right foot, cut to the right, power cross-over with the left leg; watch for double stepping; change directions and plant foot
* plant left foot , cut to the right; square off the cuts as they tend to be rounded; change plant foot and direction

Turning

-- same as above two exercises, except make full 180 degree turns and run back
* Increase initial sprint speed as skills develops
* Set up an eight point star with cones or some other marking devices; player runs to center and cuts at speed to coach directed star point
 

Power cross-over exercise

as a prelude to crossing drills. Players must be able to angle the plant of their supporting foot in the direction of the cross. Often this is at 90 degrees or more to the direction they are running.