“This first session designed to help all the players in the club better understand their technical and tactical awareness was a huge success.” – Steve Davis
Over 40 Patriots players turned up for the first night of training geared towards helping the individual player with their technical and tactical game. The topic for the evening was “Passing and Receiving Under Pressure” Emphasis was placed on recognizing where and when the pass should be made, furthest foot, weight of pass, texture, recognizing the type of run to determine the weight and the type of pass, starting position when receiving the ball in relation to where you’re looking to play it, and preparing the ball to play immediately.
The session was run by Patriots Director of Coaching, Steve Davis. He was assisted by John Sanchez (98’s and 96’s) and Paul Mazzola (92 Whites). Former Patriots 87’ player Christy Mazzola, who is the coach of the Patriots 99’ Girls was also on hand to lend her knowledge of the game to the younger players. Christy was a four year starter at George Washington University, and the captain during her senior year.
The evening started off with passing patterns, and the player passing had to apply pressure to the player they passed to. It helped the players recognize where the pressure was coming from, and how to receive the ball with their hips open, heads up, and to prepare the ball early for the pass.
The groups then moved into a different stage dependent on their age. The older groups progressed into an exercise that worked on their vision and the types of service to the receiver. Focus was on driven, lofted, and ground balls. Speed of delivery, playing to the furthest foot, and preparing the ball for an immediate pass was also covered. The group also worked on recognizing the type of run to determine the type of pass. Pressure was placed on both the passer and the receiver by determining who could pass and who could receive, and opposing players had to apply pressure on both.
The younger groups went into a 4v2, with the 2 defenders playing in a 10x10 yard box, and the 4 attackers placed on each side of the box. The defenders were not allowed outside of the box, and the attackers were not allowed inside of the box, but had to pass the ball through the box. We added a second ball to keep the girls on their toes, and we also progressed with restricting passes back and forth with the same players, making players take two touches, and not allowing the ball to stop. We worked on getting the ball out from under feet, passing to the furthest foot, texture of pass, and staying on our toes.
For the third stage of the evening, the older groups went into a game of tag. The group was divided into two teams of eight, and one team had to pass 2 balls around in a 20x30 area, whilst one of the opposing players attempted to tag a player with the ball. We focused on the weight and texture of the pass, keeping the ball outside of our footprints when receiving, heads up –hips open, and composure on the ball. The group progressed by reversing the game. We had the players attempt to tag a player without the ball, and that forced us to think about how the pass is determined by the run, to play the ball in front of the player making the run, and to prepare the ball to play immediately.
The younger groups went into a fan favorite, and much loved circle drill, but with a slight twist. 5-6 players form a circle, and 1 player is in the middle. One outside player passes into the middle player and follows their pass. The player receives and plays out. The outside player then repeats the drill. As a progression, the coaches had the outside player pressure the pass to force receiver to turn and play out. We made it much more fun and educational by having everyone yell “TURN” or MAN ON” when the player was receiving the ball.
Topic for Monday November 2nd, 2009
“Pressure Dribbling”
Points that will be addressed:
Dribbling with confidence despite opposition pressure, Identifying and Exploiting open spaces, Assertive High Speed Dribbling and Solid ball control, Recognizing when and where to dribble, Change of direction and surface of foot used.
