[jdonnici]

I'm coaching a U12 rec team and the majority of the players have played for several years. They're a good group of kids and work hard. Our offense and mid-field has really kicked into high gear this spring, but we've got some defensive gaps.

I've read around and have a few drills in mind, but if anyone has some good suggestions, I'd love to hear them... here are the issues and they're all related.

1- Ball-watching. This is the biggest factor... if an attack comes from the outside flank, the defense is watching and tends to move toward that flank. They miss the fact that an open attacker has just snuck past them.

2- Marking up. I've explained over and over what it means to be goal-side and how you have to stay between the attacker and the goal. Still, there are some kids who invariably have to try to sprint back because they've let the attacker get goal-side.

3- Passing to the mid-field. Often, the defensive players are most likely to treat the ball like a "hot potato". When it's at their feet, they just kick it away... they're smart enough to kick it out of the middle, but they're not always getting passes to connect and the ball finds its way back to the attacking side.

4- Over-committing. I've demonstrated that sometimes you have to give some space to an attacker, apply pressure, and time your steal move accordingly. Back-pedaling, applying pressure inside so they have to stay to the outside, watch the ball and not the feet, etc. Still, some kids just run right at the attacker, get beat by a quick move, and then are scrambling back to catch up. One thing that's helped is getting them to think off the ball in terms of providing cover to the marking back. So we usually have someone else there to pick up the attacker, but they're getting beat too often and it's a result of over-committing.

So there you have it... any ideas for drills or exercises to address these would be helpful. I've picked up some ideas and created a few others, but more heads are better than one.

Thanks,

J

[schmuckatelli]

You might try this progression after the players are warmed up and have stretched.

1. Play 1v1 in 10x12 yd grids. Begin by defensive player passing to attacking player. Attacker scores if he dribbles over the line he's attacking under control. Defender wins if the ball is lost out of play, or if he can delay the attacker more than 5-10 seconds (depends on competency), or if he wins the ball. Coaching points: don't dive in! Defending stance/footwork (balance, control, stay low). Close immediatedly to 5 yds, then come under control and close take 5 secs to close to 5 feet.

2. Play 2v2 (w/ one attacking player serving only) in 10x12 yd grid. Same scoring. Coaching points: Covering defender must communicate, "Channel" the opponent toward cover, marking player becomes cover once beaten.

3. Play 4v4 w/ no GK's, 20x40 yd space w/ 6yd goals. Big goals in a small space means you'd better mark and cover, or you'll leak goals like a sieve! Coaching points: communicate, trade off marks if needed, pressure the ball and cover.

4. Play attacking vs defending 7v7. Defenders (w/ GK) can score on two 4 yd goals out wide, attackers have one normal (8 yd) goal. Coaching points: defenders play high and wide to targets when they win the ball.

5. Full sided scrimmage. See if they learned what you were teaching.

Good luck.

[uniteo]

Originally posted by jdonnici
1- Ball-watching. This is the biggest factor...

3- Passing to the mid-field. Often, the defensive players are most likely to treat the ball like a "hot potato". When it's at their feet, they just kick it away... they're smart enough to kick it out of the middle, but they're not always getting passes to connect and the ball finds its way back to the attacking side.

4- Over-committing. I've demonstrated that sometimes you have to give some space to an attacker, apply pressure, and time your steal move accordingly. Back-pedaling, applying pressure inside so they have to stay to the outside, watch the ball and not the feet, etc. Still, some kids just run right at the attacker, get beat by a quick move, and then are scrambling back to catch up.

1 - no great idea here but when playing in practice, occasionally yell "FREEZE", pick out a player, tell them to close their eyes and then ask them (with eyes closed) where are all the other players around them. It helps get the point across.

You can also have small sided play (3 v 2, 3 v 3, etc...) and add or subtract attacking players on the fly so that your defenders have to keep an eye out for players coming from unexpected places.

2 - one drill I ran yesterday (with a U-12 team) was a 5 on 3 game on a field about 35 yards wide and 30 yards long...normally on defense we outnumber the attack, and vice versa, the goal of the 'offensive' (3) team was simply to have one of their players dribble across the far (south) endline, the goal of the 'defensive' (5) team was to string together 5 passes, then complete a pass to a teammate who had moved across the far (north) endline...this helps the defensive players practice composure in finding the open teammate and passing in the back to build possession, as well as making a short or mid-range pass to a teammate in the process of joining the attack

4 - I would try a one on one drill where you have a player at each end of, say a 20 yd. by 20 yd. square. On the endline behind the defender, mark out a 'goal' 4 or 5 yards wide (wide enough so the defender can't sit back and play GK) for the attacking player to dribble through and have the defender keep the attacking player out for say 10 seconds...in a game if you can slow down and delay the attacker, your help will arrive eventually and the surest way to lose the challenge will be by storming out and overcommitting

**last point, I said 'defender' several times, but make sure you run all your players through the drills, as you need attacking players to be able to win the ball and you never know who will end up in what position**

[jdonnici]

Some good ideas in there... thanks to both of you guys. I really appreciate the time.