We play a 4231 at the H.S. level. I'm having the hardest time getting the wings (7/11) to understand when they should be in an attacking position and when they should be tracking back to the defensive shape. We have tried to make it as simple as "if we are not IN possession, then we OUT of possession and we should be nearer our defensive shape." They see that as "negative", and that we cannot attack if they are not there to help the striker. What is an possible solution?
shadow play. get the team lined up in their 4231, and then have them do a walk through with the ball at different positions on the field. i typically do this to get my team's defensive positioning and transitions how i want them, but there's no reason if won't work in the attacking phase too. i build a progression from me and my assistants moving the ball around and the team just moving to adding opposing players knocking the ball around slowly to free play.
^^ I think that's the best/only answer. Orchestrate the transition moments too because you don't want them retreating when they can make a play in the vicinity of the ball immediately. Also if your starting 7/11 are being resistant to the idea. Find someone who isn't resistant—even if it's just an idle threat to get them to buy in. Help the striker do what exactly? Score when you don't have the ball. Yes, you may have to sprint and run to go help him, guess what that's what wingers do. If you don't feel you can do that—coach will find someone who is.
I would always cue off of my counterpart. Basically you have to be aware of what opponents are behind you and watching out for opposing runners flooding behind you. As winger in a 433 against a 4 back system, I was cuing on the opposing fullback. In a 4231, I assume you want the winger to defend in front of the fullback and would be responsible for the second attacker whether it is a flank player or a central player running diagonally. That means you have to make sure no attacker is moving into the gap behind you. How to drill this? Aside from shadow play and 3v3 along the touch line, I don't have any ideas.
Ok, we are at least on the right track with the techniques we are using to train this. We use shadow play A LOT! I do not think the girls are malicious as much as trying to figure it out on their own. Its scary how they read the game though and the solutions they think they find.
Do you mean this as a compliment? I can't tell. How long have they been at it? Also, I forgot to mention—different learning styles. The kinesthetic learners will understand via shadow play. Hit the visual learners with watching videos of themselves and white board sessions. The auditory learners should learn from the other two types of demonstrations. Also, try having those that understand teach the ones that don't—sometimes a different voice helps.
I think visual learners gain from shadow play too. It is the actual point of view rather than the camera's point of view, so it doesn't require near as much abstract thinking as watching a 2-dimensional moving picture. To be most effective, coaches have to include in shadow play exercises the actual visual and aural cues which are usually opponents, teammates, the field (lines, goals), oral communications, and of course the ball. Notice nobody talks about chalk talks and diagrams , which require a lot of abstract thinking to translate. If you are dealing with experienced people, diagrams work well because they can rely on their prior experience. Trying to teach new concepts with diagrams is an uphill struggle at best because of their limited prior experience with the issue. Video is so much better.
After reading this, I'm now waiting for someone to come up with a VR / AR (Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality) package for clubs / academies. The technology is about there now for this to happen, and kids are very much used to viewing things this way. Now instead of a 2D set of Xs and Os they'd have a moving 3D representation of exactly what you'd want them to see. I smell a startup!