Football/Soccer Session (Beginner): U8-U11 Dribbling with the ball to score. (Start Time: 2023-07-11 16:00:00)

King of the Ring (20 mins)

King of the Ring

- This is a ball-protecting game in which players have to evade pressure to earn points.
- It is set up on a pitch of 20m x 20m, with five gates marked out using flat markers. Five possession players (A) start with a ball each, with three defenders (B) looking to win possession from them. This is shown in Diagram 1.
- If one of the defenders wins the ball from one of the possession players, they then become an attacker. The player who lost the ball becomes a defender, and should look to win a different ball off another possession player – as shown in Diagram 2.
- Each player in possession aims to score as many points as possible by dribbling through as many gates as they can during the set time period. They can’t dribble through the same gate twice in a row.

Progression 

- Remove gates and give every player a ball except for one. Defenders must now win the ball off an attacker and kick it outside the area, if an attackers ball goes outside the area they become the defender. 

Coaching points

- This game is a good starting point for players to get into good habits of having their eyes up while dribbling, to assess the situation and any pressure.

- Players get rewarded for scoring points by dribbling through free gates, so they should be constantly seeing pictures and looking to attack a free gate.

- Dribbling with their head up allows the player in possession to recognise what types of touches to take based on the situation they’re in

- If there is space to attack and no pressure in front, then encourage players to accelerate and use the opportunity to score and accumulate points

- As the pressure changes, players may need to adapt their distance of touch to stay in control and potentially protect the ball.

- The angle of touch is important, depending on the pressure. The longer a player is in possession, the more chance they have of accumulating points – so encourage players to take their angle of touch towards space or in a position where they can hide or stay in control of the ball. ( "take your touch away from the defender")

- Encourage the players to hide the ball from their opponents. They can do this by keeping the ball on their furthest foot away from the defender, and by using their body and arms to protect the ball – this creates maximum distance between themselves, the defender and the ball.

Training game (30 mins)

3v3 - 16 x 12 

4v4 - 20 x 15 

5v5 - 25 x 17 

REINFORCE PRINCIPLES
- The games can be stopped to praise positive actions or reInforce learnings, but they also provide an opportunity for the players to play and problem-solve among themselves.
- Praising intent and, importantly, praising good examples of dribbling and finishing actions is a good way for coaches to reinforce positive behaviors. Examples in this practice are:
– Players dribbling with their eyes up and attacking space
– Recognising pressure and cutting back against the defenders, with momentum, to attack the middle of
the pitch
– Good ball-protecting skills
– Good decision-making around distance and angle of touches, depending on the situation