Hockey Session (Under 12s): Hawks Spring League 2021 Ball Control (Week1) - U10/U12

Ladders + warm up skills (20 mins)

1 - Half or full field jog, get moving. Dynamic stretches + lunges.

2 - Ladders for agility. Can use sticks laid out on the ground: high knees over, hopscotch, hopping, single leg hops, crossovers, backwards running... be creative!

3 - Stick and ball stationary skills: each player with 2 cones about a stick length apart. Practice big pulls from cone to cone, figure 8s around cones (feet stationary), switch directions etc. Emphasize good body position (knees bent, chest + eyes up). How many can you do in a minute??

4 - Air dribbling: Pop ball up to yourself (no hands, practice being able to lift ball). How many touches can you do before the ball drops?

Dribbling skills over 25 yrds (10 mins)

Have the players partner up on a sideline or end line. One person will start the dribbling and theirpartner will go when the first person gets half way. When both players get across one direction, you canmake any points you need to make and have them do the same thing back. Go through a few times per skill, eventually turning it into a race if control is good.

Dribbling Skills:

1. Push dribble – Ball at 2 o’clock, Stick stays on ball the whole way. Left elbow up!
2. Push dribble on angles – Strong stick only, on 45 degree angles forward 

3. Push dribble on angles – Using reverse stick to change direction

4. Speed Dribble – Push ball in middle of body and use toe end of stick to get the ball really far awayfrom you and go as fast as possible (flat side of stick faces the sky)

5.  Indian Dribble

Relays (20 mins)

Split the group into 2 teams. Set up 2 identical courses towards goal. Put a pile of balls at the start of each course, somewhere near the 25yrd line. Line each team up on the baseline. When you say go, one player from each team sprints out to the balls, completest the course and scores a goal. Once their ball goes in the net, the next player from their team starts.

*If you have a lot of players, create a third or even a fourth group

**encourage speed through the course!

*** you can vary how they run to the balls: forwards running, backwards running, two foot hopping, one foot hopping, cartwheels, summersaults, crabwalk, bearcrawls... anything fun that gets them moving! (If doing cartwheels/summersaults/crabwalks/bearcrawls/anything where they need their hands, leave all sticks at the pile of balls for them to pick up when they arrive)