Football/Soccer Session (Academy Sessions): Passing and moving off ball

passing introduction (3Progressions) (20 mins)

Organization:

circle with players divided evenly - half on cones half inside with a ball

Instructions:

Make it a game - dont be in the cirlce when time runs out. Incentive to move quickly to find a pass

1. players inside dribble freely, find a player on outside cone who isnt involved in play. Pass them the ball and take their spot on the cone. Upon receiving the ball, the player standing on cone takes a positive first touch into the cirlce (prog is not moving enough, blue has to overlap red)

2. Blue players now play a double pass (wall-pass) with a player on cone. Must receive the second pass in a different spot than where they made first pass (movement)

3. Bue players and red players now combine for a double-double pass (double wall-pass). BLue player will pass to red, who will pass back to blue in a new spot, and then blue will make a third and final pass to red into space off the cone. After red's pass, they must begin movement into space

Make sure players are working hard and playing quickly

Coaching Points/Questions:

technique - inside of foot, outside of foot...smooth flat passes i.e. foot makes contact with cent or top half of the ball

movement after pass is KEY

eye contact and communication before passing the ball

play with speed

Regressions/Progressions:

Prog: limited number of touches when combining passes (1 or 2 touch)

conditioned game (25 mins)

Organization:

20x30 (if lower numbers reduce area to keep space tight)

3 yard endzones

2 even teams

Instructions:

End zone game

1 point for dribbling into endzone

2 points for passing to a teammate into the end zone

reset play ones ball is brought into end zone

throw ins on sidelines

Coaching Points/Questions:

weight of pass AND speed of play most important now

passing technique

movement off the ball

move with the ball when looking for someone to pass to

eye contact and communication

Regressions/Progressions:

Prog: if 2 points isnt enough incentive to pass into end zone, raise the reward to 3 or 5 points for a pass into the end zone