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footy4kids football patches are a fun new way to reward and motivate your players (and even win more games!) new colours!

www.footballpatches.co.uk

footy4kids can teach you how to juggle a football!

Hey coach! Is this you?

"I have one child on my U6 team who regularly misbehaves even with his parents around...

I had a couple of heart to hearts with him, but that didn't seem to help much.

Then I started giving footy4kids patches... He earned one for bravery at the last game for getting up so quickly after falls. I had told him that he would get something for that. He was so excited. After I gave the patches out..I told him about a special patch he could earn for listening and following directions. We worked on a couple more practice games, he listened, did what he was told and said: "I've followed directions!" I gave him a gold star.

It is amazing what a little thing like a patch can do." Lee

find out more

www.footballpatches.co.uk

 

zigzag speedwork 

a soccer coaching drill from Gary Rue

Purpose: to improve player mobility, quickness and speed

Equipment: 5-7 marking objects to mark the zigzag course, such as cones or balls. Also, 4 cones to mark the starting and ending lines.

Setup: the course is a 5 yard sprint from the starting line (or gate) to the first ring (marking object); the next 4 to 6 rings are symmetrically zigzagged at 5 yard intervals; at the last ring, the ending line/gate is 5 yards away.

       

                       x  P1  P2 (start)


               O


       O


               O


       O


               O


       O



                            x        x          (finish)

Procedure: the players sprint to each marking object and place their near foot into or beside the object and continue their sprint to the next object. Players should rerun course, on the other side. In the above example, P1's near foot will always be his left as P2's right foot will be the near foot.

Options:

  • players race
  • time players for statistical review
  • flatten out (widen) marks where cuts are more acute or make marks more narrower
  • change shape and distance of marks--remove competition as course is different for each player
  • lengthen/shorten distance between gates and markers; this allows player to get into a longer stride, before he has to shorten it
  • dribble ball--player must still must place near foot in or near marker
  • change starting foot positions for another coaching consideration

Coaching Points and Considerations: 

The ability to sprint for short distances then cut into a different direction quickly is a very important attribute of a soccer player. Players need to be able to adjust the strides to compensate for the specific foot placement. Areas a coach should watch for is a stride length that is too long, especially at each point of direction change. Plants and cuts should be as quick as possible. Players need to learn to shorted strides, without lessening their speed. "One-footedness" shows up when a player is not as fast on one side as he is on the other. By changes the starting footwork position, this offers the player a chance to train on minimizes steps to get up to full speed. Players need to be encouraged to get to each mark as if it is a 50-50 ball.

 

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