Head on a Swivel

I was watching two of the pro soccer teams in the new women's soccer league the other day. While I was bothered by some technical inabilities they all had, one positive note I saw, which many youth teams tend to not do is to keep their head on a swivel.

In other words, constantly survey your surroundings by knowing where your outlets are should you receive a pass, and as importantly where the pressure will be coming from should you receive a pass. By taking a quick peek over their shoulders, they were able to note where all of the moving parts are at that specific moment. By doing that consistently, the players were able to react skillfully and quickly to pressure when it came.

I see many youth players today, receive a ball with their back to the play and then turn right into pressure. If they had stolen a glance or two before they collected the ball, they may have been able to escape from that pressure.

Some things that I like to do in a training session is to incorporate a drill where the player is trying to deal with an uncontrolled environment. What I mean by uncontrolled environment is simply to make it unpredictable.....maybe have 2 defenders run at a player just receiving the ball. Or have defensive pressure come from different areas at the same time. If as a coach, you can design a drill or situation where you can unbalance the player receiving the ball, it will teach them and prepare them to handle that better in a match.

The better we can simulate game situations for our players and put them in challenging positions, the better their game performance will be.

Have a great day!

Gary

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