Session 5

Thursday 1st November 2007

Objectives
1. Assess the performance level of two new players.
2. Continue with the shooting problem.

Prior to the training session I received a phone call from the team manager. He informed me that two players were joining the squad as a couple of players had been forced to leave the team because of work commitments. This would slightly change the training session.
To begin with the lads began their warm-up which involved jogging, heel flicks, high knees and stretching. Just like the previous week this gave me the perfect opportunity to set up the drills. After this was completed I called the squad over and explained that there would be a ten minute game. As football is a skill-dominant sport this gave me the perfect chance to see if the new players where able to perform the basic football skills. According to Gambetta,2001,…skill level in a skill-dominant sport such as soccer will obviously have a significant impact on ability to play the game.

It didn’t take me long to realise the problem. The new players were not able to perform the basic skills. This problem forced me to split the two new lads away from the group as they weren’t ready to progress. I explained to the new lads that I was doing this for their own benefit and that they would reap the rewards in the long run. To begin with I got the new lads to dribble the ball around a small area. Once they began to improve I set new challenges. I challenged them to use both feet, look up in possession and increase of tempo. Although testing, the lads seemed to be enjoying themselves. I must mention that the other members of the squad were undertaking a passing drill while I was away with the new lads.

After 10 minutes I returned to the squad with the new lads and set up a shooting drill. This drill would involve a goalkeeper, defender and attacker (Totalyouthfootball). This was going prove difficult for attacking players to score. It must be noted that the difficultly level was easy to begin with as no goalkeepers and defenders were present. This however would change once confidence among the lads had grown.

To end the session a game was played. It must be mentioned that the new lads had shown improvement during this game, but stilled required a lot of coaching in order to progress.

Anon (2007) Totalyouthfootball [online] [accessed 22nd November 2007, 10.12hrs]http://www.totalyouthfootball.com

Gambetta,V (2001) High performance sports conditioning, USA, Versa press