ROUND TOWER GAA CLUB
As a coach here are some games , ideas tips you might like to consider.
3 PART PITCH
Here is a great way to develop team play, allowing you as a coach to step back, spot where things are going wrong and then fix them.
Think of the pitch as 3 separate zones
A= own end line to 45m line Priority= KEEP BALL
B= between the two 45s Priority= SET UP
C= 45m line to opponents end line Priority= SCORE
Zone A emphasis is on keeping possession through close passing and lots of support play.
Zone B emphasis is on using the ball quickly and directly to set up team mates inside the oppositions 45m line. Ball should be in this zone for 4-5 seconds with passes inside kept to a minimum.
Zone C emphasis is on getting into position to score or directly assist a score.
NB no matter what player is in each zone , the task remains the same
SPOT AND FIX
All Players regardless of age will need specific technical coaching at some stage. When coaching always try to spot and fix faults in technique, don’t be the coach who says ‘he could never do it and never will’.
Always look at HEAD, HANDS and FEET for better technique, watch their head hand and feet position during the execution of a technique
Eg
Head- is his head up as he kicks, this will cause the player to lean back and push the ball further to the right
Hands- is he dropping the ball two handed, cross handed or is he holding the ball too far from his body
Feet- is his standing foot pointing nowhere near the target , is he playing the ball off the outside of his boot.
HALF FORWARD LINE
Often in the modern game this group are by passed in attack and they are employed as defenders to track back and block opposition attacks and to close in to look for breaks from midfield.
Really half forwards are the line more than most we need to help the team keep its shape. Otherwise our full forward line is dragged out the field to fill in for them and they are outside the scoring zones and so have to work very hard to get scores.
Ideally your CHF should be a creative player who can orchestrate attacks and has great passing ability (hopefully with both feet). Wing forwards need to be blessed with both stamina and pace, for they are link players who have to fetch, carry and support more often than any other group. FINALLY they should be able to score!!
3 SECOND GAME
Are you a coach that uses the line ‘You cant teach that….., its instinctive. You either have it or you don’t’.
Hopefully not. While you may not reach the high standards of some footballers you can certainly close the gap between the so called instinctive player and the others.
The 3SECOND RULE GAME will help all players to improve their ability when in possession to look up and scan the area ahead and decide quickly what is the best thing to do with the ball.
Award a free if a player still has the ball in his possession after 3seconds, this if done regularly will make players look up first and also help with team mates making runs as they will be better timed if they know when the ball is coming,
SIMPLE BUT EFFECTIVE-TRY IT!
INCREASE THE TRAFFIC
Many drills and practice exercises on the pitch are excellent , but often they don’t mirror reality.
Try running 2-3 drills in the same area at the same time , this would allow players to practise skills and techniques while others moved among them and around the same area. Players who can learn to cope with increased traffic in a smaller area will be able to carry this through to a game. Make sure players are comfortable with drills on their own before you join 2 drills together. Eg have a handpassing drill running through a kick passing drill. Both groups will have to improve their accuracy to reach their intended targets.
DOUBLE OR QUITS (GAME)
This game is designed to improve free taking by allowing them to practise in a realistic environment where they have been involved in all the physical aspects of the game and they are under a degree of pressure to score.
Before your practise game scatter 7-8 soft cones or markers( not hard domes where players could step on them accidentally and injure ankles etc) in an area between the 14m line and 40m from goal at both ends.
Play the game as normal but when a team scores from play, a free taker must then pick a marker to take a free at goal from. If he scores add this point to the original score but if he misses take away the original score. If he scores that marker is then removed so he must kick from a different marker the next time. If he misses leave the marker where it is.
To ensure the game flows have footballs ready so free taker can be preparing a free but goalkeeper also has ball ready to continue game straight away when free is taken.
Free taker has chance to DOUBLE the score or lose the original score QUITS.
WHERE IS THE EXTRA MAN?
This is to get teams to practise having an extra man, or sometimes playing against an extra man.
More often than not the extra man on a team is generally a defender as no team will leave a free man roaming around their forward line.
Whether you want to play the extra man wide to receive passes , or double team a dangerous opponent , or patrolling along the 45m line or as a 3rd midfielder to mop up loose ball, try to practise these scenarios rather than just hope that it will work.
Try playing the extra man out wide, opponents find it much more difficult to mark width rather than depth. It stretches them more and is a release player for others on the team.
Sometimes players are lulled into a false sense of security about the extra man covering for them if they mark loosely, sometimes 6 backs think the extra man is covering for them all and no one is marking.
Whatever way you decide to use the extra man, practise it. Addressing the what ifs that appear in matches will be beneficial to your team.
SILENT BUT DEADLY
No talking, calling , shouting allowed. A silent game. Can be used in small sided games or full games , a free is awarded if a player speaks during the game. Impose this rule only for short periods 5mins etc.
The concentration required and the frustration endured may prove too much for some and the game may lose its zest.
Numerous reasons for playing this game, like discipline towards referees, calling correctly for the ball, encouraging team mates, decision making of player on ball, better runs/movement looking for ball, warning players of incoming tackles and many many more.
Should see improvements when normal game resumes and importance of communication during games will be there for all to see.
YOUR SESSION CHECKLIST
How good is your coaching session, does it address the needs of your players, be they 8, 18 or 28 years of age.
Here is one suggestion for a checklist.
In every session you should be working to develop:
TECHNICAL ABILITY – improving players first touch in all aspects whether that be receiving the ball, better kickpass, better block, better lift etc. Help players to develop the correct techniques and never let bad habits linger.
ATHLETICISM – an umbrella term for all physical fitness work. If possible always try to include the ball
SPEED OF THOUGHT – do this by setting appropriate conditions on a drill or a game, get the players thinking where decisions need to be made. This needs to be repeated to take effect. Repetition is key
TEAMPLAY – rehearse the way you want your team to play, don’t just talk about it and expect players to act it out. Practise, practise, practise.
KICK IT (GAME)
Set up a 4v4 situation with 4defenders on the goal line with a ball and 4attackers 30-35 yards from goal. One defender acts as goalkeeper, leaving a 4on 3 situation. On the whistle the defenders kick the ball out to the forwards .
The team of 4 must now work the ball past the team of 3 to get in a shot for goal.
Encourage forwards to shoot low along the ground.
Seems straight forward but what will happen is that the team of 3 will win the ball back more often than the forwards scoring. If team of 3 win ball they must work ball back out to where forwards started from.
Speak to the team of 4 to encourage them to come up with a better way of using their extra man and you should see a big improvement.
Then you will hopefully see the three come up with solutions to counter act the 4. All the better. Everyone is now thinking, everyone develops , everyone wins and you get a taste of what players can do for themselves.
Allow players come up with solutions before you help.
A MOVING PIVOT
Sometimes in drills we can leave players standing at the ends or middle of drills just receiving or giving a pass, this rarely happens in a game so why not add that to our drills. Make sure they are always on the move, mimicking the movement in a match when he is jogging /walking about being marked in a match. The pivot should be able to weigh up the situation and change pace and move to receive a pass and return it. Always try to keep the players on the move just like in a match.
Eg a cone could be placed 4-5 yards from the pivot and between passes the pivot must move to the cone and back and is moving towards the next pass.
ATTACK AND BREAK
A simple message for all coaches
Make sure to work regularly to get your players to ATTACK the ball when going for it and to BREAK the tackle when moving forward with the ball. To let players away with waiting for a nice bounce, stopping when faced by an opponent or trying to kick through them will only lead to a generation of average footballers in the club.
WORKING WITH WIDTH
Play a game as normal but have a line of flex markers running on both sides of the pitch from goal line to goal line 5m in from the sideline, one player from each team must stay inside the line and act as a link, the link man cannot leave the zone, cannot be tackled and must follow the three second rule to get the ball back into play. Each team must make at least one pass to the link zone before they can score.
This offers a great opportunity to practise diagonal passing and support running. It also shows players the value of width and allows them to practise it without direct opposition, until the notion of how to play ‘link’ beds in.
THINK HOW YOU MARK
This is to allow your players to quickly workout some strengths and weaknesses of their direct opponent. Try to bring this into training, before a practice game starts call 2-3 players in and ask them to focus on the player they are marking and be able to tell you some important aspects of how their opponent plays the game in about 7-8 mins of the game starting. That should be enough time for the player to work this out. Hopefully they will be able to tell you things about: pace of the player, which foot they favour, do they like to run or pass the ball first, are they attack minded, do they follow you if you attack etc . Hopefully their answers will match yours.
To develop this you now ask them to focus on one aspect of their opponent and they must now try and counteract what their opponent does. A simple one would be to force them to kick with their weak foot. This will take time and practice but no harm to get players thinking.
WORK TO REST RATIOS …..A VITAL BALANCE
Here we try to get coaches thinking about rest and how it is just as important as working/training our players.
When running a stamina session the rule of thumb is that the coach usually uses the ratio of 1:1 ( the player works for a minute, and then rests for a minute. Or the player works for 2mins and then rests for 2 mins and so on )
Similarly if a coach is working on speed, he will use the ratio of 1:5 ( the player sprints for 5secs and then gets 25secs rest)
Apart from that it is essential that coaches are aware of the volume of training that their players are doing. Often if a player is involved in four different teams each coach is aware of this but all will feel that their team is most important so the player must take full part in their session and it should be the other sessions the player shouldn’t do. Often the player then does all four sessions.
It is in this case that coaches NEED to discuss and plan what players should do, find out what demands are being made of our top young players , make sensible decisions for the players good and reap the benefits as a result. All teams the player is involved in must realise this for the players well being.
FREEZE FRAME (GAME)
This game is to get forwards thinking of defending straight away when they lose the ball or an attack is turned over.
Lay out 6-8 markers in one half of the pitch in random positions. Put a forward and a defender at each cone. Ask the defenders to take 3-4 big steps away from the markers while the forwards stay at the markers. You now have a freeze frame situation, a moment captured in time. To start the game throw the ball into the keepers hands and the defenders must work the ball either to the half way line or through some markers or goals on the half way line. The forwards must work out how best to close down defenders and win the ball back and score. This is getting the forward thinking of switching from attack mode to defend mode faster and faster until it becomes instinct. This will only work if you as the coach are prepared to run 20 of these match situations to allow forwards to improve. Continue to work on this. Players can take up positions again in a few seconds and can be repeated again and again. Practice makes permanent.(Dublin Senior Football Team aim to have the ball moved from the keepers hands to the half way line in no more than 6-8 seconds)