Soccer Camps - Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge - FFTW Development
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Hope you are all doing well.
Our second week is officially in the bag with all three of our age groups working on passing/receiving.
ALL GROUPS:
Here are the coaching points below:
5 STAGES OF INSIDE FOOT PASS:
1. Standing foot beside the ball pointing at your partner (accuracy - don't swing your hips and helps with balance)
2. Ankle tight (to help with accuracy and power)
3. Strike with the inside of the foot (big fat part of your foot - large surface)
4. Hit the middle of the ball (creates forward roll and most impact)
5. Follow through (pointing at your target - where your foot swings after you strike the ball)
Additional points for 8-9 and 10-13 Age Groups:
- Movement to create space to receive the ball
- Always have a passing lane available (have to be able to see the ball and the player to get the ball)
- Judge your weight of pass, further you are, more weight you need - always focus on accuracy
- Control & pass or one touch - decide what best option is before you get the ball
- CHECK YOUR SHOULDERS - if you are aware of where your defenders are, as well as your teammates, it will help you make quicker and smarter decision making
- Quick, Sharp Passes! Players are sometimes taking too long to get the ball across to a team mate and then move again, this is critical!
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6-7 Age Group:
Comments from Coaches
Practice, Practice, Practice. The best way to improve a young players ability to pass the ball is repetition and making sure they are doing it in the correct technique. A lot of times at the younger ages, we see a lot of kids just hitting the ball with their toes or without control and we want to make sure this stops.
The 5 stages are the perfect way to do this and easy for young players to understand. Right now the key aspect is not to focus on possession like the older groups but solely on technique.
Every day for a few minutes, pass the ball and improvement will come.
Keys: keep your hips straight, ankle needs to be tight and then follow through at your target
8-9 and 10-13 Age Group:
Comments from Coaches
Although we would expect to not talking about the 5 stages as much - it is integral that even at these age groups, the technique still needs work. Players really need to focus on keeping their ankle tight when making contact with the ball and remembering to follow through pointing at their target.
Before being able to maintain possession of the ball, work on movement and communicate, players need to have the technical aspects of their pass down 100%. This includes their inside foot pass, a driven pass and in certain situations, a lofted pass (some players may not be able to do this yet or haven't done it with us before).
Not all players have this in their repertoire yet but players need to remember to train these in the off season and also when they are not at FFTW Development training. This gives them option to pass short, long and over the top.
When working on receiving, players still need to maintain their good habits of checking their shoulder and that doesnt mean looking down at their own shoulders but actually seeing what is happening behind them.
Other than that, not a bad session but still have lots of work to do!
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Well done to all players and see you next week!