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LOGINShielding the ball
Watch your players’ confidence soar when they realise they can keep control of the ball for longer by using their bodies as a shield to protect the ball.
What this session is about
- Improving ball control.
- Improving confidence when in possession.
What to think about
Players shielding the ball need to:
- Place the body between the ball and the defender.
- Point the shoulder at the opponent.
- Have the knees bent, bottom lowered and the feet must be shoulder-width apart.
- Place an arm in the centre of the opponent’s chest.
- Use the arms, shoulders, body and legs to keep the opponent away.
- Keep the ball moving by using the foot farthest from the opponent.
Set-up
| Warm up | Session | Development | Game Situation | Warm Down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 minutes | 15 minutes | 10 minutes | 15 minutes | 10 minutes |
What you get your players to do
Use one ball between two players. Place the ball on a disc cone and play 1v1.
Without touching it, one player must shield the ball for 10 seconds and stop the opponent knocking the ball off the cone.
If the player shielding the ball is successful, they earn a point. The opponent wins a point for knocking the ball off the disc cone. Players reverse the roles after five attempts each. After that, players change partners.
To progress, players move to a 10-yard square and repeat the drill, but this time without the cone, meaning the player in possession can now move the ball to keep it away from the defender.
Development
Now add a serving player at each end of the area. The attacker receives a pass from a server and attempts to pass the ball to the other server before repeating the drill from that end.
Players reverse roles after five attempts each then players switch roles with the servers.
Related Files
Game situation
Play 4v4 in an area 30x20 yards. Each player can only be marked by one opponent on the opposite team.
The team in possession tries to keep the ball for 30 seconds to win a point (increase the time if teams find this too easy), but when an attacking player receives the ball, they must have a minimum of three touches before passing.
The defending team can intercept passes as well as try to win the ball in 1v1 shielding situations.
The team that has the most points at the end wins.
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