U6 game models
We are wrapping up the season and I wanted to record some of the action so that I could see how players have grown. I have observed a great deal of growth in the players in terms of their skill and attention to the game. Many parents have commented about how their child is starting to "get it" when it comes to game play and how to use the skills we focused on in training.
When I started the group training for the U5/6 in the fall of 2017, I did it because I was dissatisfied with the quality of coaching at practices and game play. I thought it would be easy to train a large group of 4/5 year olds and improve the quality of their development. As you can probably expect, it wasn't easy. Activities that are easy to do with 6-10 players on your team are almost impossible to carry out with 40-50 players. Getting 8-10 teams of players to the correct field and have the right color was crazy some weeks.
Despite the challenges, I was able to modify the sessions to focus on my priorities, engage the kids and improve the quality of game play. Today, I wanted to focus on the game, because we use two different models: new ball and dribble in.
On the weekday session, after training we have about 30 minutes to play, so we use the new ball model. This is a fairly common technique that you can find referenced elsewhere (1 or 2). When a ball goes out of play, the coach or another parent stationed somewhere on or near the field puts a new ball in play. In the early season, before players are conditioned to the game, the coach will call out "new ball." After a few minutes at the start of games, coaches simply put the ball out and don't use the auditory cue to alert the players.
This model increases the speed of game play to a level that is much higher than typical game play. Coaches can play balls that move the players into a different part of the field. They can also get a player engaged who is not currently engaged by playing the ball directly to him or her. If one team is better than the other team, the coach can play all the balls to the weaker team to give them more chances to score or make it harder on the better team. I also use the new ball to challenge the players to control difficult bouncing balls. Early in the season, especially with the U5 group, coaches are instructed to use more than one ball if they have kids who are not engaged or don't understand what is going on and need a simpler environment to play in. While it may be confusing for the players with more than one ball, it can definitely help the kids who don't seem to be having fun.
Our model on the weekend session is called "dribble in." In this model, all restarts are a dribble in for one player. You can watch a video of this model here.
We eliminate throw-ins and for all restarts (throw-in, goal kick, corner kick, kick off and foul) we use a dribble in. The technique is simple. Set the ball, choose a player, make sure the player knows which goal to score on and then tell them to "play" or "go score a goal." While this model is slower than the new ball model, it allows players to get multiple opportunities to control the game by deciding what to do with the ball. Coaches try to get the ball back into play as quickly as possible so that the flow of the game can be maintained.
So how do these two models affect the quality of game play? The most important change is the speed of the game. Players get used to finding the ball. One of the biggest issues we have with young players is that they don't go to where the ball is and as a result, they don't get to engage much with the ball. The new ball model really helps with players reacting to the ball.
The "dribble in" model has helped players be able to use their dribbling skills in a game situation with at least a few seconds without pressure. Because players are oriented towards the goal they are scoring on, it makes it easier for them to create chances to score goals.
Even when players are tightly grouped together, they are trying to use their skills. We encourage them to never "kick the ball away," and each player makes a pinkie promise to "show my skills." Combined with the two game models this has resulted in a quality of game play that is very encouraging for helping kids fall in love with the game.
When I started the group training for the U5/6 in the fall of 2017, I did it because I was dissatisfied with the quality of coaching at practices and game play. I thought it would be easy to train a large group of 4/5 year olds and improve the quality of their development. As you can probably expect, it wasn't easy. Activities that are easy to do with 6-10 players on your team are almost impossible to carry out with 40-50 players. Getting 8-10 teams of players to the correct field and have the right color was crazy some weeks.
Despite the challenges, I was able to modify the sessions to focus on my priorities, engage the kids and improve the quality of game play. Today, I wanted to focus on the game, because we use two different models: new ball and dribble in.
On the weekday session, after training we have about 30 minutes to play, so we use the new ball model. This is a fairly common technique that you can find referenced elsewhere (1 or 2). When a ball goes out of play, the coach or another parent stationed somewhere on or near the field puts a new ball in play. In the early season, before players are conditioned to the game, the coach will call out "new ball." After a few minutes at the start of games, coaches simply put the ball out and don't use the auditory cue to alert the players.
This model increases the speed of game play to a level that is much higher than typical game play. Coaches can play balls that move the players into a different part of the field. They can also get a player engaged who is not currently engaged by playing the ball directly to him or her. If one team is better than the other team, the coach can play all the balls to the weaker team to give them more chances to score or make it harder on the better team. I also use the new ball to challenge the players to control difficult bouncing balls. Early in the season, especially with the U5 group, coaches are instructed to use more than one ball if they have kids who are not engaged or don't understand what is going on and need a simpler environment to play in. While it may be confusing for the players with more than one ball, it can definitely help the kids who don't seem to be having fun.
Our model on the weekend session is called "dribble in." In this model, all restarts are a dribble in for one player. You can watch a video of this model here.
We eliminate throw-ins and for all restarts (throw-in, goal kick, corner kick, kick off and foul) we use a dribble in. The technique is simple. Set the ball, choose a player, make sure the player knows which goal to score on and then tell them to "play" or "go score a goal." While this model is slower than the new ball model, it allows players to get multiple opportunities to control the game by deciding what to do with the ball. Coaches try to get the ball back into play as quickly as possible so that the flow of the game can be maintained.
So how do these two models affect the quality of game play? The most important change is the speed of the game. Players get used to finding the ball. One of the biggest issues we have with young players is that they don't go to where the ball is and as a result, they don't get to engage much with the ball. The new ball model really helps with players reacting to the ball.
The "dribble in" model has helped players be able to use their dribbling skills in a game situation with at least a few seconds without pressure. Because players are oriented towards the goal they are scoring on, it makes it easier for them to create chances to score goals.
Even when players are tightly grouped together, they are trying to use their skills. We encourage them to never "kick the ball away," and each player makes a pinkie promise to "show my skills." Combined with the two game models this has resulted in a quality of game play that is very encouraging for helping kids fall in love with the game.
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