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Hello all… I am coaching a Rec U8 team this Fall, well, they are mostly U7, but here they have U7 and U8 combined, and I want to introduce the concept of spacing to my players as efficiently and as effective as it can be done for this age group. I have coached most of these players since they were U5, and I have already briefly introduced this concept to them in previous seasons, so some of them have an idea to not bunch up, and are ready for some more training in this area. Granted, some other players are new, but I still want to introduce the concept to them as well.
What kind of exercises/drills/games would you recommend to teach this concept to this age group? What would be a good way to help them recognize the need to keep space between them and their teammates, and to not bunch up around the ball, both, when on offense and when on defense.
Thank you in advance for the help !
-Cones to replicate where to go and run pattern play. Show them the spacing you are looking for.
-With cones, cut the field vertically in 1/3s to avoid too many kids on one side of the field.
Possession activities with wide neutrals. For example, in a 15 x 30 yd space, 3v3 in the middle with 2 neutrals playing on the wings (outside the line).3-5 yd goal from cones at each end. Each team has one designated GK, the other 2 play as MFs. Restrictions are that the GK and both neutrals have to touch the ball b/f team can score. Neutrals can’t pass to each other. Depending on technical level of players might have to make the space bigger – 20 x 40 to give them extra time.
Example #2 – 4 goal soccer. Playing 4v4 make the field extra wide and make a 2-3 yd cone goal in each corner. You can also add neutrals on the wings here as well, with the same restriction that both neutrals have to touch the ball before the team can score.
You can also try some creative ways to get the lightbulbs to come on. Example: With red cones make 2 grids 15 x 15 yds. Have 2 evenly matched groups playing rondos, one inside each grid, 3v1 or maybe 4v1 at this age. Make it a competition to see which group has the highest # of consecutive passes within a set time limit (1-2 min). Loser has pushups or something. For round #2, take different color cones and make a smaller (8v8yd) grid inside one of the 15 yd grids. One group has to play inside that smaller grid while the other group gets to use the 15 yd grid again. Same competition with the same consequence. For round #3 reverse it so the 2nd group has to play in the smaller grid while the 1st group gets to use more space. The kids confined to the smaller space will protest “it’s not fair,” which of course is exactly the point. When the team in possession doesn’t make use of the space available to them, it is like giving an unfair advantage to the other teams. A coaching point during games to reinforce this lesson could be something like “use the space you have”.
In my experience the appetite for pattern play in this age group was about 2 minutes. 🙂
Tommy,
What I have been doing for the past several years is introducing team shape to the little ones by starting when the ball is out of play. I will set up a field and scrimmage in a normal game format. On each side of the field I will set up cones in the basic shape I want them to play… triangles for 3v3, diamonds for 4v4, etc.
The kids play and whenever the ball goes out of bounds they leave that ball and rush back to the cones to “make their shape”. The coach plays the ball to whichever team is the first to get organized correctly.
It usually doesn’t take more than a session or two before 95% of the kids get it (and you will find that leaders emerge and will start “coaching” the lost ones on where to go …if you let them) and at this point you can make it harder by taking the cones away and having them organize without that reference point.
Then I introduce the idea that they can “make their shape” wherever they are, not just in their own half. Then I show them how to make their shape on restarts… corners, goal kicks, throw ins, and progress to having them take normal restarts in the scrimmages.
Here is what we have found… the better and faster they can organize themselves when the ball is out of play, the better and longer they tend to stay spread out during open play. Having them “make a shape” when the ball is out of play forces them to consider their team mates and their relationship to them, instead of just focusing on the ball as is natural.
I set basic goals for the coaches I was working with that their kids should be able to organize themselves in the correct shape with prompting by a coach midway through U6, and without any prompting by a coach midway through the U7 season. The teams that met these goals had kids that were much better at spreading out than those that did not follow the plan.
Here is a video of a split U7/U8 age group game. In the clip you can see that both teams (coached by coaches who followed the methodology) can organize themselves on a throw-in very quickly with little prompting. On the second throw in you can see the player in blue recognizes the bottom of the diamond needs to be filled and slides in to fill the space.
Hope this gives you some ideas.
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