Football Training 10 – Play The Way You Are Facing

Posted on: September 9th, 2011 | by Flaviu | No Comments

Last Updated on: 14th July 2021, 10:40 am

Object Of The Training Session – Encourage your players to make the game easy for themselves by playing the way they are facing and be able to pick the right time to turn so that they can be more creative.

Practising The Skill –  Player 2 starts with the ball and passes the ball down the line for player 1 to run across to and play the ball back first time. Player 1 then moves quickly to the other cone to receive the pass from player 3 and again play a first time pass back. This sequence continues for about 1 – 2 minutes, depending on the fitness of the players, as shown in the diagram below.

First Time Passing Practising the drill

Developing The Drill – This drill continues nicely from the one above with a few additions and the introduction of a defender. Player 1 must call out the name of the person from whom he is receiving the pass from. Depending on the position of the defender, player 4, he can either make the game easy and play a pass straight back to the person he has received it off, or he can elect to turn the defender and dribble the ball over the line as shown in the diagram below. A good tip is to go one way and then quickly the other before shouting out to receive the pass. This should allow you to get to the ball well before the defender, giving you a great opportunity to turn and get over the line. Be patient though! Please see below.

Play The Way You Are Facing

Moving The Drill Into A More Realistic Game Situation – Player 1 starts with the ball and just like the drill above, only plays the pass once instructed to do so by player 2. Again, player 2 can either be patient and pass the ball first time back to the first player or he can turn and bring his team mates into play, players 3 and 4. If he elects to turn and pass to his team mates, the game becomes live and players can move anywhere around the marked out area until either the ball goes out of play or a goal is scored passed player 8. Please note that players 3,4,6,and 7 are not allowed inside the marked out area where players 2 and 5 are until the game becomes live. Please see the diagram below.

Play The Way You Are Facing

Game Situation – Play a normal-sided game encouraging your players to be patient and play the way they are facing, but when presented with the opportunity, be able to make the correct decision to turn and attack.

PENDLE VERDICT – These are great drills to practice first time passing and playing the way you are facing. They are also very good drills to encourage players to be patient and only elect to turn when presented with the opportunity to do so. This isn’t to say that players should never be positive, it is more the case that they should learn to make the correct decisions in a positive way.

YOUR VERDICT – What do you think?

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