SoccerToday Reviews CoachDeck’s Practice Drill Cards
Maintaining flexibility in your coaching method is key when developing players at the youth age. A coach wants to expand versatility in a player while keeping fundamentals intact as they move forward in their career. We reviewed Brian Gotta’s CoachDeck and the cards filled with practice drill cards providing an array of options for any youth soccer coach to use in their team practice.
Soccer News: No matter if you are running late to practice and don’t have time to prep or if you are just looking for inspiration for new drills, CoachDeck provides you with a variety of exercises to use in training.
CoachDeck is divided up into four categories including dribbling, shooting, passing and defense. Each section consists of 13 drills that include individual, one vs. one and team exercises for your training sessions.
Shifting from a drill that allows for you to practice your individual dribbling or shooting technique and then applying it in a real game setting is key. CoachDeck provides you with the needed transition for doing so and gives an array of options for a coach to be creative in their coaching method.
Dribbling
The dribbling category emphasizes individual technique in regard to cutting and turning during drills. This section also highlights spatial awareness as well as change of speed when getting past defenders on the pitch.
Being able to dribble out of trouble is a necessary skill to develop and heavily relies on your change of speed, spatial awareness and your cutting and turning technique.
This category includes many one vs. one drills to help the player practice his or her technique as well as drills to help transition this into a game situation.
Highlight Drill
The Crossover drill provides players with a bit of competition as well as the ability to practice going one vs. one with defenders.
The transition that occurs once you lose the ball and now being on defense brings an extra dynamic to this drill.
Advancing the ball up field is necessary to practice as having good dribbling skills can help open up opportunities as you push forward. Changing your speed of play and utilizing your space in this drill creates a real game setting for dribbling out of trouble.
Shooting
The shooting section is divided up by focusing on individual technique with the access to drills that practice your skills in a game environment. Practicing shooting at game speed is important and allows for you to develop the skills to shoot in a variety of positions on the field.
Many of the individual shooting drills focus on changing your speed and direction when finishing the ball. Changing up the dynamics of how you open up space for the shot is important for you to become versatile when shooting in a game.
This section also provides short-sided drills that help to increase the consistency of shooting during training as well as changing up the approach to striking the ball.
Highlight Drills
The highlight drills in this section focus on short-sided play as well as bringing a bit of fun to the field.
Wing Cross is a drill that includes numerous players that emphasizes transition and crossing. It is important to get forward on the pitch while maintaining good positioning to receive and finish the ball.
On the other end the consistency and rapid movement of the teammates you are making passes to helps for you practice your precision when making direct crosses.
This drill helps for the players making the crosses in to practice their passing accuracy while the players running in for the ball look to see open passing lanes and practice their finishing at a rapid pace.
The next drill that is well known in the sport is soccer golf.
Soccer golf is a fun exercise to bring to any training session and provides essential skills when practicing finishing.
With a golf course set up, the player aims to have the ball finish within the designated area. This drill allows for the player to practice accuracy and precision that is needed for finishing as well as maintaining a good touch on the ball with weighted passes/shots.
Passing
The passing drills that are included in CoachDeck emphasize collective team sessions to help develop this skill. The importance of maintaining good vision of players on the field and staying on your toes prepared for the next pass is important.
CoachDeck successfully transitions to team drills in this category as they integrate complex passing drills with numerous players participating. The drills also focus on getting into open space for the player receiving the ball that requires seeing the same passing lanes your teammate also does.
Highlight Drill
Three Zones is an excellent drill that allows for players to practice reading passing lanes while maintaining good movement off the ball.
The field is separated in thirds with your defensive section including three players; your midfield with an even amount as the opposition of three and the final section with one target player.
The drill provides players with rapid movement in a small space and consistent passing that is necessary to move the ball up field.
Defense
The defensive section of CoachDeck focuses on individual as well as small-sided team defending while on the field.
The importance of understanding your body position when defending a person one vs. one allows for defensive organization when transitioned to team play. This section highlights the importance of maintaining a good defensive position to read the passes and movement of the opposing team.
Incorporating partner as well as team defending allows for players to transition single defending into the aspect of a real game situation in order to practice communication to be on the same page as their teammates.
Highlight Drill
Pressure, Cover, Balance is a key drill and technique that must be understood on the defensive end.
This drill keeps an even amount of opposing players on the field, which allows for you to practice organization in a small setting.
Knowing when to pressure the ball and cover your teammate keeps your team on the same page. The balancing (last) defender oversees the long pass and remains in position to intercept any through ball by reading and communicating with his teammates.
Pressure, Cover, Balance provides practice in communicating with two other teammates while reading the oppositions play as they look to advance the ball.
CoachDeck is an efficient and creative utility that not only provides a coach with drills to use during his or her practice, but to also help develop players in the correct form. Learning transition from practice to the playing field is important and with the right tools and instructions can help players take that next step in the right direction.
