09/21/2017 - Practice Plan

Theme of this practice is ground balls.

Time	Drill
5 Min	Active Stretching
10 Min	Talk About Ground Balls Its important to teach your players about how controlling ground balls can win games. The following points are good pieces of information to tell your kids. The team that wins more "GB's" is going to get extra possessions and extra chances to score. It is that simple. These extra possessions are also likely to be followed by "unsettled situations,"- a 4-on-3 Fast Break or 5-on-4 Slow Break of some kind. Transition goals are easier to score because there is almost always an unbalance of players Always scoop and and move the ball Let's work on calling Ball/Man and not Man/Ball Its important to make quick passes down field after winning a ground ball. The concept of "ground ball - pass - pass" gives us a high chance of scoring After a ground ball, two guys should look to be adjacent for a quick pass, and someone should be backside pipe Ground Ball Statistics The team with the most possessions has a greater chance of winning the game At the College Division 1 level each team gathers approx 30 ground balls per game If you win exactly 50% of the ground balls you have a 50% chance of winning the game The more ground balls you win the higher percentage your chance of winning the game are Most ground balls are won after faceoffs Let's say there are 60 ground balls per game. If our team wins 35 and they win 25 we now have a 60% chance of winning the game Teams with a -5 ground ball differential win only about 1/4 of their games If we win 10 more ground balls per game then our competition we have a 70% chance of winning the game http://www.laxpower.com/content/mauboussin/stats_analysis.php?page=2
15 Min	Buckeye Ground Ball Drill teaches kids to scoop the ball on the run and make two quick passes (Ground Ball - Pass - Pass) Teaches kids to get a proper angle as an adjacent for receiving a pass Drill Make 3 lines of kids with the outside lines being 10 yards apart Put the balls in the middle with two goalies to the outside of the outside lines Roll a ball out, have the middle guy scoop it up, pick a side to throw to, and then throw to the other guy Last guy with the ball circles or question mark and then passes to a goalie and we repeat Have some confusion in the middle and run continual Variation: Add a chaser for the 2nd and 3rd pass
5 Min	Water
15 Min	1v1v1 Ground Ball Transition 1v1v1 GB Transition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFBXWgeg3kc Fast paced ground ball to transition drill emphasizing "GB - Pass - Pass" Use a full field for transition play Create 3 lines of kids at the end line behind the goal and outside the box Create 2 lines of kids to be used as transition players (on the same side line of the field) First line of transition players should be in between box and the mid line Second line of transition players should be in between the box and the mid line at the other end of the field Coach stands by the 3 lines of kids and gently rolls a ball out X1, X2, X3 all fight for the ball (every man for themselves) Whoever wins passes to the first line of transitions players and that man passes to the second line of transition players Right away the two in the line that lost play again 1v1, the winner passes to the next transition Finally the guy that lost twice, does it 1v0 and passes to the next transition Each player rotates to the next line Have the last transition player come down and place the ball near the coach
5 Min	Water
10 Min	Steal the Bacon Musical Chairs Count the number of players (x) Add x-1 balls into a goalie stick Line the players up around the box Roll the balls into the box Players battle for ground balls until none are left Player without a ground ball goes out and we remove a ball Continue until only 1 player wins
10 Min	Spider Drill http://laxpower.com/laxnews/news.php?story=51130 The goal of this drill is to get a ground ball and transition to either offense or defense through the concept of "ground ball - pass - pass". Divide your attack and defense with different colors Split your middies between the two colors Put a goalie in the net Have two lines of kids behind the goal at the end line Coach should be at the restraining line with the balls (top of the box) Coach calls out a combination of players example: "Three O, two D" or "four O, Five D" Coach rolls out a ground ball and the players compete for possession If the offense players gain possession, they play to the cage If the defense players gain possession, they clear to the midfield line (even if man down) Coach calls out next players as the ball hits the restraining line Focus on "ground ball - pass - pass" every time the offense gains possession of the ball. Have the guy scooping up the ball run to open space to make a pass
5 Min	Water
10 Min	Round Up A great drill that allows for many touches with ground balls and provides a competitive relay race for kids. Divide kids into 4 equal groups Place 4 cones at equal distance away from a center point At the center point, drop all your balls, 20+ balls recommended Have your kids line up on the 4 cones Blow the whistle and the kids run into middle to get ground balls and run back to their starting cone When the player scooping the ball returns past the cone, the next player goes Any ball racked, must be dropped, players can only scoop up one ball at a time Note: Variation is to have coaches in the middle checking kids sticks
10 Min	Hill Runs
5 Min	Push Ups