3/31/2017 - Practice Plan

Time	Drill
5 Min	Active Stretching
10 Min	Swing It - Passing Around the Goal This drill simulates ball movement around the goal to get kids used to a quick passing offense. Use 12 cones and setup, the cones will be placed in pairs Place the first cone in the pair down in the area you want kids to run your set The second cone should be 5 yards away heading towards the out of bounds Setup in a 2-3-1 or a 3-2-1, use only 6 kids at a time, best to keep lines with each other and attack rotating when necessary. Have kids work the ball around the goal, top middies popping out above the box line and adjacents popping out to help If having a crease guy have him constantly facing the ball with stick up Swing the ball around the goal, try not to skip pass Catch, Cradle once or twice, make a quick and accurate pass
30 Min	Stations - Defensive Skills Divide the kids into two groups, they will spend 15 min at each station Station 1: Defense footwork Station 2: Defensive Stick Checking
5 Min	Water
10 Min	Question Mark Ground Ball Have the kids form a line Roll the ball out away from the line Have the kids call ball and release Upon scooping up the ball, the kids run in a question mark pattern to avoid the trailing stick Coach should use the term "Run to Daylight" Throw the ball back to coach and repeat
10 Min	2 v 1 GB Man/Ball Box Out, no more slapping sticks
10 Min	Tap The Hat A good 1v1 or up to 3v3 drill to teach a kid how to approach a running offensive player. You put a cone in the middle of the box Put a line of kids at the top of the box Put a line behind the cage The person behind the cage throws the ball to the player at the top of the box The person who threw the ball goes and plays defense on the person he just threw the ball to, but first he must tap the hat (cone) You can make this 1v1 to start and move it to 3v3
5 Min	Water
20 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
15 Min	4 on 4 Escalation The goal of this drill is to give kids the opportunity to try individual 1 on 1, 2 man game, and escalate up to a 4 on 4 situation Put a goalie in the cage 4 lines of defenders and offensive players were placed just outside the box (8 total lines) Attack and Defense are behind the goal, midfielders are divided into offense and defense To start the goalie passes a ball to the back left attack, that attack and defender go 1 on 1 and attempts to score After the play is over, the goalie passes the ball to the back right attack and the first attack and defender are in play with the new attack and defender After the play is over the goalie passes to the top left midfielder and its a 3 on 3 After the play is over the goalie passes to the top right midfielder and its a 4 on 4 When all four lines go the next group begins Note: you can either rotate players or keep them in the lines they are in Note: make sure you have midfielders play both offense and defense