Passing
Effective passing is the key to winning in football. The best passing teams dictate the play, conserve energy, make the best of their resources and score more goals. Passing is about technique, judgment and vision. These articles look give you some great advice on how to coach these attributes to your players. Long passing, short passing, side foot passing and crossing are all dealt with. We also give you some great passing games and really sharpen your players’ passing skills.
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Shuttle Passing
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This is a passing, receiving and conditioning football drill for groups of three or four players. Shuttle passing can also be used to practice heading and a variety of other ball skills.
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War!
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A very popular game for children (and fun-minded adults) that emphasises beating the player. Some of them will want to play this one all day!
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Distance passing
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This session looks at how to properly coach distance passing. You only need six players to complete one of his sessions, though it can easily be expanded to meet your needs. With lots more players you could have a number of grids working at the same time.
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Improve Your Players’ Short Passing Skills
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One of the great advantages of the 4v4 training programme is that your players get used to passing the ball and it becomes second nature to them. It creates goals, gets them out of trouble and is great to watch. But to do this you still have to make sure they know what a short pass is and when to use it.
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How to Pass the Ball Out from the Back
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Good teams can pass the ball out from the back in a structured controlled manner. Tony Carr, Academy Director at West Ham United, explains how to coach your players to do it.
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How to Coach Perfect Passing Technique
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There has been a bit of a debate going on between some of our readers and on our forum, The Dug-Out, over how to coach the simple pass. So here's our take on it.
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How to Coach Football Vision
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Coaches should encourage players to play their first touch away their body and into a position that will give them time to weigh up the options for their next pass. It's all about vision.
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Five Ways to Devastate a Defence
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Two-man attacking moves can be used to devastating effect to prise open tight defences, writes Tony Rock, a Fulham FC Football in the Community coach.
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How Goalkeepers are Crucial for Good Passing Moves
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Successful distribution from the keeper is a hallmark of a good side. This means that building up from the back is better than launching the ball up field hoping one of your players can get it, says David Clarke.
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A Great Way to Coach Passing and Receiving
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Constant passing using match-like situations and a bit of competition to give it an edge is the best way to coach your players to be ready for football matches. And it should be fun too, says David Clarke.
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How to Coach Your Team to Switch Play
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Get your team to keep the game flowing and split defences by swinging the ball from one side to the other to create space and outnumber the defence. You can also release pressure by switching the ball, says David Clarke.
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Get Better Quicker by Passing Under Pressure
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We’ve all been at matches where your player has the ball in an important area, he looks up only to see an opponent bearing down on him and he is powerless to keep hold of the ball. You need to prepare him, says David Clarke.
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Coach Your Team to Pass Past Players
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There is a direct relationship between overall team success and both the total number of passes and the passing success rate. In combinations of twos and threes you can pass your way to goal, says David Clarke.
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Wham Some Slam Into Players’ Kicking Skills
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It’s very rare that I advise coaches to use training sessions that need something like a wall because not all of you have access to one, but this is one game that deserves going out of your way to find one, says David Clarke.
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Dutch-Style Counter Attacking
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There is such an emphasis on everyone trying to play a short passing game that many youth players cannot play an accurate long ball. But the best players can hit 40, 50 or 60 yard passes, says David Clarke.
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Street-wise players are winners
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Many of the top coaches and players in modern-day football will tell you how they grew up playing in the back streets with their friends. Playing back street football means you try your hardest or your friends will soon get on at you. That means constantly trying skills, techniques and ideas that you wouldn't normally do at training - there are no grown ups to tell you not to do it. But it’s a dying trend so you have to create an atmospere and give them coaching sessions that bring out those skills.