1vs1 Mastery - Pressure from the front

This post will detail a session that I have come up. The session is a 1vs1 session, specifically with the defender coming from the front. This is the what people typically think of when they think of a 1vs1. A good example would be Ronaldo or Robben running at a defender. I have attached a picture of the session, and for the purpose of this post I will only discuss the technical practices I will use. I could talk all day about this stuff. Also, it is good to note, that this is not one session really, it is a couple of simple, practices that can be used interchangeably over a number of sessions.

Reasons that I do this session are:

• I like players to be positive and direct at the right time, in the right areas, and if they get the chance, I like them to try and take defenders on in a 1vs1.
• This session also involves lots of touches on the ball and lots of overall involvement so that is another reason why I think it is relevant - especially younger players. I will be coaching a group of Under 11 girls, so my sessions with them will consist of lots of technical work so this will be very applicable to them I feel. I like players to be good with the ball at their feet.
• I also think the session will be fun for players to be involved in. I aim to foster a love for the game, so devising sessions that are fun to be involved in, is also at the forefront of my thought processes when designing sessions.
• In addition to fun, I also, obviously, want players to learn and develop. In this session, there is plenty of repetition of the focus, in a way that is relevant to the game I think.

Warm up
Firstly, before i start a session I like to get players doing some kind of arrival activity. Most of the time, quite simply, I get players to juggle until the majority of the players arrive at practice. Simple, efficient, effective, and relevant for younger players.

The main warm up for this session will be a tag based 1vs1 game where players have to try and evade defenders and get through a gate to score a point. This game involves lots of disguise, body movement, and lots of agility and speed (acceleration/deceleration) in order to be effective, and involves trying to get around a defender so fits nicely into the 1vs1 focus in my opinion.

Here is a link to the above practice. I always do it without a ball in the warmup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzudlUykYFs 

Following on from that, I always do simple relay races for about 5 mins. I get the players moving in different ways, for example, forwards, backwards, sidesteps, etc. This helps with developing the movements that players will use in the game, and I keep the distances very short to not tire players out too much. The focus here is to be short and sharp, and to get different movements in. These are always very competitive and players always love them. Simplicity is key majority of the time.

Technical Practices
As in the diagram at the bottom of the page, the first practice that i generally use for this topic is a simple, technical, dribbling lane which involves dribbling at a cone and performing a 1vs1 move. This is very simple but gets lots of repetition of the focus. I have four moves that I like players to be able to master - these are listed in the diagram. The problem will this practice is the fact that it is quite boring and repetitive, so being cognizant of this fact will help with trying to think of ways to increase the competitiveness and focus for the players. I do try to make sessions fun and game realistic, but sometimes players just need simple, technical, repetitive practice. However, I do try to get away from this as soon as I can, and will only do this practice for about 20 mins at the most in a session before I move on to real 1vs1s.

1vs1 Practices

Moving on to the good stuff. One practice I use is a simple multiple grid 1vs1 practice where players are playing a game of line ball to score a point. I usually get players to play for 60-90 seconds per game and whoever wins moves up a grid (gets promoted) and whoever loses moves down (gets relegated). Every group I have done this with absolutely love it.

Way to increase the competitiveness in this practice are:

• I use a premier league, championship, league 1, league 2, conference grid system so players can try to get to the premier league.
• Sometimes I will use big goals in the premier league so players strive to get to score in the big goals.
• I will also give players 2 points if they score after nutmegging their opponent.

One other session that I like is a 4 goal dribbling game where there are multiple 1vs1s going on, on the same pitch. I like this because the position of the goals implicitly forces players to change direction and move their defenders about. It also includes lots of interference because players have to be aware of the other 1vs1s moving about inside the grid. The aim here, is to increase players awareness, and to get them to attack space when it arises.

I will also sometimes use a repetition circuit where players get turns at beating defenders in different scenarios. For example, one grid would be a 1vs1 line ball, one pitch would be a 1vs1 shooting on a mini-goal, and one pitch would be a 1vs1 shooting on a big goals with a goalkeeper. Players move from one to the other within this circuit. These can change and coaches can use their imagination to manipulate grid sizes, spaces behind defenders to influence attacker decisions, numbers of defenders and attackers can be increased etc.

Small Sided Games (SSGs)
When coaching 1vs1s, I like to use smaller pitches and small players numbers such as 2vs2s, 3vs3s, 4vs4s as the game at the end of practice. This way players will get more repetition of the focus. I also like to manipulate pitch sizes to give the players different pictures to think about.

Simultaneous SSGs
You could have two pitches of different sizes where players take turns playing on each pitch. For example, one pitch could be a 2vs2 whereas the other pitch could be a 4vs4 or 3vs3. Also, due to the different pitch sizes, players have different decisions to make. They could go from being in a really tight space so really having to focus on keeping the ball tight and under control and using fast feet and deception to beat a defender, but when they move to the other, bigger pitch, they will have more space to attack defenders with pace and the try and beat them for speed. The aim of the games is to get lots of opportunities for 1vs1s, and to also give players lots of different scenarios to face, hopefully making them think more and help them become better decision makers in the future, and get to practice a variety of scenarios (just like a game).

Ways to progress and adjust are:

• manipulate pitch sizes and players numbers.
• could use overloads/underloads to really stress players
• another good idea that I found is to start with a 1vs1 in one grid and the rest of the players in the other grid. Players are given numbers and when shouted, have to move into the 1vs1 to play, therefore creating a 2vs2, and lessening the numbers in the previous grid. The catch, is though, that before players enter the grid they have to perform a technical challenge, e.g. 20 juggles. This will create a momentary overload/underload scenario in the grid they are going to enter - assuming one player finishes their juggles first.

One last game I came up with is a 3 game simultaneous SSG. A diagram is below. The game basically has two SSGs going on either side of a 1vs1. Players take it in turns playing in the 1vs1 and have a certain number of turns each in the 1vs1. They then go back to their team and play in the normal game and another player goes into the 1vs1. The idea here is to challenge the players thinking from going from more of a game to a 1vs1 - they are constantly making decisions under different scenarios.

Wembley
This game is a classic and will give kids lots of dribbling opportunities, 1vs1s, shooting etc..
Here is a link to the game and how to play it, along with several other classics. Kids love it.

http://www.thefa.com/news/2014/may/dust-of-your-boots-and-get-involved-with-reds-v-blues

Lastly, these are sessions that I have found along the way reading. Some I have kept the same, and some I have adjusted and manipulated as neccessary. I encourage other coaches to do the same. The sessions can also be used interchangeably, and in different order etc., depending on the players you have. They are just ideas.

That is it for now

Rickie