For me its the four D's for the younger age groups:-
Delay - Can we get behind the ball carrier and slow them down to allow for support to get back?
Deny - Can we deny the opposition space in which to think and move the ball on?
Deflect - Can we force the opposition backward (which is the success element) or can we shepherd them into an area away from our goal?
Disrupt - Can we win the ball and turn the situation into a counter attack to our advantage?
How do we do the above?
Principally, body shape, having the defender with an open body shape, knees bent and 'showing' the attacker away from the goal perhaps toward the wings of the pitch. You can do a lot of work here about what parts of the pitch might be considered 'safe' and what might be considered a 'danger' but depends on the age and stage of your kids.
Triggers - At what point do we change from delay to deny, or to disrupt? Getting the players to understand when to step in and steal the ball, for example do the opposition have a bad touch? is the pass in to the opposition overhit such that you can step in straight away? Do they miscontrol? - All those are triggers to steal.
In terms of how we coach this in an unopposed level, *** Bate was a master at coaching kids with these sorts of principles. This link to one of his sessions is a bit old but i return to it quite often to get back to basics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oQ0c8sS58M&t=1833s This would work well even with quite young kids i think.
For me its the four D's for the younger age groups:-
Delay - Can we get behind the ball carrier and slow them down to allow for support to get back?
Deny - Can we deny the opposition space in which to think and move the ball on?
Deflect - Can we force the opposition backward (which is the success element) or can we shepherd them into an area away from our goal?
Disrupt - Can we win the ball and turn the situation into a counter attack to our advantage?
How do we do the above?
Principally, body shape, having the defender with an open body shape, knees bent and 'showing' the attacker away from the goal perhaps toward the wings of the pitch. You can do a lot of work here about what parts of the pitch might be considered 'safe' and what might be considered a 'danger' but depends on the age and stage of your kids.
Triggers - At what point do we change from delay to deny, or to disrupt? Getting the players to understand when to step in and steal the ball, for example do the opposition have a bad touch? is the pass in to the opposition overhit such that you can step in straight away? Do they miscontrol? - All those are triggers to steal.
In terms of how we coach this in an unopposed level, *** Bate was a master at coaching kids with these sorts of principles. This link to one of his sessions is a bit old but i return to it quite often to get back to basics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oQ0c8sS58M&t=1833s This would work well even with quite young kids i think.
