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Ball Mastery in the Foundation Phase

Cameron Moulton

Hi all hoping to get some clarification on what good ball mastery practice looks like for foundation phase players. I currently work with an U8s grassroots team and I want to help my young players to master the ball. In every training session, part of our practice is dedicated to every player having a ball and I would like some guidance on the type of practice that is effective at improving players' technical skills

Is effective ball mastery the coach showing the players different skills/moves for them to repeat and practice? Or can effective ball mastery be a playground game (tag for example) but with a football and the players being dribblers?

I have tended to use a game of tag as our ball mastery practice instead of practicing skills (turns, 1v1 moves) and I am worried that as a result, I am not achieving my goal of helping the players to master the ball.

 Any opinions on how other coaches approach ball mastery or what I should do would be really helpful

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  • 0

    Hi  

    Thank you for your question. There has been some great engagement with other coaches on this feed which is great to see. It sounds as though you are already no the right track in terms of supporting your players development through ball mastery exercises.

    The key for me, especially at this age, is to keep sessions fun and engaging. Something that games like tag do brilliantly. Ensure you set challenges to relate back to football and see if you can bring out a specific skill for example using a specific part of the foot or asking defenders to retain the ball as opposed to kicking it out which relates to the game. 

    Also, have included a link below just showing different example of games you can use:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LATZLJ2NiAA

    Keep up the good work and keep challenging your players to stay on the ball!

    Any questions let me know.

    Thanks, Will

  • 0 in reply to Will Fordham - Coach Developer

    Thank you for commenting, Will. I've used an adapted version of the Sam Griffiths session you have linked a few times this season already and it always sticks out to me how positive her coaching is.

    I've heard people mention staying on the ball before. Do you mind explaining what it means and how I can challenge my players to do it? Do I need to put certain conditions on matches to encourage this behaviour? My key message with the team this season has been about staying calm on the ball and keeping it until they see an option to pass to

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  • 0 in reply to Will Fordham - Coach Developer

    Thank you for commenting, Will. I've used an adapted version of the Sam Griffiths session you have linked a few times this season already and it always sticks out to me how positive her coaching is.

    I've heard people mention staying on the ball before. Do you mind explaining what it means and how I can challenge my players to do it? Do I need to put certain conditions on matches to encourage this behaviour? My key message with the team this season has been about staying calm on the ball and keeping it until they see an option to pass to

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