Recovery
Work on defensive recovery.
Description of Drill: Place 7 cones 15 meters out. The defenders start in the middle of the 8 with their eyes closed. Each defender is given a number, 1-5, before starting the drill. 5 Attackers are around the outside passing the ball. On the coach’s whistle, play becomes live, the defenders must match up with an attacker and the attackers are free to go to goal. At any time, the coach can call a number 1-5. The player whose number is called must leave their attacker and run around the nearest cone, then recover back into the 5v5 situation.
Equipment Needed: 7 cones
Skills Emphasized:
Defense: We are mimicking a defender being beaten or caught out of position. Therefore, we are focusing on communication and paying man down until our “beat” defender can recover.
Offensive: We are focusing on recognizing where the defender is leaving from, moving the ball quickly to the open player, and taking it 1v1 or setting a pick/screen for their adjacent.
Coaching Points of Emphasis:
Defensive communication when leaving and when coming back into play.
Help slides and second slides to cover the open player.
Quick ball movement offensively.
Diagram of Drill:
