Ball Mastery for U6-U9 Players

BALL MASTERY FOR U6-U9 PLAYERS

COACH BALL MASTERY TO YOUR YOUNG PLAYER, WHETHER YOU'RE A COACH, OR PARENT.

Contents Page 3 - Welcome Page 4 - Subscribe Page 5 - U6-9 Ball Mastery Page 6 - What is Ball Mastery?

Page 7 - Why use Ball Mastery?

Page 9 - 550 Extra touches Video Page 11 - When do we use Ball Mastery?

Page 13 - Extra Ball Mastery?

Page 14 - Be consistent Page 16 - Follow us on Page 18 - Ball Mastery Videos

Welcome Welcome to the latest edition of the Player Development magazine. This month we are looking at Ball Mastery for the U6-U9 age group.

At this age, players are like sponges, taking on board a huge amount of what we coach them. Between these ages players have fantastic room for development if they are coached in the right areas.

Ball mastery promotes more touches on the ball, developing players who are skilful, confident, well co-ordinated and technically sound when in possession. If we can get players practising this from a young age they will be significantly better for it.

We'll look into the why, the how and the when should we use ball mastery and you can decide if it is something you will be using within your practices.

Thanks for joining us and we hope you enjoy the read!

Elliott, OpportunityElite

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u6-U9 BALL MASTERY

How will it help your young players?

What is Ball Mastery?

It may be the case that you haven't heard of the term 'ball mastery' before, or even the case that you have heard of it but are unsure what it actually is.

Ball mastery is something that is rapidly growing within training sessions and coaches' delivery of these sessions, providing a technical element of training that players can practise on their own.

Each player is given a ball (or one between two if there aren't enough) and they practise a certain routine of touches that vary from each technique. Players follow the technique that is demonstrated and explained by the coach.

Techniques vary greatly, transitioning from one skill to another as players develop and progress their touch and skill on the ball. One of the main aspects of ball mastery is that players can use all different parts of the foot, especially both feet, building the confidence to move the ball from one foot to the other at progressive speeds as they feel more comfortable and in control on the ball.

The routine and practice of touches is called ball mastery so that players can master the ball, getting confident in keeping it close to their feet and moving it exactly where they want, whenever they want.

Why use BalL Mastery in your practices?

The routine of touches and the focused nature of getting more players touches on the ball significantly helps players develop their close control and co-ordination on the ball. But what other main reasons are there to be using ball mastery within your practices?

Why should we spend time on ball mastery over other areas of practice and why as a coach should we focus on learning and broadening our knowledge on the techniques?

In the Under 6 to Under 9 age groups players learn incredibly quickly; it is the golden period for players to learn and develop their techniques. We've heard the saying that players are like sponges, taking on plenty of advice and focusing on the challenges ahead.

During these ages our focus should primarily be on the technical side of the game. If the players are taught the correct techniques at these ages they will develop very strong foundations for the footballing life. One of the first things that we as coaches should focus on is making sure that players can keep control of the ball.

In my opinion, we shouldn't worry too much about the positioning on the pitch, or anything tactical. The key for these young players in these age groups is their ability on the ball.

To improve their ability on the ball they need to take as many touches as possible, and this is where ball mastery is so invaluable.

If you give each player a ball for 10 minutes at the start of every session and demonstrate/coach these players some fundamental ball mastery techniques then over the course of the season you will see huge player development.

Now in these early age groups players learn the quickest. If at every session we put in place a 10 minute ball mastery element, for the three seasons between U6-U9, how many extra touches will a player get on the ball?

These touches are vital to helping players improve and the more of them we take the better the player will become, building the foundations of their game.

Taking these extra touches will develop players who are confident on the ball, co-ordinated, agile, comfortable using both feet and skilful when in possession. If these players know that they can move the ball from one foot to the other, while changing direction, then they will know that they can do that in a game.

This then helps the players developing to being comfortable on the ball, keeping it under control in a variety of situations.

Just 10 minutes each session, or even 5 if you have limited practice times, will see players develop at a fantastic rate.

On the next page we have a 7 minute ball mastery video for U6-9 players with over 550 touches on the ball in that time.

Do that for a season and see how much better your players become!

U6-U9 Ball Mastery: 550 Extra Touches on the Ball

From a player's point of view ball mastery is a fantastic way to help youngsters develop but for coaches it also has benefits.

Using ball mastery requires each player to have a ball - that is all that we need. We don't need to spend time setting up a lot of cones; we give the players the ball and demonstrate the technique, helping them along the way. This can be particularly useful, especially with the increase in teams using astro turf pitches where you get on the pitch at the time your session is due to start.

It is also an absolutely brilliant warm up. Players get warm by taking more touches on the ball, and it can also focus their mind. You will hear lots of children calling your name asking to show you how they are doing, but that is great, they are all focused on the task at hand, and very keen to impress by performing their newly learned skill. It can prevent children from arriving and striking ball after ball at the goal against one goalie. Many times I've seen players get a ball in the head from a team-mate desperate to shoot.

Ball mastery can help prevent this, helping players focus on the task at hand, allowing them to become excited at learning something new, all while improving their technique and developing their game.

Using ball mastery gives a perfect start to the session.

Another reason that we love to use ball mastery in every one of our sessions is that you as a coach improve your technical skills. There can be tiimes where we may not want to demonstrate something technically because we don't feel comfortable, especially if we're at the grassroots level and we haven't played for 15 years. But by helping the young players you become more comfortable on the ball, which then allows you to demonstrate more, giving players great advice and coaching in their ball mastery training.

When do we use Ball Mastery?

The great thing about ball mastery is that we can use it at any time, because it is so easy to include within a training session.

However, in our opinion, the most beneficial time to use the techniques is at the start of each session, whether that be in a technical warm up, or as the beginning of the main session, with our focus being on technical training.

Using it at the start of practices helps players focus and gives them a challenge. At these young ages all players love a challenge and are very motivated to show you what they can do.

Warm ups or technical elements of a session at the start of training are perfect times for this.

Players can also use ball mastery in their own time. They don't need a lot of space and only a ball. At these young ages you can give them challenges to practise, allowing them to come back next week and show you if they have learned the new skill you've taught them.

You'll be surprised at just how many do go home, out into the garden and practise.

THE BALL SHOULD BE THE PLAYER'S BEST FRIEND

THE MORE TOUCHES THE BETTER

EXTRA BALL MASTERY

Be consistent with Ball Mastery Ball mastery will bring a nice change to a session, allowing players to take more touches on the ball, but to really see the benefits we need to make sure that we are consistent with its use. If we use ball mastery once every few months then the players won't have had time to train and practise these skills, almost starting out from scratch each time you deliver it. Focus on trying to use ball mastery at each session if you can.

If you can do this, even 4-5 minutes will help you see players really develop.

As they develop, increase new touches and different turns into the techniques and begin to challenge the player.

Ball mastery can give great variation in training and also help players of all abilities. If one player is struggling you can let them work on something less technically challenging. If you have a player who is very comfortable then you can demonstrate something more challenging while the group are still practising their own skills.

It provides flexibility in your training, and helps players of all abilities to develop their game, but you will only see its real benefits if you are consistent and use it frequently within your sessions.

ENCOURAGE PLAYERS TO USE IT IN THEIR OWN TIME

We can use the techniques in one to one sessions or even for players who would like to practise on their own. Some players will be very keen to practise new skills and to show you at the following week's training session.

Encourage players to take as many touches on the ball as they possibly can but, by providing little challenges that they can do at home, they will actually become quite excited, especially if they perfect a technique they couldn't do the week before!

The more touches the players can take the better, developing their skills and confidence on the ball. If we are enthusiastic in using ball mastery then that will rub off on the players and you will see children who can perform some fantastic skills that in some cases, they may have even created.

It doesn't take up a lot of space and can even be done with a size 1 ball in the bedroom, if the player can be trusted not to break a lamp shade!

If we encourage them and give them the ideas and knoweldge of how to practise on their own then we will be setting them up to develop greatly as a player.

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