(I’ll apologise now if I lose my temper during this piece)
Just in case nobody has heard of the 3L’s, they are:
- Lines
- Laps
- Lectures
I’m sure we don’t need examples of these. We’ve all been witness to, or on the end of, a 30 minute lecture, and it has done nothing but bring our confidence down. Waiting 10 minutes, while standing in a line, to get 1 touch of the ball and a shoot on goal. The old preseason days, where the session consisted of running 12 laps around the perimeter of the pitch.
We’ve been tormented through these tedious rules and philosophies. Is it really that hard to put a ball at players’ feet, give them a game (Traffic Lights, King of the Ring, Dodge Ball etc) and let the boys have FUN? That, at Youth level, makes sense, otherwise, they become demoralised and no longer interested in playing the sport.
Now, let’s talk about elite youths/amateur football, we know the routine of warm up, game related activity, conditioned Small Sided Game (SSG) and finishing with an unconditioned SSG. Keeping the players busy with no nobody standing still or unchallenged.
How do I do a preseason without any of the 3L’s, I hear a lot of coaches ask? Easily, ball at their feet and keep the session/activity relevant to the sport. LET THEM PLAY THE GAME!
Conditioned Small Sided Games will get your players match fit quicker in training than anything else, without playing a full competitive match against an opposition. Several full time clubs use SSG’s such as:
- Ultimate Frisbee
- Turned Goals
- Multi Goals
- Touch Per Player
- Minimum touches before shot
- Futsal
Many teams use these SSG’s to host intra-squad tournaments, getting the competition and match sharpness/decision making built up ‘in-house’.
Surely the method of SSG’s instead of the monotonous 3L’s is purely common sense?
Written by @CODSportsSource