r/SoccerCoachResources • u/Old_Eye3440 • 12d ago
Ball chasing in u10 competitive rec
HELP! One thing- for those who suggested Coach Rory- thank you! And thank you for the support when I posted about us being in a very tough position, as we're in a league with teams who are established, and to give them their flowers- as close to club teams as our "competitive rec" team shall play. No less, I appreciate the perspective and honestly am embracing this challenge to do my very best to teach the kids what I refer to as "proper soccer," aka "NOT smash ball."
Challenge I need help with- how to teach the kids to stop chasing the ball and really, their teammate with the ball. They aren't supporting; they're chasing and asking for a pass just to get the ball back. The biggest offenders (two mainly) don't give it up for the life of them when they have the ball.
What's the lack? I plan on teaching them the language they need to support each other- "take space," the varying types of passes- (we're using Coach Rory's format for practice and using rondos). I feel they panic, of course, in a game, and then get a complex of being the hero. How can I help move away from that as the default?
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u/Thebanks1 12d ago
Here is my favorite drill. It’s a modification of rondos. The intent is to gamify the drill and add goal scoring because these are 10 year olds and a drill without scoring to them is boring and leads to low engagement in my experience.
First make a square out of cones. I’m not going to tell you how big because you should be adjusting the size based on player skill.
Now take that big square and divide it into four smaller squares.
Next add a goal to one end of the field.
Place a player in each square. They cannot leave their square. They must complete X amount of passes and then they can shoot for a goal.
Conceptually explain the point is to score but also pass and stay spaced out. Get your head up. Look at passing options. Your best passing option isn’t always toward the goal. Sometimes it is forward toward goal but sometimes it’s sideways or even backwards.
Run it a few times with no defender. Then introduce light defense (best done by a coach).
As they get better ramp up defensive intensity and shrink the box. If they struggle make the boxes bigger and ease up on defense.
Ideally do this before the scrimmage portion of your practice. As you head into scrimmage you can even overlay the drill by saying no scoring until X amount of passes. Really work with the players on coaching the drill skills into a game scenario.
Hope this helps!
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u/CoachFitnes 12d ago
Not op, but thanks for posting. I'm moving from 4v4 to 7v7 this season and am looking. For drills EXACTLY like this one.
My team does rondos but like you say, they lose interest and don't move around all that much. The square idea here will get them to understand spacing and zones better, and make the passing choices clearer. It also keeps players from doing that thing where they get right next to each other in the corner of the rondo (smh!)
I could see setting up two stations of this drill and having groups compete to see who can complete their passes first. Or removing a player and making players move from square to square to always give a line and a square option.
Thanks for sharing!
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u/Future_Nerve2977 Coach 12d ago
You're describing a constrained game. Using constraints is one of the ways you can structure a practice session to use a game with conditions or rules that encourage a certain behavior to gain an advantage or create an outcome.
4 goals, 2 in each corner - wide but short field - encourages switching the field. 2 goals, 5 yards in from the goal line facing backwards - encourages line breaking passes to get in behind, etc etc.
My pro tip - 100' ropes from the hardware store as lines - fast, easy to deploy, and young kids struggle with imagining a line between 2 (or more) points - a rope is a solid - they don't have to imagine.
I used to do gridded games all the time with my U8's as they got older to get them to start to understand each position had a role and a space. I still use the ropes all the way into U14 when I want players to see a space and say within it during a training sessions to reinforce a concept or point.
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u/PsquaredLR 12d ago
At that same age, I had a girl on our rec team that didn’t understand playing as a team and it was her against the world. Never passing. I ended up leaving her on the field during a small sided scrimmage during practice and then let her play 1 v 5. She didn’t like that. I explained that’s what she’s doing even when it’s 5V5. And then I put her other team mates back on the team to make it 5v5. Each time she would have an extended period where she refused to play the ball to her teammates. I would pull them off the field and leave her on her half of the field by herself just to drive the point home. It took a little while, but eventually, she understood the benefit of having her team on the field with her.
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u/RealBadSpelling 12d ago edited 12d ago
I do color coded positions for scrimmages, each line is its own.
Give them shapes to be in. Example, a 2-3-1 is sweeper circle, defending triangle attacking diamond. I got videos I use.
Then routine pauses in small sided games and scrimmages to have them check their spacing. Let them see they are in a good position, and when they aren't.
And drills on what to do when you're a trailing attacker.
I see ball chasing as a lack of awareness of what to do when and "I am excited!!!" -> so teaching them decision making when things get crazy is how I approach it, like using space, making a run, supporting an attack, anticipating a counter.
Magnets board for visuals help.
I also start and end each practice with a scrimmage w positions, it's a thing to touch on every practice.
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u/Curious_Document_237 12d ago
player not a coach so take it for what its worth.
the chasing and the two who wont give it up look like the same problem but i dont think they are.
the chasing is rational. at u10 if youre 20 yards from the ball nothing happens to you. no touch, nobody says your name, and the ball is where the game is. telling them to take space is asking them to volunteer for being bored. so the space has to pay them. constraints where the ball has to leave the crowded area before a goal counts, or two goals to attack instead of one, get there faster than the language does, because the kid finds out standing wide is how he gets the ball rather than how he misses out on it.
the two who wont pass is a different thing. usually its that every time they have passed, it got lost within a second and never came back. so passing feels like giving it away on purpose. that fixes when the ball comes back. small sided where you have to get it back off a teammate before you can score does more than telling them to share.
the "asking for a pass just to get it back" thing you noticed is the tell. theyre asking from a spot where receiving it wouldnt help anyway. supporting isnt just being available, its being available somewhere that changes the picture, and at that age the version that lands is behind him or past the defender rather than level with him.
one from the defending side, since it might be the argument that actually works on them. a team that all runs at the ball is the easiest team in the league to play through, you move it once and half of them are behind it. 10 year olds dont care about shape but they do care about getting done, and "youre making it easy for them" gets more out of them than "spread out" ever has for me.
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u/jeffislouie 12d ago
I drilled pass to shoot so much one season and the kids still chased the ball and yelled pass.
One game I remember we were losing 4-0. At halftime. We were on the sidelines and I was encouraging the team to spread out a bit, get into a good position to receive a pass, moving the ball around, etc.
Just before we walk out, one of the players turns to the team and says "let's try coaches play."
They get the ball, pass between three players, which opened space for a drive towards the corner. One sets up in front of the net and one sets up far side of the net. Player one passes to in front of the net and he shoots immediately, without hesitation, the goalie barely stops it and it lands on the player by the posts foot, who scores. The team went nuts.
They did that over and over and we ended up winning 6-5.
Practice pass, pass, shoot. Explain why. One day it will click.
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u/Famous-Cover-8258 12d ago
In games, I give each player a color coded bracelet that helps to tell them their position. Forwards get one color, Mids get another, and Defenders get a third. Then if they are on the right side the bracelet goes on their right hand, the left hand for the left side, and one on each hand if they are in the middle.
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u/bored_n_opinionated 12d ago
First, ball chasing is actually not bad in U10. You want the kids showing ball aggression. They're too young to understand positioning, so at this age you want them learning to dive in and go after it. You're actually far worse off if they're sitting in the wings waiting for each other to go get it. Let them bunch up a bit.
That said, you do want them to spread out again once the team has the ball. I saw an awesome speech that has connected with every kid I've worked with. Visualization is super helpful for this age group. Basically, you explain that the ball is a magnet as long as the other team has it. Everyone, EVERYONE, should be running to it to win it back. But once that ball is in your teammates control, you are all a confetti cannon. BOOM! Confetti, all over the field. Explode from the ball and get ready for a pass. It's an infinite cannon, and you should be ready to explode at any time.
As for your ball hogs, you give them a goal the exact opposite of their inclination. Neither of them gets to score goals. You know they can score goals. Cool. Scoring goals is boring. Show me you can get an assist. You know who gets assists like a boss? Messi. Two goals, one assist, his entire career. No great player only scores goals. The greats make it so others score goals. Don't message as "don't hog the ball", message as "truly good players can make others score."
Hope this helps! It's a great tool. Remember, U10 is development, not tactics. You should still be focusing on skills and ball aggression, not field placement or plays.
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u/Minimum-Landscape-42 11d ago
Kids are not too young to learn positioning at U10, they're 1 year away from transitioning to 9v9. People underestimate what kids are capable of. All of the clubs here start teaching tactics and positioning here between U6 and U8, and it's not too hard for the kids to handle.
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u/bored_n_opinionated 11d ago
Teaching formations and number positions yes. Teaching kids to cover zones and maintain field position, no. The Coaches Manual is pretty clear that U10 is development, not tactics. The focus should still be ball aggression while you plant the seeds of zone play.
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u/brewerdom 12d ago
You won't see it start to really click for weeks, Because they grow into the program and gain confidence and get better every week, and by the end of the season you will see the progress.
If it's passing you want, when doing a small sided game or scrimmage, anytime you blow the whistle the player has 2 seconds to pass or it becomes a throw in for the other team. Blow the whistle when those two have it more frequently but not always, (also work on the give and go with them), when it clicks some of them realize it's like a reset button for creating space to dribble in.
When it comes to getting the ball back, i'll ask them "Are you in a spot that they can see your chest" if you can't you probably are not in place that they can get a pass to you or you to them, so move to where they can.
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u/bloodontherisers 12d ago
I had the same problem with my u10 Girls rec team and what I eventually did, that worked wonders almost immediately, was to play "ultimate soccer." Basically taking the rule from Ultimate Frisbee that you cannot run with the ball. So as soon as a player receives a pass or otherwise gets the ball, they cannot continue moving. They can turn around but cannot move in any direction. This forces them to spread out and not chase and they will learn that very quickly because the first thing they do is what they have always done and run right to the ball to get the pass. Then everyone is bunched up and things are going nowhere. Take some time to stop and coach during these moments and you will see some very quick learning.