Put a forest of yellow poles in the middle of a square. Mark out the square with orange and red cones. Pair up the colours so that they are on opposite corners of the square. Put a ball and at least one child at every cone. Tell them they have to run back and forth to their opposite coloured cone through the forest of yellow poles while bouncing the ball. They are not allowed to touch the poles or any other player so they must run with their heads up. When they get to the opposite coloured cone they must either handpass the ball to the player waiting there or else they must go around the cone and come back. On the whistle all players should leave their cones unless there are 2 players at a cone. If there are 2 players at a cone then the second player should wait for someone to arrive at the cone and take their football. After 5 minutes bring the players in and ask them should they be bouncing the ball with one hand or two. Ask them how many steps can they take between bounces. Ask them where should they be looking when they are taking those steps, i.e. should they be looking where the poles and other players are? Get them to practice their bouncing in free play for 1 minute. Coaches attend to those who need assistance. After 1 minute of free play, tell the players to go back to their cones. Repeat the game as before except this time have two coaches (White Cs) throwing soft gym balls into the forest or trying to tag the players with pool noodles. Players must avoid these gym balls as well as the other players and poles. Repeat all the above except this time they must solo the ball.
With the bouncing make sure they are bouncing the ball with one hand and catching with two hands. Make sure if they are bouncing with their right hand that their left foot is forward and vice versa. Make sure they are scanning and looking around them when they are between bounces. Show them how to change direction quickly by pushing away the ground with one of their feet if they are having trouble evading other players.
This practice has no coaching points
This practice has no progressions
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