How to teach players the correct positioning in 7 a side?

joe carsonCoach, Scotland

Hi Scott,I play 2 defenders, then a diamond.for our 7 a side. My 2 defenders are full backs, my player at top of diamond, becomes a centre back, but can also move forward to become a centre midfield player. 2 wingers that work up and down the line as midfielders/strikers, and 1 up top as a striker. the diamond shape gives you , your depth and width

Football CoachCoach

We play 3, 2, 1. One centre back (The rock) as we call them, and they are to stay at the centre of defence at all times. We then have 2 wide players sitting 10 yards in front of the rock, and they are to support play when attacking and fall back when defending, thus giving us 3 defenders. We have 1 CM, 2 wing players and 1 striker.

What we do to get them used to positioning is set them up in their positions. I then stand 20 yards in front of the striker facing them. The team have to stay in formation whilst following my lead, so if I move forward, they move back, if I move left, they move right so I am always in front of them. I shout stop as soon as I see players out of position, too close, too far etc and explain what has happened. We do this for a while, then we let the team have a ball, just against me. The idea is that they pass and move, staying in position so again as I chase the ball, I am looking to see if they stay in position and again shout stop if they roam.

Hope this helps.