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Defence work - one on one defence technique

How do you teach man on man defence with 13yr olds? I have some really good defenders but they struggle to try and stay side on their player watching ball and player. I would like a drill that would help enforce this type of defence.
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1 answer

ANSWERS

Lahni CCoach, Australia

A good drill I often use is I set up two cones 1.5m apart and have a defender shadowing a attacker. The attacker must stay in inside and inline with the cones. The defender must keep shadowing the player while the attacker moves side to side. Have another person a few meters in front of them and have them hold up numbers on they`re fingers, the defender must call the number the person is holding up, when it changes the defender must call within 3 seconds. This teaches them to keep their eyes up and defend at the same time. Hope it helps!

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