Reader,
Ball mastery is a critical element of player development, particularly for very young players who are learning the game. Without a doubt, spending time on the ball and developing a feel for it in both organised and informal settings will add value to the competence and confidence of young children.
During my time at Fulham FC, the foundation phase (U9-12) had a focus on the 4Rs: Receiving, Releasing, Retention and Running with the Ball. Whilst the list of on the ball technical components is entirely subjective and could certainly be longer than this, the 4Rs has always stuck with me and is currently being used to shape the programme of the foundation phase at the club I am working at, with good success.
The topic of technique can be polarising among academics and coaches, but in my view the key is balance, working across the spectrum (unnopposed to opposed) and ensuring your focus caters to the needs of the players, and contact time you have with the teams at your club.
For example, if you only have 1-2 sessions per week, I would be leaning towards much more opposed ball mastery work, more consistently. This could be 1v1, or include passive pressure or interference, I’d then be encouraging players to work on their own or with friends and family at home in a more isolated way to ramp up repetition. If you have 3-5 contacts per week with players, it’s more likely you can block in some time to work on ball mastery in a less opposed fashion with a focus on high repetition.
In 2016 I was lucky to interview Australian football legend and former Liverpool star, Harry Kewell. Harry summed up the importance of ball mastery and informal play when he reflected on walking to Smithfield Park in West Sydney every day to practice. Harry spoke about how he would juggle the ball all the way there to work on his control, and then practice passing against a brick wall and dribbling in and out of wooden posts. He would use trees to practice bending the ball. “It didn’t matter that the tree was 40 feet high,” he smiles, “you just learned to shape your shots!”
Three things to consider.
- How do you integrate a real ball mastery focus into your session planning? Is it deliberate in your work with the players every week?
- Do you give the players challenges to work on at home in their own time?
- Do you have a clear idea of how you can deliver an opposed ball mastery session? If you don’t, check out the PDP session plan library for ideas.
One thing for you to try this week.
Set the players a skill challenge to take home and work on. Give them a couple of weeks to practice and when they come back to training, ask the players to demonstrate their progress. If you aren’t comfortable showing them a new trick or skill, utilise one of the players who may be able to do something more advanced to show the group how it’s done.
One critical resource on the topic.
Check out this PDP Masterclass discussion with top English academy coaches, Nathan Thomas and Nathan Phillip which takes a deep dive into developing U8-12 aged players and the importance of ball mastery.
