Practice

We started with the Turn the Ball Around drill listed in the drills below. As you can see from the video posted down there, the drill went really well. I had them turn the ball by putting their foot on top of the ball and pulling the ball back. I went over it with each kid as he arrived at practice and let them practice it on their own for a few minutes before we got started. Then we ran the drill: I took half the team and the other coach took the other half. Everyone seemed to get it, some more so than others. I was shocked to see two of our kids actually do the move during the scrimmage at the end of practice! One kid did it three times! It is so thrilling to see them use new skills in a game situation. After the turning drill, we did Sharks and Minnows (for only the second time this season) and then scrimmaged for the remaining 15 minutes. At around the 10-12 minute mark of each scrimmage someone starts begging for water, but at that point we're only a couple minutes from the end of practice so I make them just gut it out. I think next time I'll give them a quick water break mid-scrimmage. With the way they handled this new skill, I'm thinking that they are ready to learn some more advanced moves.