U14 Defensive Awareness
Purpose of Defense:
Deny Penetration
Buy Time / Win the Ball
Keep It Out of Our Net!
The 4 P's:
P
ressure
P
ositioning
P
atience
P
ersistence
Priorities:
Be the first to the ball to intercept -
someone always has to take ball
as the
first mark
Win the ball, if possible or at least
Make the Tackle
at the first touch
Try to
Prevent
the offender from turning with the ball
If the Offender does turn, then try to
Win the Ball
or at least
Tackle
to prevent full turn
Using
Patience
and
Delay Tactics
until help arrives: contain the offender - force her to look down at the ball
LIMIT CHOICES
for the opponent -
SAFETY FIRST - Position yourself between the ball and the goal!
Recovery run - position yourself to Near Post or the Penalty Kick (PK) spot
Methods:
Quick, short steps to allow reactive movement
Knees bent, weight on balls of fees (heels slightly off the ground)
Diagonal feet to ensure easy turns and backward steps
Keep your head & eyes BOTH on the ball AND players waist
Place yourself between offender and the ball (ball side) or between offender and goal (goal side)
DON'T REACH
or
OVER-COMMIT
- use feints and taunts -
Once they get by you, they're gone!
Depth - yell for help!
Principles:
DELAY
- Buy time to allow your defense to get into position
DEPTH
- Second defender adds backup strength (3rd & 4th defenders must mark open players!)
BALANCE
- Cover all possibilities, especially open space using a third defender
COMPACTNESS
- Limits open spaces and prevents thru-balls or flick-overs
When to Tackle:
When the ball carrier takes a big step
When the ball is running away from the carrier (and your goal preferably)
Ball carrier's head is down or they're not paying attention
Ball is between the ball carrier's legs
Problem Areas:
Lack of Pressure on the ball -
someone always has to take ball
Lack of Coverage or support for pressuring defender
Failure to Track players making forward runs
Restarts
Giving Up the Ball in your own defensive third of the field
Y
ou can reach us by E-Mail:
CoachSweet@AvengersWeb.com
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You can reach us by E-Mail:
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