U-7 Training

U-7 training
Stage 2. Me, the ball and my friend (Learning to use the ball well)
Technical	Football Focus at this stage should be on: (both sides of the body) – Catching (low, body reach) – kicking (bounce kick to punt) – Handpass – Bounce – Solo – pick up (stationary ball)	Hurling Focus at this stage should be on: – roll and jab lift (stationary ball) – hand pass – ground clash/ground block (hurl to hurl, get close – ground strike/ground dribble – bean bag balance on hurl
	– Develop the skill stationary first then progress to developing them on the move. – Bilateral coordination introduced
Physical	All FMS needs to be a focus and advanced at this age, Agility, Balance, Co-ordination, running, jumping,
Tactical	Introduction to gaining space using techniques; side step, dodge, fake/ feint and then introduce pass/ shoot.
Team play	Advance the concept of being part of a team and introduce the importance of passing and playing in a team. 4 v 4 to a max 7 v 7 (e.g 20 players 4 teams of 5)
Psycho/social	Develop positive values associated with sport (sharing, team work, fair play). Develop and understand tolerance, working in small groups with different abilities. Introduce simple rules/ ethics accordingly. Learn how to win and accepting of losing. Learn to bring own water bottle.
Coaching Style	Direct style, Spot and Fix used for correction Praise the Process as opposed to the outcome (‘great kicking’ as opposed to ‘great goal.’)
Player Characteristics	Keep physically active, give frequent breaks and changes in activity. They start to develop vision and awareness, looking up to pass or shoot (Playing with the head up). Sensitive to criticism, coaches should focus on positive feedback. Lose concentration and easily distracted, coach should keep adapting.
Equipment	Football/ Sliotar (Quick touch) one per player, cones, Bibs, portable goals/agility poles.

Recommended session structure: (1 hr)

Warm-up (10 mins)

Generic warm up for all, fun game for general mobilization and pulse raisers (e.g. Bulldog, tail-tag, stuck in the mud)

4 stations (see below) 7 minutes each

These should be working on Functional movement skills (FMS) and football skills equally

22 minutes of games,

10 minutes of games conditioned to work on skills being taught in stations.

12 minutes to follow go games model (see appendix X). No’s 4 v 4 to a max 7 v 7

Top Tips:

Coach: Player Ratio 1: 6
Being organized and having planned ahead are key
Ideally a coach per station and rotate the children around but if you don’t have enough Coaches just go from station to station with the children split between coaches. You can have anything from 4 to 12 at a
Try and have as many games as possible in session whether these are fun games or target games