Understanding Individual Defensive Principles:

—-  Placement in Relation to the Attacker
—-  Learning Defensive Stances and Footwork
—-  When Field Position May Influence Positioning
—-  Learning When & How to Steal the Ball
—-  Learning What to Do If Beaten

All defensive systems depend on the individual defensive skills of the each player. Simply put, unless a player has solid individual defensive skills, the player is unlikely to be able to understand or apply group defensive principles very well. 

The following individual defensive skills should be learned by all players, regardless of the playing position…

Understanding Basic Group Defensive Principles

—-  Dividing Up Responsibilities When There Are Two Defenders
—-  The Role and Duties of the Cover Player
—-  Basic Elements of 2 v 1 Defense
—-  2 v 2 Defense
—-  Handling Numbers Down Defense
—-  Group Defensive Duties of All Players
—-  3 v 3 Defense
—-  Summary

All defensive training should begin with training of defensive skills in a 1 v 1 setting, and then progress to 2 v 1 training (numbers down and numbers up), 2 v 2 training, and 3 v 3 training.  In this way, players will learn…

Straight-Ahead Dribbling and Checking (Stopping) the Ball

Ages: 8+; Equipment: Cones, balls; Players: 4+

Some Beginning Moves to Develop Touch

There are many different moves to develop ball control and ball touch. Many of those listed below were popularized by Weil Coerver, a noted Dutch coach…

Dribbling Moves for Beginning to Intermediate Players

There are hundreds of moves (some which vary only slightly from other moves). Some are basic and some very complex. Many are named for the player who “invented” the move or made it famous. Often, a move may have more than one name - so expect regional variations.

It is important to remember the function of a move is to ...