Virtual Training

Last week, our topics were arm fakes and hip feints.

An arm fake is when a player has the ball, fakes like he is going to shoot or clear the ball to make the defender react, then pushes it past him or goes backwards into space.

A hip feint is when a player has the ball and dribbles up to a defender. The ball carrier moves his hips in one direction to make the defender react and takes the ball into space, most likely in the opposite direction in which he faked. 

With both together, we turn an isolated fake into a dynamic move. We’ll focus on shoulder drops this week to make these moves and some new ones even more dynamic. Here’s the master of the hip feint and shoulder drop.

The game I want the boys to watch this week is the 2011 Champions League Final: Barcelona vs. Manchester United. I’ve attached the game sheet below.

Please send me videos of your son training at home and of the game sheet when they’ve filled them out. The games have been fun to discuss and I can tell the principles we’ve talked about over the year are coming through in the discussion. Most have surprised me with how detailed of an eye they have.

Also, if your son has some space in the backyard or a park nearby, check out these training videos from a very good youth club up north. 

See you tonight.