Week 2 started with a simple passing drill, with 3 players, across the full width and length of the court.  We emphasised getting the players to use their right foot when on the right side of the court and their left foot when on the left side of the court, and try to control the ball using the sole of their foot.

Click here to see more images from the session.

The main focus of the session was a transitions drill where the teams both start on halfway and one goalkeeper throws the ball to a player on their team.  The player goes and attacks the opposition’s goal.  As soon as they score or the ball goes dead, the defending goalkeeper delivers a ball to his own player on the halfway line, who in turn attacks the opposition goalkeeper.  The original attacker has to recover and try to defend their goal.  We kept this pattern going, 2v1, 2v2, 3v2 etc until all the players were on the court.

First we worked on the receiving players’ first touch, making sure they got the ball out of their feet and towards the goal.  Next we worked on the throw from the goalkeeper, making sure it was hard and low in front of the player.  Finally we worked on the set up of the team when they had 3v3 on the pitch, did they all need to attack the goal or could they be more organised?

On a couple of occasions, the 1v1 and 2v2 games were real end to end and the players were really beginning to understand how often transitions occur in futsal, real hard work to attack, then defend and finally attack again, all within 30 seconds!

We finished with a match and worked with the players to move the ball quickly from side to side and front to back, making sure that if the had a shot on target they either scored or put the ball dead.

All the players worked really hard and their individual skills are fantastic to watch.  One area for all of them to work on is the understanding of the variations of futsal to football, especially the amount of time they have on the ball.  But we know as coaches, the more they play, the better their understanding.  Can’t wait for next week!

Special thank you to Joel Suter, who gave up his time to take these amazing images we have on the website.  He is an A Level Media and Photography student aspiring to work in film and television, many thanks Joel!