Here’s the fifth instalment of practice and learning advice from super proactive coach Annabel Ault. Each week she is sending out information to her U12s players (and sharing with other coaches and teams across the land,) with ideas on how to improve while maintaining ‘social distancing’:
Hey team,
Hope you’re all well! Inspired by the London marathon that should have happened at the weekend, I’ve made a 26 part workout for you – hope you like it! This one is a combination of cardio & skillwork, which can all be done inside with just a football.
Do each exercise for 50 seconds on and 10 seconds off (adjusting that if you need to):
Week 4
| Exercise | Instructions |
| Side Shuffles | Passing the ball between your feet using the inside of each foot |
| Right Foot Drag | Rolling over the ball between left & right using the bottom of your foot/top of the ball |
| Round the World (right foot only) | Dribble a ball around a cone* |
| High Knees Running | |
| Alternating Toe Taps | |
|
30 SECOND BREAK |
|
| Round the World (left foot only) | Dribble a ball around a cone* |
| Stepovers (alternating, strong foot touch) | After every third stepover, touch the ball as lightly as you can with the outside of your strong foot as if you were going to pass it on |
| Solo Passes (strong foot) | Pass the ball forwards with your strong foot before stopping it with your weaker foot and dragging it back to your stronger foot (1:04 in this video) |
| Side Rolls | Drag the ball from side to side with the width of your foot, hopping over the ball (36:00 in this video) |
| Moving Toe Taps | With each top tap move the ball forward ~10cm, doing four going forwards before then changing to go backs (1:50 in this video) |
|
30 SECOND BREAK |
|
| Plank – four corners circular passes | Holding a high plank position, roll the ball around between your hands and feet, passing in a clockwise direction between each ‘corner’ of your body |
| Forward/Backward Rolls (right foot) | Using the sole of your foot to move the ball backwards and forwards (example here at 1:30) |
| Scissors | Not touching the ball, do step overs around the ball (alternating each foot) |
| Stepovers (alternating, weak foot touch) | After every third stepover, touch the ball with the outside of your weak foot as if you were going to pass it off |
| Squat Jumps (landing with one foot on the ball) | Squat jumps with the ball in front of you, but when you’re stood up you should land with one foot on the ball |
|
30 SECOND BREAK |
|
| Russian Twists- feet holding ball | Same as above, but holding the ball between your feet |
| V Pull Pushes | In a v shape on the floor, push the ball away from you with the outside of your foot, before stopping the ball by putting your foot on top of it to pull it back towards you (0:38 in this video) |
| Leg Raises | Lying on your back, put the ball between your feet and move your legs between being horizontal and vertical |
| Round the World Toe Taps | Tap the top of a stationary ball with alternating feet, whilst moving around the outside of the ball |
| Side Shuffles (inside/outside of feet) | Shuffling the ball from side to side with the outside of each foot, and stopping it with the inside of your foot- so taking two touches at each side of your body (example here at 0:02) |
|
30 SECOND BREAK |
|
| Brazilian Sole Flicks | Move the ball across your body using the sole of your foot on the top of the ball (example here at 1:58) |
| Forward/Backward Rolls (left foot) | Using the sole of your foot to move the ball backwards and forwards (example here at 1:30) |
| Side Rolls | Drag the ball from side to side with the width of your foot, hopping over the ball (36:00 in this video) |
| Weak Foot Rolls | Roll the ball keeping your foot constantly in contact with it- you want to use just the outside and inside of your foot to do this, and the ball should move around 30cm side to side whilst doing this |
| Russian Twists- feet holding ball | Same as above, but holding the ball between your feet |
| Side Shuffles | Passing the ball between your feet using the inside of each foot – go as fast as you can to finish the exercise! |
*substitute a cone for anything – make it something that will fall over (eg. a tin) if you want to challenge yourself to be more accurate!
Skill of the Week – If you have some outside space (it can be very small), try and nail a step on turn – good skills video here from Man City which explains how to build up to do this!
Other Football Workouts
- Have a look at these learning & physical activity sessions with Arsenal’s Danielle Van De Donk
- Over in the US, the men’s professional league has collated the best home training drills from all of the teams in the league – there’s a lot of stuff to get through here!
- The FA have posted a lot more content on their #FootballsStayingHome youtube page – there are some great challenges here
- Former England Women’s footballer Lianne Sanderson has been doing some live football workouts – keep an eye on her twitter page for the next one (likely to be next Saturday night)
- Football focussed 10 minute home workout here
- 20 minute solo skills session if you have some outside space here
One piece of inspirational content for this week is this player profile on Rachel Daly – she’s one of the Lionesses who has played around the world, currently in her 8th season at Houston Dash who are one of the best women’s teams in the US. Look at her highlights here, and you can watch an Instagram live session from last week here with her and fellow Lioness Millie Bright.
That’s it for this week – stay safe everyone, and let me know if you have any questions!
Annie
TRAINING AT HOME WEEK 4: more great suggestions/advice from a ‘socially distant’ U12s coach
