The various defensive soccer drills make an important element of a complete training session. Though aggressive play is important but you cannot ignore the importance of soccer defending drills.
While you are teaching the different defending techniques, you have to focus on teaching the players about achieving a good defensive body posture. The right posture is the key factor here that will determine the productivity of your defensive activities.
What is more, it is very important for you to understand that defensive soccer drills drills are not something that only defenders should practice. In a real game on the field, every player must know how to defend the ball if the situation demands.
In order to make the objective of the soccer defenseman drills clear to the players, make sure that they understand the role of a defender in the game.
The task of the defender is to put instant pressure on the opponent player with the ball in order to slow down his attacking speed. Once that happens, you have to take your moves in a way that could leave no way for the ball carrier except to move away from the danger area.
The task is not as easy as it sounds. There are two key factors for successful defending – mobility of the players and their defensive posture.
There is a wide range of defensive soccer drills that you can have your players practice. For example, one effective method is to divide your players in the groups of two for a simple exercise.
Now, ask each player to slap their opponents’ knees. Whenever a player slaps an opponent’s knee, he gets one point.
Your focus here must be on the player’s body movements, such as their reaction to the other players’ movements and their ability to shuffle quickly.
Overall, whatever soccer drills for defenders you are using, make sure that it helps you fulfill the following objectives.
• Teach the players how to develop an instant defensive strategy depending upon the situation on the field.
• Provide sufficient time for the players to practice closing down and holding up
• Teach them what the effective support defending really means.
• Last, but not the least, the drills must also be helpful for the attackers in a sense that they must be able to judge the defender’s move and take instant decisions accordingly.