Championship Progressions for Teaching Attacking and Defending in Soccer

Help your players understand attacking using this effective, progressive approach.

This video for coaches demonstrates many of the off-season drills and practice games that Coach Betty Ann Kempf-Townsley uses at the collegiate level. The repetition and muscle memory that players accumulate and retain between seasons is a key factor to team success when facing real competition.

Let Coach Kempf-Townsley show you how to progressively build your training sessions step-by-step, from 1 v 1 training drills all the way up to 6v6 small-sided games. By using a combination of lecture, diagrams and practice footage, Coach Kempf-Townsley walks you through the process that will help your team employ an effective attack and keep your opponent on its heels.

Once Coach Kempf-Townsley shows you how to coach the attack using progression, a segment featuring crossing and finishing will help you teach your players how to make all that hard work pay-off. You will see ways to train your players to quickly cross from both flanks and then make the appropriate runs to maximize the chance that the play will end with a goal. The segment concludes with a quick and competitive scoring game that will make your players think about scoring every time they touch the ball.

In addition to the drills and small-side games, this DVD finishes with an excellent pre-game warm-up that you can use with your team to get them into an attacking mindset before the first whistle even blows.

77 minutes. 2012.

Betty Ann Kempf-Townsley presents a progression of drills that will help your players understand where they need to be on the field to stifle your opponent's attack.

Coach Townsley presents a step-by-step training progression filled with defending fundamentals. She begins with 1v1 defending drills to instruct players on the importance of closing space quickly and controlling the attacker's options. Once mastered, Townsley increases the number of players and field size but again starts at a slow pace and gradually increases intensity. Each progression involves more players and space but the core theme never changes - team shape wins the ball or forces the opposing team to retreat. The sessions conclude with a 6v6 training session emphasizing team shape.

Coach Townsley has designed a defensive training progression emphasizing that defenders need to communicate and understand their role depending on the movement of the ball. However, all the drills require attackers. This means that even though the coach is focused on a defensive training session, attackers are able to participate and learn.

88 minutes. 2012.