Small Group Activities to Teach Attacking

with Butch Lauffer,
West Texas A&M University Head Soccer Coach;
over 500 career wins;
3x Lone Star Conference Champions;
Finished 2018 season with a 17-3-3 overall record (best in program history);
2018 United Soccer Coaches South Central Coaching Staff of the Year;
2x NCAA Midwest Region Coach of the Year (2001, 2009);
USSF 'A' license, Grade 1 coaching license (Irish Football Association), Class 'A' License (United European Football Assoc.), UEFA pro license (Scottish Football Association);
2008 Trinidad and Tobago Under-17 Women's National Team Assistant Coach

and James Crowder,
West Texas A&M University Associate Head Coach;
2018 United Soccer Coaches South Central Coaching Staff of the Year;
former Goalkeeping Director of the Lonestar Soccer Club;
USSF 'B' License, NSCAA Premier Diploma, NSCAA Advanced National Diploma, NSCAA Advanced National Goalkeeping Diploma

Attacking in the final third of the field is a tough principle to teach. In those situations, two factors come into play that work against your success in the final third: 1) Passing becomes much tighter, and 2) Opposing defenses become much more aggressive as defenders desperately try to get the ball out. 

In this information-packed video, Butch Lauffer, head soccer coach at West Texas A&M University, explains how to overcome both of these problems by teaching a proven, successful strategy he calls, 'Attacking Principles of Play,' which is a system designed to create overloads that allow attacking players to probe and find an open window to shoot from.

Concepts For Attacking The Final Third Of The Field

As Lauffer digs deeper into the offensive concepts for attacking the final third of the field, viewers are shown a detailed strategy for teaching players the keys to success, while simultaneously placing emphasis on overload concepts to create advantages in space.

Overloads are critically important in soccer. To successfully attack the final third, Lauffer explains that if you can create an overload situation, you’ll dramatically increase your team’s chances at a scoring opportunity.

As an added positive by-product of teaching this system, coaches will find that by practicing and adding drill repetitions for attacking concepts into your daily training regimen, it allows players to have fun at practice while learning how to create high-quality opportunities to score goals.

Drill Progressions: To Reinforce Attacking Principles

To effectively teach his attacking principles in the final third, Lauffer showcase four primary activities within a series of drill progressions – from 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4 – all done as a means to help players understand how to take the individual skills they’re being taught and fit them into the bigger picture of offensive team concepts.

The importance of a proper teaching build-up becomes evident, as viewers get a first-hand look at how the drill progressions allow the concepts to progress. During these progression activities, Lauffer often stops a drill to explain the higher-level attacking principles working within the framework of drill – which provides terrific takeaways and makes each drill more valuable to the viewer.

Lauffer and his staff also explain what players and coaches should be looking for in each drill activity, which is an effective method for helping viewers learn the finer points of teaching and coaching this system.

This video is a comprehensive primer for installing an aggressive style of play to attack the final third of the field and create overloads to find open windows to shoot from. Lauffer provides viewers with a detailed plan for conducting practice sessions and uses drills to hammer home these concepts and key skills to improve execution.

50 minutes. 2022.