Team Defense Pressure Drills: Forcing Opponents into Poor Decisions

with Schellas Hyndman,
Grand Canyon University Head Men's Soccer Coach;
former FC Dallas (MLS) Head Coach; 2010 MLS Coach of the Year;
former SMU Head Coach; guided SMU to 22 NCAA Tournaments in 24 years as Head Coach, won 15 conference titles and was named conference coach of the year eight times; NSCAA (now United Soccer Coaches) Director of Coaching Emeritus

Many teams have taken to defensive tactics of compaction and organization in their half of the field, allowing superior teams to have the bulk of the ball and possession. An organized and compact press can allow less talented teams to break down superior opponents, or allow possession-oriented teams to quickly win the ball back in their opponent's half.

Using a progression of team defense practice drills, Hyndman demonstrates four practice drills for pressing your opponent that build on top of each other. He concludes with a short video demonstration to reinforce the ideas taught.

Pressing Drills

Learn how to teach your players to have a two-way mentality and quickly go from offense to defense in order to win the ball back quickly. Coach Hyndman teaches the team philosophy of pressing quickly and with numbers in order to be effective. You'll see:

• 6v3 - A passing exercise used to teach your team to trap effectively and to see the field
• 6v6 Game-Like Pressing - Creates an environment where the defensive team can practice their pressing
• 7v7 Game-Like Pressing - Improves individual defending
• 11v11 Game-Like Pressing - Creates an opportunity to have a real life game situation with limitations on the offense
• Game Film - Coach Hyndman brings you into the classroom and breaks down film on pressing

Practice Segment

With his 6v3 practice segment, Coach Hyndman begins to reinforce the mentality needed to be an effective high press team. He explains the importance of teaching your players to recognize when and how to press in order to be most effective at winning the ball back from your opponents.

Coach Hyndman begins by using slides to give you visuals and then takes you to the field where you learn the importance of:

• Having the mentality to attack with and without the ball
• Physical conditioning to be equal to the demand of the press
• Pressing using angles of pressure and positions of supporting players
• Having key individuals to lead the press

You then have the opportunity to see the drill live and hear comments from Coach Hyndman.

Coach Hyndman gives you a lot of material to look over in this video. You'll be able to use the included content at practices as individual drills or as a progression for pressing.

61 minutes. 2017.