Flexible Training Sessions 5 - Zone Games for 6-12 Players

Training booklets from practice for practice!

We as coaches all know the challenge of playing against a deep and compact opponent. The pressure of time and space in the opponent’s half increases as you approach their goal. If you do not want to rely only on long balls, crosses, and set pieces, a flexible but always controlled build-up is required in order to create space through switches of play and a variable attacking game. To simulate this realistically in training, zone games are a great tool. Zone games are possession games in equal numbers, overload, or underload situations with several field zones.

They improve the ability to use available spaces effectively under pressure and to circulate the ball in your own team until the right moment for a switch of play or breakthrough arises. The opposing team, in turn, tries to restrict space and apply pressure in order to win the ball themselves. Players must continuously find solutions. This means perceiving situations, making decisions, and executing them within seconds. In this way, the players’ game intelligence can be ideally developed.

• Improve possession play
• Use overload situations
• Prepare switches of play
• Improve transition play
• Form triangles and diamonds
• Execute technical elements (passing, ball control) under pressure
• Develop game intelligence