7to11 a-side

[sw1169]

Like many, next season (September) we are moving from 7 a-side to 11 a-side. I'm a bit concerned about the jump up with regards to the size of the pitch. During training over the summer months do I;
a) concentrate on fitness and stamina as the pitches are bigger and the games are longer.
b) carry on training as normal with set topics each week e.g. forward runs, defending as a unit etc......
c) a bit of both a + b

[Archie Graham]

Hi SW - good luck with the new season.

I'd have thought it would make sense to prepare your team at some point for the bigger pitch, prior to the begining of the season. It perhaps might come as a bit of a shock to suddenly be faced with playing on one for the first time in a competitive game.

If you have the room and the time you might want to consider doing your drills/ small sided games or 'themed' coaching sessions on a progressively bigger pitch, by moving the side lines/goal lines further out each session. Or you could just have them playing over a bigger playing area for a limited period of time initially and increase this time over consecutive training sessions.

Either way I'd recommend arranging some friendly games pre season on full size pitches to get them match fit for this bigger area.

Hope this helped.

[donnybelles]

I'd tend to echo Archie's post. My U12's girl's team though made the transition this season and we actually moved leagues which meant the step-up to 9-a-side was bypassed as our new league doesn't do 9-a-side (which is an option favoured by some).
My team had a couple of friendlies pre-season but at the start of the season I merely sent them out with the instructions to go and enjoy themselves and learn how to play 11-a-side football throughout the season with no weight of expectation placed upon them. Maybe I'm lucky to have a bunch of bright kids who adapt very quickly but they got to grips with the vagueries of the offside rule, the increased pitch dimensions and extra positional issues with little or no problem.
I've heard it argued by apologists for the 9-a-side game, that the step-up from small sided to 11-a-side is too great and provides an inherent risk that some players will get lost in the transition as they get less ball time... I can only say that my experience was the exact opposite and even my keeper got to grips with full size goals with relative ease.

[seasider]

Hi SW,
We are in same position. We've split training down into 3 parts: -
1. Warm-up/ fitness/ stamina (stuff like races, in and out of poles/ cones / ladder, hurdles etc). We've also done the bleep test, which they found fun. (20 minutes)
2. Skills training - concentrating on defending as a unit / attacking / principles of play / priorities / decision making etc - usually conditioned ssgs with coaching. Working on individuals and developing their all-round skills. (30 minutes)
3. 11 aside match (I have 20 lads, so we can play 10 aside). If you have fewer, scale the pitch accordingly. We have limited space because our pitches are being re-seeded and the goals have been removed, but we can make it about 80 x 50 and use poles as goals. (10 minutes coached / 10 to 20 minutes free-play, but I talk and give feedback as I ref).

We train for an hour and a half, and I also run an additional optional session on a Saturday morning for an hour - this is mostly warm-up, circuit training for 15 minutes, then a 45 minute match split into thirds.

We're also hoping to arrange some 11 aside friendlies over the next few months.

Just playing on a bigger pitch seems to be improving their fitness and most of the kids are enjoying having more space to work with the ball.