30 Apr 2014

Football Training to develop players to play with their heads up

How can we coach players to play with their heads up and improve their “spatial awareness”? Good players are always aware of what is happening around them, they have pictures in their heads. They play one, sometimes two or three steps ahead of everyone else. They are aware of where the space is on the pitch, where their players are, where the opposition are. They focus not on where the ball is, but where it is going next.

We have put together a football training session to develop and improve “spatial awareness. “Pass and move in threes” is a football training session that involves 3 players working together and to be able to successfully pass and move in groups of threes, when other groups of threes are playing in the same area. As a result there are players and footballs in a small area all trying to achieve the same objective. The result is chaos. But this is good chaos, as it will force players to play with their heads up and be aware of where their team mates are, where there is space, where the next target gates are and where other players are.

Making sure they have their heads up and “picture” the pass before passing, composure on the ball and early, clear and concise communication, both verbally and with hand gestures between the players will also help players succeed when performing this football practice.

Watch the football training session.