1v1 Nutmegs

[WARNING! Nutmegs (sending the ball through an opponent’s legs) are dangerous because the player starts losing the ball after multiple successful nutmegs. Nutmegs will become one of your team's favorite moves and your players will keep trying it over and over again. I have to tell my players that beating opponents wide can set up a nutmeg, and that you cannot keep going back to the nutmeg. Nutmeg is a seasoning. For best results, use sparingly!]

One method that works surprisingly easy is: Brush, Brush, Tap, all with the same foot. So, if the player is using their right foot, the player will brush the ball to his left, twice, and as the defender moves and his legs start to open, the player taps the ball with the outside of his right foot.

Here’s a clip of my son showing this technique, followed by various clips of other nutmegs, including several by Pelé...



HINT: The easiest way to get a nutmeg to work is to get the defender moving and then passing through the defender’s legs while they are still closed. Many times when players try to pass through open legs that are moving, the legs are usually closed by the time the ball gets there.

1v1 Defensive Tips

I’ve noticed that most of my posts have been offense oriented. Of course, 3v3 Soccer is a skills game that is fast paced and high scoring. When great teams play, it's rare to see scores like 5-0. They are usually 7-5, so teams shouldn't get down if they allow a score. Teams need to learn how to score, and score often; however, here are some defensive tips to help your players in 1v1 encounters.

1) Contain. (i.e. don’t stab)

Most defenders rush in. Against a good dribbler, defenders get beat quickly. While it is okay to rush over to get into position, the defender should slow just before he or she reaches the dribbler.

2) Wait for Separation

Once in position to challenge, the defender should wait until the dribbler has pushed the ball away from his or her body, e.g. the dribbler is no longer touching the ball. That is when the defender should attack.

So, if the defender is touching the ball, CONTAIN and WAIT FOR SEPARATION. Once the ball has separated from the defender, ATTACK!

In 3v3 soccer, if your opponents have a fast break against your back player, he or she should time their attack to coincide with separation and never run backwards. In one Nationals, we took a guest player (which I don’t recommend as mistakes will be made by the new player), but this player was really skilled, although on his other team, he played the back position by always standing in front of his goal. We made it to the finals, and ended up losing 6-4. [Incidentally, the team we lost to, took some of our plays from the previous year, which didn’t bother me except for the fact that they were running our plays better than us!] Two of their goals were directly attributed to the new player’s mistakes. 1) He forgot to do the switch and kicked it to a marked player who wasn’t expecting the ball. The other team intercepted and made a long shot. 2) The other team got a lucky bounce and was able to have a 2v1 fast break on this new player who ran backwards and of course, the good team scored. The problem was that this 2v1 scenario would never have happened had he gone for the ball instead of running backwards and giving up ground. When the ball first bounced, it was going away from the other team and toward my defender who could have easily swooped in and taken the ball, i.e. cut to either side, and then passed the ball up and we would have been the team with the 2v1 scenario. But this player wasn’t accustomed to attacking since his usual team didn’t play pressure man. He was used to running backwards any time opponents attacked. When I tried to explain that, he got mad saying he couldn’t guard two players. He missed the point. If he had taken the ball when it was available to do so, he wouldn’t have needed to guard two players.

3) When balls are coming toward you, and there is separation, when you get to the ball, cut to either side. Refrain from kicking into the opponent’s legs as this can cause the ball to deflect behind you. (This is a common mistake for young players.)

4) Refrain from flinching or spinning away when the attacking player kicks the ball. (Another problem for young players.)

5) Come out from the goal. Players that back up into the goal actually make the goal larger, giving the attacking player more area to score. Pushing out reduces the size of this area.



6) For corner kick defending near the goal, your players should stand goal-side and shoulder to shoulder with their marks, pushing their shoulder against the opponent's shoulder thereby impeding them as the ball is kicked in.

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I’ve attached a video clip of Carles Puyol, known for his defensive prowess. My favorite clip is after his goalie is beaten and it’s just him protecting his goal. The forward hammers the ball, and instead of flinching, Puyol actually moves toward the ball...



Note: Don't forget you can turn your defense into a counterstriking offense if you have fast players and your opponents have pressed too far upfield. Once your team steals the ball, your player can send a backspinning ball toward the opponent's goal.

Sideline Cover - the quick way

I always brought chairs or a bench for my substitution players to sit on as they waited on the sidelines; but setting up a tent and moving it from game to game wasn't ideal. We usually set up a tent for a base camp, but used a large umbrella (6 to 8 feet) for sidelines.

The quickest and easiest way I found to set up an umbrella was using a lawn anchor found at theearthworm.com. It takes about 20 seconds to set up or take down. I mention it because teams often asked me where I got my umbrella holders.

Gauntlet Drill

This is an offense focused drill using 1v3 and 2v3 scenarios.

Required: Cones or field paint, a goal, one ball and at least five players.

Setup: Use cones or field paint to create three rectangles, one next to the other, and place a goal at one end. The rectangles can be 10 by 20 yards. Each rectangle has one defender who has to stay in his or her rectangle. The goal can be set back, a few feet from the last rectangle, or you can make a box that the defender cannot go in.

Drill: In 1v3, one player starts opposite the goal and tries to dribble through the gauntlet of defenders, using moves, to score a goal on the other side. In 2v3, two players use one ball to dribble and pass through the gauntlet to score a goal. Your team should see that it is much easier to score as a team. If a defender tries to block the pass, your player should dribble around the defender. If the defender challenges, the player should pass. Don’t forget to rotate your players.



Incidentally, when I asked my son if he could remember some of the games our team played, he mentioned the gauntlet. I tried to tell him it was a drill not a game, but he insisted it was a game.

More, simple, fun, and effective drills...

1) Turn and Shoot

All players stand by their ball, in a line, with their backs to the coach. Without the players looking, the coach places a cone on the ground, runs off and yells, “Go!” All the players turn, find the target and shoot. The first ball to knock the cone over gets a point for that player, but in order to score the point, the ball cannot be the last ball. In other words, if every ball, except the last ball, misses, no point. Trick players by placing the cone off the ground, in the net, or on top of a goal.

2) Redirect (with a ball chaser)

Two coaches stand somewhat apart and in front of the first player who is standing in a line, the other players waiting their turn. The first coach passes or tosses the ball at the player who must redirect the ball to the second coach. If the second coach catches or stops the ball, he tosses or passes the ball back to the player who redirects the ball to the first coach. If either redirect misses a coach, the player becomes the ball chaser and must collect the errant ball. The chaser waits by the coaches until there is a new ball chaser before getting back in line. [Hint: Start with easy passes, then you can move to bounced passes and/or headers.]

3) Ball Brushing Roundup

Bring many different kinds of balls: tennis (if the grass is cut low or indoor), bocce, mini and normal soccer balls. Start players off with two of the same size balls. Players are required to brush both balls forward, one with the left foot and one with the right foot, by stepping on the top and slightly rolling each ball forward, about ten or more feet, and then back again. After that, players use balls of different sizes, e.g. a bocce for the right foot and a mini for the left foot, etc... Once they get that down, add another ball.

My son showing examples of ball brushing...



4) Touch-Step Dribbling

To teach players to keep the ball close, have them dribble across the field with a ball by alternating touching the ball forward with one foot while stepping forward with the other, i.e. touch, step, touch, step, touch, step, etc... Inexperienced players often kick the ball forward and then run after it (kick, step, step, step, kick, step, step, step, etc...); however, to be able to move through traffic more easily and do moves on a whim, players should learn how to run fast while touching the ball forward so that the ball remains close at all times.

5) Dribbling Race

Set up cones in a line, for dribbling through, and additional paired cones, like flags in slalom skiing, in a similar pattern and number on either side.

Have one player stand at each end with a ball. On the coach’s signal, the players dribble through the course toward each other, passing their opponent on the way to the other side. The first one to reach the other side, wins. If someone misses a cone, they must return to complete that cone or else their finish doesn’t count.

Sometimes we hold a mini tournament to determine a dribbling champion. [HINT: a fun and fair way to seed players for brackets of any mini tournament, i.e. dribbling or 1v1, is to use juggling. Each player is asked to juggle. The player who gets the most touches is seeded number 1. Ties have a juggle-off until everyone is seeded.]

5) Obstacle Course

We sometimes hold timed races through on obstacle course. My typical obstacle course consists of:

i) cones, for dribbling through;

ii) golf clubs set across the tops of two spaced apart cones, so that the ball can roll under the golf club while the player jumps over the golf club;

iii) crossing a line (similar to the 3v3 soccer midfield line) and taking a long shot into a goal. If the player misses, he or she still has to collect the ball to continue;

iv) chipping and jumping over a small object like a cooler or kid’s chairs;

v) wall passes against cinder blocks

I set up four cinder blocks set apart, two on the left and two on the right, like this _–_– , set narrow enough so a player can dribble in a straight line through the middle of the cinder blocks, passing the ball against each cinder block. My son showing an example of going through cinder blocks...



Because cinder blocks are small, some players want to dribble right up to them so you might have to place cones so they'll wall pass around the cones; and,

vi) chipping over a tall backstop, into a goal. When the ball goes into the goal, the timing ends.

Each passed cone or dropped golf club adds 5 seconds to the timed total.