Do you teach passing or dribbling first?

In the U4 - U9 formative years....Do you first teach passing/ receiving or dribbling?
Personally I emphasize passing /Recieving first and foremost. I don't buy into that 600 touch per game BS IMO.

In fact I have reduced my drills to 20 essential drills for each of the groups (defense, midfield and forwards).

What's your methodology?

Futbol_Sala wrote:In the U4 - U9 formative years....Do you first teach passing/ receiving or dribbling?
Personally I emphasize passing /Recieving first and foremost.  I don't buy into that 600 touch per game BS IMO.  

In fact I have reduced my drills to 20 essential drills for each of the groups (defense, midfield and forwards).

What's your methodology?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJEzLH37Z2c

my bb did a lot of wall ball. that incorporates passing to the wall. receiving from the wall and then dribbling and more touches through self drills. only 600 touch rule i follow is individually. its to late to work on touches in a game. game time is the test to see how well you practiced in a given week.

Futbol_Sala wrote:In the U4 - U9 formative years....Do you first teach passing/ receiving or dribbling?
Personally I emphasize passing /Receiving first and foremost.  I don't buy into that 600 touch per game BS IMO.  

In fact I have reduced my drills to 20 essential drills for each of the groups (defense, midfield and forwards).

What's your methodology?

Its all about developing touch - get as many touches as you can - if you haven't touched the ball as much as possible, you won't receive the ball very well (it will bounce off your foot too far). You won't be able to give good weight behind your pass (either over-strike it, or under hit it).

All those dribbling moves are needed to compliment the passing/receiving game. Unless the teams you are playing are total crap, you are going to be tightly marked - so when you receive the ball you will need to be able to make a quick move to get your next pass off, or get a shot off.

You have to do both - you can't sacrifice either one. You gotta put in the time on both dribbling and passing/receiving. Its not an either-or thing.

R1 wrote:

Futbol_Sala wrote:In the U4 - U9 formative years....Do you first teach passing/ receiving or dribbling?
Personally I emphasize passing /Receiving first and foremost.  I don't buy into that 600 touch per game BS IMO.  

In fact I have reduced my drills to 20 essential drills for each of the groups (defense, midfield and forwards).

What's your methodology?

Its all about developing touch - get as many touches as you can - if you haven't touched the ball as much as possible, you won't receive the ball very well (it will bounce off your foot too far).  You won't be able to give good weight behind your pass (either over-strike it, or under hit it).  

All those dribbling moves are needed to compliment the passing/receiving game.  Unless the teams you are playing are total crap, you are going to be tightly marked - so when you receive the ball you will need to be able to make a quick move to get your next pass off, or get a shot off.  

You have to do both - you can't sacrifice either one.  You gotta put in the time on both dribbling and passing/receiving.  Its not an either-or thing.  

R1.. Thanks for pointing out "first touch". One of the things a bb/parent can't forget is to incorporate a good portion of practice at game speed. With pressure!! You will be marked in a game and if your first touch fails you, the rest is meaningless    

One other thing about passing/receiving at age 4-7. Don't spend too much time worrying about the team being able to spread out and pass like older players do at that age.

You want to develop the passing and receiving technique at that age (to get the skill/technique down), but don't expect it will be applied in any games at those ages. Most kids those ages don't understand team concepts yet - most kids literally cannot understand team concepts at all at that age - the human brain at that age hasn't developed to understand it yet. So teach the technique, but don't expect to see a lot of it being applied into games - around age 7 some start to understand it, but even then lots won't.

I'd go by the US Soccer recommendations regarding their passing/receiving training in regards to your expectations of what you will see in games. They say not to work on passing/receiving much before age 9, how I interpret that is that you will not expect to see much spreading out, making space, etc, at that age. You can still train the technique.

R1 wrote:One other thing about passing/receiving at age 4-7.  Don't spend too much time worrying about the team being able to spread out and pass like older players do at that age.  

You want to develop the passing and receiving technique at that age (to get the skill/technique down), but don't expect it will be applied in any games at those ages.  Most kids those ages don't understand team concepts yet - most kids literally cannot understand team concepts at all at that age - the human brain at that age hasn't developed to understand it yet.  So teach the technique, but don't expect to see a lot of it being applied into games - around age 7 some start to understand it, but even then lots won't.  

I'd go by the US Soccer recommendations regarding their passing/receiving training in regards to your expectations of what you will see in games.  They say not to work on passing/receiving much before age 9, how I interpret that is that you will not expect to see much spreading out, making space, etc, at that age.  You can still train the technique.

Thank you for that input. Through 20 years of doing this I have refined my drills and have gotten if anything better at communicating to the point that if mastered one can teach passing before dribbling. I truly believe it has taken me this long to achieve this level and is not for most coaches with under 15 years of experience. It is a very difficult skill to master. I would not blame anybody for believing dribbling comes before passing and playing team mates in. My two older kids were my lab rats but one plays PA & the other plays ECNL one plays D2

Guess I'm the odd one here but I coach a U7 team and have had the same group the past 3.5 years except for one player. At the youngest age (when they just turned 3), I absolutely focused on dribbling first. It was all about being comfortable with the ball and building confidence. Another focus early on was defense/tackling, this can be taught at any age. The #1 focus, however, at the earliest age was fun! I wanted the kids to love physical activity. I would coach my parents to ask the kids one question after every practice and game - did you have fun.

One of the issues with passing at such a young age has to do with physical development - the young ones simply don't have the right muscles to pass with the inside of the foot yet, they are much more laces touch based. By age 5, the muscle development is there to focus more on passing (and receiving with the inside of the foot) from my experience.

CoachPaul wrote:Guess I'm the odd one here but I coach a U7 team and have had the same group the past 3.5 years except for one player.  At the youngest age (when they just turned 3), I absolutely focused on dribbling first.  It was all about being comfortable with the ball and building confidence.  Another focus early on was defense/tackling, this can be taught at any age.  The #1 focus, however, at the earliest age was fun!  I wanted the kids to love physical activity.  I would coach my parents to ask the kids one question after every practice and game - did you have fun.  

One of the issues with passing at such a young age has to do with physical development - the young ones simply don't have the right muscles to pass with the inside of the foot yet, they are much more laces touch based.  By age 5, the muscle development is there to focus more on passing (and receiving with the inside of the foot) from my experience.

Nope, I'm 100% in agreement with you. Dribbling, tackling/defense, FUN. Passing is something I would let them do on their own. in practice and games. Just show them the correct way to pass (inside foot) correct way to trap (wedge or inside foot) then leave it alone. As they mature physically and mentally passing will come too. Also what the poster mentioned above, first touch, without it go ahead and hang up your boots!

hmm...you want a good player ..or a good team.

I am a fan of good passers with vision vs the little dribbler who loses the ball constantly. The kid who makes error after error passing can kill your team. That being said, you must be a good dribbler to play this game well, and a good passer. But passing is much easier to learn then dribbling...

NotADRAMAfan wrote:hmm...you want a good player ..or a good team.

At u7, like CP mentioned, I want a good player.

At this age it should be about fun and developing a passion for the game itself.This game is about control.Without it you can't dribble, pass or shoot. Players have to be comfortable on the ball.At this age it should be small sided and 3 v 3 or 4 v 4. Everyone plays offense and defense. Just general positions. You will have kids that gravitate to one or the other but important for them all to learn very basic concepts of both. I think you begin to introduce passing but expectations should be adjusted. One of the challenges with passing is that it is the start of some basic tactics and spatial awareness. I think you teach proper technique and how to weight a pass are your first steps with passing.

hunden97 wrote:

NotADRAMAfan wrote:hmm...you want a good player ..or a good team.

At u7, like CP mentioned, I want a good player.

at any age i want a good player. the more good players you have the better team you can make.

fcwhatever wrote:At this age it should be about fun and developing a passion for the game itself.This game is about control.Without it you can't dribble, pass or shoot. Players have to be comfortable on the ball.At this age it should be small sided and 3 v 3 or 4 v 4. Everyone plays offense and defense. Just general positions. You will have kids that gravitate to one or the other but important for them all to learn very basic concepts of both. I think you begin to introduce passing but expectations should be adjusted. One of the challenges with passing is that it is the start of some basic tactics and spatial awareness. I think you teach proper technique and how to weight a pass are your first steps with passing.

fun is the key. with my son we had wall ball games for ice cream, money, toys etc. the wall gave him THOUSANDS of touches his friends will never have.

soccerdadrandy wrote:

fcwhatever wrote:At this age it should be about fun and developing a passion for the game itself.This game is about control.Without it you can't dribble, pass or shoot. Players have to be comfortable on the ball.At this age it should be small sided and 3 v 3 or 4 v 4. Everyone plays offense and defense. Just general positions. You will have kids that gravitate to one or the other but important for them all to learn very basic concepts of both. I think you begin to introduce passing but expectations should be adjusted. One of the challenges with passing is that it is the start of some basic tactics and spatial awareness. I think you teach proper technique and how to weight a pass are your first steps with passing.

fun is the key. with my son we had wall ball games for ice cream, money, toys etc. the wall gave him THOUSANDS of touches his friends will never have.

We do that with the basic necessities: Food, shelter, clothing, etc. No touches, no dinner

*Joking if DPS is reading this.

Department of Public Safety?

With my oldest bb (he's a 97),  he was our first and for most of his early years we stressed dribbling and touch and skills and that seemed to be the most fun for him when he would practice on his own. My younger bb's have the luxury to practice with him as they were and are developing and they all together are able to involve passing in their play and practice with each other. My oldest bb always jokes that they have an advantage he didn't have, an older player to learn from in a fun environment which allows them to involve a lot more passing in their play and development. They don't have to use the wall like he did since he was the first although they do because they want to be like their big brother! Main thing is to develop touch and a comfort level with the ball, passing tactics are not something very young players should spend huge amounts of time working on, if they cannot control the ball in the first place. Small sided and dribbling, skills, fun are what should be stressed in the early years. Most important of all though is fun, if it is not fun to them they will not stick with it in the long run. IMO of course.

DRIBBLING

I have seen this progression work well:

Stage 1

1 - Dribbling
2 - Running with the ball
3 - Ball control (Stops and starts, change of direction, cutting, etc etc)
4 - 1 v 1 (Defense and Offense)

Stage 2

1 - 1st touch (Ball control and receiving)
2 - Passing
3 - 2v1, 2v2, 3v1, 3v2, 4v2, 4v3, 4v4
4 - Shooting

Touch and passing. Learn to pass the ball. A great pass is faster and more able than just about any player out there trying to dribble his way to personal glory.

You are all wrong. Train to whether they are left or right brained. If they are left brained passing, vision, and strategy will come naturally. Whereas if they are right brained dribbling, touch and speed of play will dominate. Being left brained I naturally taught passing and kicking without consideration. My son has great vision with nice through balls etc. but dribbling is a big deficit. You may be thinking that isn't bad, but kids this age are not ready for through balls and he hands off the ball to other dribblers (black holes) way to quickly. Food for thought.

Touch is the most important thing to master.

PremierLeagueFan wrote:Touch is the most important thing to master.

BINGO!

PremierLeagueFan wrote:Touch is the most important thing to master.

Now the question is "what" develops 1st touch the best

For me, its a combination of individual touches on the ball and getting comfortable with all surfaces. What I've seen from my experience is those players that are the most comfortable with the ball are those with the best 1st touch.

Bottom line is that technique has to be developed outside of the standard 2-3 team practice sessions per week.

Up until 15/16 that is the most important thing. Not saying you don't teach tactics before then. But without a strong technical base, a player's ultimate potential is limited.

And yes, even defenders need to be very strong technically.

The very best defenders can distinguish themselves by being composed on the ball and being able to play out of the back.

Technical ability alone shouldn't be the only determining factor on a player's role/position.

Gerard Pique could easily play as a midfielder for a lot of teams.

I think a lot of parents, and the kids themselves, tend to neglect their technique once they are labeled (rightly or wrongly) as 'defenders'.

Dribbling is an important element of the game. The problem is that you can't have a team with 5-6 'dribblitos' . It's fine to encourage dribbling in the formative years, but at some point, the ability to keep the ball moving under control becomes the most important thing.