Positioning & Build-Up | Organizing Your Back Line

Overview

• Players who are middle-school age and up and already have the defensive basics down
• Players who want to learn the principles of positioning and press-and-cover
• Teams looking to tighten up how their back line organizes

Objectives

• Sharpen how quickly your back line reacts and adjusts its positioning
• Get players feeling press-and-cover in their bodies, not just their heads
• Train a fast switch from defending to attacking
• Build in solid, simple passing decisions during build-up

Setup

This one uses four defenders and trains how they react and reposition off your calls as the coach.

１）Set up a 40 x 50m grid with your four defenders.

２）Make a call (a color or a number) and have the defenders shuffle and adjust their positions quickly.

３）After a set number of adjustments (say, 5), serve a ball in behind the back line.

４）The defenders go flat out to win it back and immediately switch to attack.

５）Once they win it, the goal is to score in one of two mini-goals (about 6m wide).

６）Run it back through, with each player getting around 5 reps.