That time of year again.

Our Under 11's start training this week and and I am just looking for tips and advice re. drills etc. Anyone know of any good resources for drills as well as general thinking about training this age-group (avoid queues/lines etc).

We have 20+ players of very mixed ability. Is the best bet to split them by ability and do separate drills?

Up to now, all games have been small-sided blitzes but they will be playing 11-a-side this year on an unzoned pitch. Have others found it difficult to get players to stick to some sort of position once the zones are removed?

Any advice greatly appreciated..

paulocon (Louth) - Posts: 164 - 27/03/2012 10:48:26    1137980

27/03/2012 10:48:26
paulocon
County: Louth
Posts: 122

1137980 That time of year again.

Our Under 11's start training this week and and I am just looking for tips and advice re. drills etc. Anyone know of any good resources for drills as well as general thinking about training this age-group (avoid queues/lines etc).

We have 20+ players of very mixed ability. Is the best bet to split them by ability and do separate drills?

Up to now, all games have been small-sided blitzes but they will be playing 11-a-side this year on an unzoned pitch. Have others found it difficult to get players to stick to some sort of position once the zones are removed?
Here is some drills link

Any advice greatly appreciated..

Dont split them by ability, have enough footballs at the training that allows a ball for every 2 players. Give every kid as much time on the ball as possible.

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 27/03/2012 11:05:50    1137991

Hi Paulocon

I also train this age group. I usually train them for an hour. It usually also takes a minimum of two or three people to do it as well. When the sessions go well, it is usually when they are well planned. When we are doing one drill, I find that it is vitally important that the next drill gets set up (ie moving the cones around) so that there is no waiting about. If they are waiting about for long periods of time, then attention may get lost and it might be difficult to get it back. I usually keep drills quite short (around 7-8 minutes) to avoid boredom as well.

I am surprized that you are only starting now? We start in January every year and finish in December (essentially we go all year round but taking a break for maybe two to three weeks during summer school holidays)

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 27/03/2012 11:09:55    1137995

paulocon
County: Louth
Posts: 122

1137980 That time of year again.

Our Under 11's start training this week and and I am just looking for tips and advice re. drills etc. Anyone know of any good resources for drills as well as general thinking about training this age-group (avoid queues/lines etc).

We have 20+ players of very mixed ability. Is the best bet to split them by ability and do separate drills?

Up to now, all games have been small-sided blitzes but they will be playing 11-a-side this year on an unzoned pitch. Have others found it difficult to get players to stick to some sort of position once the zones are removed?

Any advice greatly appreciated..


I got a good tip once on the mixed ability part. It was to tailor the drills so that everyone improves at the same speed. Example is a drill where you solo from a to b. Some kids will fly through it and others won't be so quick. Let the faster kids do it on their weaker foot. It will slow them down, but also help them to imrove their weaker side. And everyone can do the drill together.

Greenfield (Meath) - Posts: 524 - 27/03/2012 11:35:05    1138011

27/03/2012 11:09:55
bennybunny
County: Cork
Posts: 1301

1137995 Hi Paulocon

I also train this age group. I usually train them for an hour. It usually also takes a minimum of two or three people to do it as well. When the sessions go well, it is usually when they are well planned. When we are doing one drill, I find that it is vitally important that the next drill gets set up (ie moving the cones around) so that there is no waiting about. If they are waiting about for long periods of time, then attention may get lost and it might be difficult to get it back. I usually keep drills quite short (around 7-8 minutes) to avoid boredom as well.

I am surprized that you are only starting now? We start in January every year and finish in December (essentially we go all year round but taking a break for maybe two to three weeks during summer school holidays)

Quick query..
How many matches do ye play in the year? Kids at that age need to be playing as many games as possible and training isnt as important as it is at older age groups

A real good way of helping players in training is to turn drills into games and game like situations. If a drill can be done with the kids split in 2 teams, the kids will try compete and beat each other- all the time everyone is improving their ability to do the skill
Keeping the training session going is a good point, quick snappy sessions with no waiting around drills keeps everyones attention
Benny, crazy that ye go year round, if ye keep that up at older age groups players will get seriously burnt out.

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 27/03/2012 11:36:48    1138012

Hi, I used to train teh under 12's & 13's Last year and am currently training the under 14's, teh best web page I have ever come across is the Dublin GAA webpage, there is a link there for underage ball drills from beginers to advanced and explains the drill and purpose in plain english,

Enjoy the training and best of luck for the year ahead.

Horsebox77 (Kerry) - Posts: 5491 - 27/03/2012 11:42:35    1138018

Must complement Dublin GAA on that site

MidlandBlowin (Longford) - Posts: 66 - 27/03/2012 11:52:54    1138031

I started underage training a few years ago when I finished playing and at first I found it very tough because I hadnt a clue how to run a training session properly. It took me a while to get the hang of it and the best tips I could give are:

1: Avoid boring drills with big numbers per group, lads standing around and waiting for there turn leads to messing.

2: Keep everyone moving as much as possible with as much ball contact as is possible.

3: Prepare your session properly; take a few minutes before each session to plan exactly what you are going to do.

4: Encourage players and highlight when they do something good.

Thunderstruck (Meath) - Posts: 473 - 27/03/2012 12:06:12    1138043

27/03/2012 12:06:12
Thunderstruck
County: Meath
Posts: 359

4: Encourage players and highlight when they do something good.

Thats a very good point, focus as much as you can on the positive while working away and adapting drills/changing drills to improve players weaknesses

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 27/03/2012 12:16:34    1138057

Lads,

Take it you are talking about http://www.dublingaagamesdevelopment.ie?

Seems to be loads on there, will have a good look at lunchtime!

paulocon (Louth) - Posts: 164 - 27/03/2012 12:21:53    1138061

Also some brilliant drills here http://www.totalgaacoach.com/drills .
The site is really insightful for all coaches

Patchy (Kerry) - Posts: 74 - 27/03/2012 12:35:18    1138078

Ormondbannerman

I take your point that it may seem crazy that we go all year round and I believe your point about burnout is certainly valid and it is something that we consider. However, we also considered a number of other factors (i) we found that parents demand it (I mean demand in the sense that they want it rather than insist upon it) and if we did not have training they would take their children elsewhere (ii) we do hurling and football but not together so there will be a week of hurling and week of football so essentially kids are only getting half of year of each sport. Some kids may play soccer, rugby and gaelic football during the early spring months, howver, when it comes to April and May, we typically concentrate on hurling then (iii) we enter as many blitzes and organize mini games as we possibly can. We might play 9 games/blitzes in each code each year which takes place in our training (iv) we also take them on bus tours to Cork matches (All Ireland ladies final for example), team bonding events such as those available in Kilworth training camp (it is for kids in case somebody points out that it is run by the army!) and finally we don take breaks (for a few weeks at Christmas/summer major school events like confirmation etc) hence while we go all year round, we have a busy schedule and there are breaks.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 27/03/2012 13:47:39    1138154

When we consider coaching these days everyone (well that I know know off anyway) considers this to be drills.

From a personal point of view, both as a player and coach, the most enjoyable and benefiting is actually playing games be it against other teams or within the group, however it is important to stop the game when within the group whenever something is going wrong, i.e. players getting sucked to the ball, not maintaining structure etc. This then leads to the players understanding what needs to be done in game situations.

I have also found it beneficial to have restrictions within these games i.e. 5 second rule, one hop (this is a very good one as most players instinct is to solo straight away), weak foot and hand only, etc.

It is very important not to train players so that they are able to play at there own age group, it is about teaching them skills that will benefit them as they progress through the ranks.

juicy (Meath) - Posts: 402 - 27/03/2012 17:31:21    1138392

27/03/2012 13:47:39
bennybunny
County: Cork
Posts: 1304

1138154 Ormondbannerman

I take your point that it may seem crazy that we go all year round and I believe your point about burnout is certainly valid and it is something that we consider. However, we also considered a number of other factors (i) we found that parents demand it (I mean demand in the sense that they want it rather than insist upon it) and if we did not have training they would take their children elsewhere (ii) we do hurling and football but not together so there will be a week of hurling and week of football so essentially kids are only getting half of year of each sport. Some kids may play soccer, rugby and gaelic football during the early spring months, howver, when it comes to April and May, we typically concentrate on hurling then (iii) we enter as many blitzes and organize mini games as we possibly can. We might play 9 games/blitzes in each code each year which takes place in our training (iv) we also take them on bus tours to Cork matches (All Ireland ladies final for example), team bonding events such as those available in Kilworth training camp (it is for kids in case somebody points out that it is run by the army!) and finally we don take breaks (for a few weeks at Christmas/summer major school events like confirmation etc) hence while we go all year round, we have a busy schedule and there are breaks.
.
Ye seem well organised and have good player development set up in your club then. plenty of fun things to do with plenty of variety for the kids

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 27/03/2012 17:52:42    1138409

Underage coaching? There are coaching courses you should go on, I will find out the name of them and come back to you.

Pinkie (Wexford) - Posts: 4100 - 27/03/2012 18:09:58    1138427

Cheers for the tips.

Kept it simple last night with a few drills from the Dublin GAA website.

Ended up with 28 and only myself and another mentor, the other mentor is working evenings this week. Ranged from those who have been playing for 5 or 6 years and those who have never played before! Whilst training is one thing, just wondering how others managed this situation as regards games? Not sure there is much point having beginners on the same team as the lads who have been playing for a few years. We're thinking the best bet is to try and arrange a few challenges for the weaker half of the group but I have heard arguments that mixed ability is the best way to go..

What we saw in the short game we had at the end of training last night was the weakers ones being excluded, i.e. the game being dominated by the stronger players. I reckon smaller sided games in training would help this situation but that obviously depends on mentor availability.

paulocon (Louth) - Posts: 164 - 28/03/2012 11:33:02    1138725

28/03/2012 11:33:02
paulocon
County: Louth
Posts: 126

1138725 Cheers for the tips.

Kept it simple last night with a few drills from the Dublin GAA website.

Ended up with 28 and only myself and another mentor, the other mentor is working evenings this week. Ranged from those who have been playing for 5 or 6 years and those who have never played before! Whilst training is one thing, just wondering how others managed this situation as regards games? Not sure there is much point having beginners on the same team as the lads who have been playing for a few years. We're thinking the best bet is to try and arrange a few challenges for the weaker half of the group but I have heard arguments that mixed ability is the best way to go..

What we saw in the short game we had at the end of training last night was the weakers ones being excluded, i.e. the game being dominated by the stronger players. I reckon smaller sided games in training would help this situation but that obviously depends on mentor availability.

In games of mixed ability make rules of the game that players cant take over the game, ie only allow 1 solo etc
Def organise friendlys for the weaker half as a game where they all more likely to get decent time on the ball should(could) give them the confidence to take on make ball in training with ye're stronger players

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 28/03/2012 11:37:57    1138732

Well done on looking for help as a coach. Its part of what the GAA is about, sharing ideas and promoting the games. If you have around 28 kid's id suggest that you split them into 4 groups of six or seven. Have four coaches, one at each station with four different skills at each station, E.G Kicking and catching, Pick Up, Hand passing and one with ladders for relays etc. Move the children from one station to the other after about 7 minutes. ( One tip, Have 4 sets of different coloured bibs so each child knows were they should be at all time, E.g all reds at station 2 and yellows at 3). Have each station as a type of game, Simple one for kicking is how many passesyou and your partner can make with out dropping the ball and if you drop it go back to zero and try beat your record.you can increase or decrease distance depending on ability. Children love competion and targets.For the last 20-25 minutes make sure the children have a small sided game. 2 pitches 7 aside, swap to play another team after 10 minutes.
Also ythe most important thing in my opinion at this age is that the children are having fun. If they are not enjoying it they wont come back again then thats were the problems arise.
Best of luck for the year.

galwaybhoy (Galway) - Posts: 83 - 28/03/2012 12:30:34    1138780

Paulocon I differ from some in that I would never split up so called 'weaker' players yes I might match them up with 1 and other discretely but would never single anyone out on the basis they are weaker than someone else, These kids are 11 years old and the biggest things they need are encouragement and confidence. We often when playing small sided games put a condition on each team that a certain player must get 2 touches before his team can score(the opposing team are not told who the player is) this in my opinion is a better way to get the weaker players involved in order for this to work however all players should become this target man at some stage. Anyway the best site I have seen is http://www.moygac.com/coaching-resources/ this in my humble opinion should be patented by the club and used as a starting point for all Juvenille clubs throughout the country.

cuchulainn1 (Louth) - Posts: 246 - 29/03/2012 10:02:56    1139213

29/03/2012 10:02:56
cuchulainn1
County: Louth
Posts: 191

1139213 Paulocon I differ from some in that I would never split up so called 'weaker' players yes I might match them up with 1 and other discretely but would never single anyone out on the basis they are weaker than someone else, These kids are 11 years old and the biggest things they need are encouragement and confidence. We often when playing small sided games put a condition on each team that a certain player must get 2 touches before his team can score(the opposing team are not told who the player is) this in my opinion is a better way to get the weaker players involved in order for this to work however all players should become this target man at some stage. Anyway the best site I have seen is http://www.moygac.com/coaching-resources/ this in my humble opinion should be patented by the club and used as a starting point for all Juvenille clubs throughout the country.

You can also have a rule that every kid must touch the ball once/twice before a team can go for a score
Dont split the "weaker" and "stronger" players up..
Ensure you do lots of work like ladders, hurdles as they are great for speed and agility
Make sure every player does a proper warm up and warm down with plenty of stretching before and after every training session

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 29/03/2012 10:16:34    1139218