Tryouts Day 1

Hatch had our first tryout yesterday with about 25 tryouts in attendance. I think I have about 80% of their names... we'll see if I can retain that to the next practice.

I wanted to start the year by focusing on my top priority for this season: the skills needed to play team defense. Yes, I know it's somewhat unusual to be teaching, say, switching in your first practice, but this is what will lay the foundation for more complicated skills later.

I chose to start with marking because holding a strong mark is essential to any defense. Most players can recite the key points (athletic stance on toes, bend the knees, stay balanced) but I've found that it's one thing to know it and another to do it. The most common error I noted was that players would lunge and step out with fakes, thus causing them to have a widened base of support that is too stable and does not allow them to be as agile.

We then turned to communication. This is the area that frustrated me most last year - I have expectations on what club players should be doing on the sideline, and I felt that I was just repeatedly telling them to walk the sidelines and talk to their teammates on the field. Then halfway through the season, I realized that most of the players just weren't comfortable talking, because they'd never been taught how to do so! Can't use that excuse again this year though; I'm making sure that everyone knows what they should be doing, and I'm (hopefully) helping them learn how to do that. (see below for exciting fun new drill!)

Lastly, we worked on switching between 2 defenders. I took the simplest scenario, with just 2 cutters, and had them practice being authoritative and clear in their switches. They did well in the drill, but as is to be expected, were much less successful in the scrimmage when there is so much more to pay attention to. It's a starting point, though, and we will be working on more complicated scenarios in future practices.

I was really pleased with yesterday's practice. I felt that I had a good plan, and was able to explain my thought process and the major concepts clearly. I am particularly tickled by my new marking/communication drill (perhaps because everyone feels so discombobulated while doing it) and I was definitely able to see some improvements in players even over the course of the practice. I hope the tryouts felt that they have learned something and got an idea of how great this team is. And I think the returners did as well. Yay Hatch.

Next tryout: Wednesday 6:30 pm at Daly field in Brighton!

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Blind marking/communication drill

This drill is has 2 purposes: to teach players how to talk to the mark, and to teach the mark to listen and react to what her teammates are saying.

The drill has a thrower, a marker, a cutter, and a sideline talker. The marker sets up with a force, and then closes her eyes. The cutter cuts for 30 seconds to wherever she wants to go - break side, force side, in, away - and the sideline talker tells the mark what to protect. The key here is to communicate early to the mark so that she has time to react.

People were at first a little iffy on the idea, but the mark was surprisingly effective, even blind.

Have fun!