Oddball bowling

WHY USE IT

This fun warm-up game gets young players thinking about their fundamental body movements - agility, balance, co-ordination and speed.

 

SET-UP

Mark out three channels - it can be more or less depending on the number of players you have. Each channel needs a line of cones to dribble through, an area to shoot from and a mini goal at the end. 

Within the mini goal, place three to five taller cones that can be knocked over. You will also need a number of soccer balls and ‘oddballs’ from other sports and activities, such as rugby, tennis or beach balls. A ratio of 2:1 soccer balls to oddballs is a good starting point. 

Write down what you have, cut up the list, place in a bag and mix them up. The teams choose two balls at random to complete the challenge.

 

HOW TO PLAY

Put players in teams of equal numbers. One at a time, players from each team dribble their soccer ball or oddball through the cones, stop in the shooting area and try to knock down a cone in their goal. The first team to knock all their cones over wins. 

Once a player has taken their shot, they then collect their ball and run back to hand it over to their next team-mate. 

After two games, switch out a couple of oddballs for soccer balls. This will move the practice from a fun warm-up to a session for practising core soccer skills such as finishing, moving with the ball and recovery runs.

 

ADAPTATIONS

To make it easier or harder, adjust the distance and/or angle of the cones the players need to dribble through, change the distance of the shooting box from the goal or change the number of target cones to knock down.

 

COACHING POINTS

Regardless of the ball, encourage players to maintain close control, building confidence to use both feet. Challenge them with increasing their speed to get into the shooting box sooner.

When shooting, encourage players to make good contact with the ball. Demonstrate different finishing techniques and how a particular technique might be more suited to the kind of ball they have. 

Encourage fast reactions and speed after they have had their shot. The quicker they retrieve the ball and hand it to a team-mate, the better opportunity their team will have to finish first.