Coaching Set Plays

This week we are going to cover the basics of set plays and give you examples to use for your team. The ability to make the most of set plays is without doubt a determining factor in the success of a team. During a match where two sides balance themselves out in terms of play, the best use of kicks from stationary balls will often be crucial to the victory of one of the two teams. It is very important for any coach in whatever category to dedicate a lot of his time to these particular playing situations, both in the attacking and in the defense phase. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your team will help in developing a game plan for each dead ball situation. For example if you have a player who has a long throw then you can set up a play similar to a corner kick where you try to score off of the throw. It is important to use plays that are suited for the skills and abilities of your players or your success rate will be very low. The following are the most important dead ball situations in the attacking phase, which we will begin by looking at in general and then go on to develop in each single case:

1. Kick off
2. Keeper putting the ball back into play
3. Free kicks
4. Corner kicks
5. Throw-ins
6. Penalty kicks

If you want to make the best of your team's ability to be productive in attack, it is vital for the coach to train his players in all the situations listed above as well as ample training both in the technical and tactical aspects and in the principles that underlie these situations. Here is a great video that shows you many creative dead ball situations. We will go over these and many more examples in this week's lesson plan.