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- The Boot Room
- 20 October 2021
Pete Sturgess, our early years specialist, shares a simple session idea that helps players develop their scanning and receiving skills.
Key objectives
Players will develop their understanding of:
- what scanning is
- why it’s important to scan the pitch before receiving the ball
- how their body positioning will help them scan for options and make better decisions.
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Session plan
Want to try this with your team? Download the session plan to your device and give it a go.
Organisation
This is a normal small-sided game with equal numbers – for example, 3v3, 4v4, 5v5. So, all you need to do is provide an area appropriate for the age and ability of your players.
How to play
This activity replicates the real game; there are two teams who aim to score as many goals as possible, two goals and goalkeepers.
But before the game starts, introduce the main focus of the session: opening up their body when receiving the ball.
Positioning themselves like this will allow them to look at the player in possession and scan the rest of the pitch. This will help them make better decisions, and it’s a great habit to develop.
Progression
It’s important to think carefully about progressions. Learning doesn’t happen straight away, as players will be figuring everything out at first. Constantly changing the game can mean players miss the opportunity to learn. So, give them a chance to have a go at solving the problems they’re facing in this activity.
But, after a while, if you feel your players have cracked it – or that they’re struggling – you could progress the game to alter the difficulty of the challenge.
Whenever you decide to progress the activity, think about using the STEP framework. And however you adapt the session, make sure you keep it fun, highly engaging and appropriate for your players.
If you’re looking for an idea, you could reduce the size of the playing area over time to increase the challenge for your players slowly. However, it’s important that players get the opportunity to develop their scanning skills before you increase the difficulty.
QUESTIONS
After you have looked at the session above, ask yourself the following questions:
- How would you adapt or tweak the practice to make it appropriate to your own players?
- What additional challenges could you set to make the practice easier or harder for individuals or your group?
If you use this with your team, let us know how you get on by posting in The FA Community forums.
