Press and release

Aim

The aim here is to develop reactive speed and agility in game situations. 

Players

2.

Set-up

Players start in the box, reacting by touching the number of the pole called out by the coach. On the command – “press” – both players exit the box at the bottom end [1a]. 

A colour will now, additionally, be called out – for example, “press, yellow”. Here, the closest player will press the corresponding colour, with the other player providing cover. This will then reverse to the next colour and the other player will press the other colour. Players then sprint through to finish [1b].

[1a]

1. Players initially react by touching the number of the pole called within the square

[1b]

1. In the next phase on the breakout, the first player to the colour-assigned pole touches while the other works behind them in covering

Press and cover the back four

Aim

Now the aim is to develop defensive balance and conditioning.

Players

4.

Set-up

Players are continuously moving sideways and, on command, a colour is called. The closest player – player 1 – must press, then player 2 covers (as practised in ‘Press and release’, with players 3 and 4 sliding over to create balance [2a]. On the command “squeeze”, all players sprint to the halfway line and backpedal to the start to recommence the session [2b]. 

To progress this practice, we will introduce balls instead of coloured poles for a more specific game scenario. 

[2a]

1. On the call, the first player presses, while others fall into cover and balance mode behind them

[2b]

1. “Squeeze” is called and this is the stimulus to reset, at first running to the halfway line before backpedaling back to the start position
   
   

Further progressions

The session itself can then be progressed into a larger space where players are exposed to greater distances and speeds. As already stated, a ball can also be added to enable players to assess and react to defending in a technical context, but the important aspect of the session is the reactive speed and agility. It is therefore essential that this is not overlooked, and the session can evolve into a technical (rather than physical) practice. 

Moving on again, multiple commands can be issued with distances becoming smaller, giving players a shorter time to react. 

What are the key things to look out for?

Physically reactive speed and agility is a fundamental aspect of elite football. The main focus is for players to develop a high level of reaction time to a certain stimulus, and this reaction time forms the building blocks for the speed that follows. Players must be able to exert force explosively, limiting the amount of time their feet spend on the floor and accelerating in the desired direction. 

We also really need players to harness the cognitive processes, fuelling the ability to assess, make decisions and react. These are all fundamental in elite football. 

The practice will draw out a variety of learning and physical outcomes. Accept too that certain players may react slower than others; therefore repetition of either or both exercises combined with longer distances can aid player improvement.

Periodisation of the training week

It is important to periodise the training week effectively. My previous experience involves theming training days based on the overall outcome – for example, larger-sided games (10v10) involve greater distances at higher speeds, therefore planning a conditioning drill that exposes the players to this physical quality is important. Likewise, a small-sided game (2v2) exposes players to repeated powerful actions; therefore conditioning must replicate this. 

So the outcome of the session is important in terms of understanding a prescribed time. Similar to theming sessions, time can dictate the required outcome. For short powerful results, lesser repetitions can be completed over a shorter amount of time. However, if a conditioning stimulus is required, players can work repeated bouts for a longer period of time.

For example, in the session outlined, part A is a power-based practice, therefore 5-8 repetitions with less than 6secs of work time prescribed, with 1-2mins of rest. Part B, however, can be used as a conditioning session where 10-15 repetitions of 30-60secs of work is ideal.