INDIVIDUAL SKILLS FOR CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS (KOONS)

with Brandon Koons,
Otterbein University Head Women's Soccer Coach;
2010 NCAA D-III Final Four; 8x Ohio Athletic Conference regular-season and 5x OAC Tournament Champions;
5x OAC Coach of the Year; has earned a USSF "B" License and an NSCAA Premier Diploma

Midfielders are one of the more important positions in the game and need to constantly support and help their teammates.

In this video, Brandon Koons shows you how he trains the technical application of individual skills for midfielders to dominate the center of the field. You will learn how important it is to have the correct body shape, timing of runs, proper decision making, and the right attitude to excel.

Coach Koons breaks up this video into three keys areas. Within each, he breaks down and shows numerous progressions that will help your team be dangerous in the midfield. Coach Koons provides in-depth illustrations both on a white board and on the field to show key technical elements for your players. Coach Koons explains the teaching points he emphasizes during the exercises:

• The movement and supporting angles needed from supporting players.
• Reading the play and making the proper decisions based on positioning.
• Runs that trigger other runs in the midfield third.
• The importance of scanning and checking your shoulder for better vision.

Turning

Koons addresses the ability to turn in a dynamic setting by demonstrating a three-man unopposed passing pattern that lays the foundation to his team's ability to turn and play forward. The emphasis in this drill is on developing a good sense of rhythm when passing and making sure the angles of support are correct. He progresses by adding additional ways to be able to turn and face up the opposition.

Watch as Coach Koons walks his team through dealing with overweighted passes and how the center middies take pace off the ball to make a successful turn and pass. Conversely, see how to deal with an underweighted pass. The benefits of proper body positioning and an awareness of the playing environment are also discussed.

Passing and Dribbling

Koons walks through a series of passing and dribbling progressions that encourage good on-ball and off-ball movement. Throughout the progressions, he encourages ball movement through an emphasis on creativity, which is supported by communication, touch quality, an understanding of run shape, and an awareness of game space.

Overlapping

Learn a great progression to work on tight overlapping runs and how the center midfielder moves and interacts within a confined area. See how Koons teaches his players the different types of runs they can make to not only create space for themselves, but also the ability to combine and find third man runners. Throughout the unopposed exercises, he continues to stress how important off the ball movement can be to rip even the most compact defenses apart in a competitive environment.

The overlapping drills build on the prior drills in this video and are a good way to tie the session together.

Although designed for the center midfielder, these drills will benefit players of any position, including goalies. Koons does a great job detailing the drills on a whiteboard and then taking it to the field. Every coach must teach their team how to skillfully play through the midfield, and Coach Koons gives you the tools to do just that - and more!

126 minutes. 2017.