09 Sep EXTRACT: Why Do We Limit Touches in Training?
Over the weekend an interesting article arose, looking at the reasoning – or lack of – on why there is often a limit of touches for players in training. Below is an extract from the article.
“It’s something you’ll almost certainly have heard or hear at some stage if you’re involved in the game. Yes it’s the famous training phrase “Play one touch” “Play two touch”. A rule or condition which is most commonly used in training games to encourage players to pass the ball quicker, improve their awareness, increase the tempo of the game and various other guidance elements associated with the rule/condition. But the question we are asking is this, is limiting touches forcing decisions rather than testing or improving them?
Let’s clear things up from the off on this subject, we are solely speaking about limiting touches for young footballers who are at a crucial stage of developing game intelligence and common decision making traits. So what sparked our interest in the topic of limiting touches?. Back in April of this year FC Barcelona’s famous youth academy La Masia visited the Rep of Ireland for the very first time and Keepitonthedeck was on hand to witness their stay.
One of the teams competing in The Academy Cup tournament at St Kevins Boys Football Club was using the astro turf facility at St Kevins Boys one Saturday afternoon. They finished their warm up with a high tempo ‘one touch’ 7 aside practice. One of the FC Barcelona coaches is stood watching the warm up and we couldn’t help but notice him look astonished as the academy coach from the team in question stopped play and awarded a free kick because one of the players took two touches to make a yard for a strike at goal.“
Interesting stuff, for sure. You can view the original and full article by clicking here. In the meantime you can check out all our news on our busy blog here.
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