We’ll give the girls a home assignment each week, where we ask them to practice certain skills on their own for 5-10 minutes a few times during the week. Many of these activities only need a small amount of space. You can do them indoor if needed. These activities come from our play at home catalog.

Week of May 16, 2016: It’s the final week of the spring season, and we’ve got the most difficult home assignment yet: the juggling heights challenge! This isn’t just juggling, but it’s about juggling the ball at various heights using different body parts. There are 24 different individual challenge levels, plus an additional nine partner challenge levels. Good luck!

Demo of alternating low / high juggling touches:

New dribbling move: the stop turn / step-over turn combo

If you’re ready to get really tricky, try combining a stop turn and a step-over turn. This move looks spectacular, but isn’t too hard to learn. Once you learn this move, you’ll find that it works great at fast speeds. (Many stop and go moves are difficult to do when dribbling really fast.)

Dribble or run with the ball with one foot. If a defender is chasing you, dribble with the foot that’s farthest away from her.
Stop the ball by taking a light touch with the bottom (sole) of your dribbling foot. This is a “stop”, not a “stomp” or a pullback.
Let your momentum carry you past the ball. Your dribbling foot will go over the ball, your other foot will go in front or behind the ball, and both feet should land past the ball. You’ll end up facing the defender.
1. If you’re dribbling with your right foot, turn your body to the left as you move past the ball.
2. If you’re dribbling with your left foot, turn your body to the right as you move past the ball.
Instead of taking the ball away in the other direction, do a step-over turn, and continue in the original direction.

Prior weeks’ home assignments

May 2016:

Week of May 9, 2016: This week’s home assignment is the twist-off turn. This is a turn where you start turning in one direction, and twist around 270 degrees to finish in the opposite direction. This allows you to shield the ball while turning. The twist-off turn lets you keep the ball while turning away from a defender. Some people compare the shape of a twist-off turn to a cloverleaf highway exit. You can do twist-off turns using the inside or outside of either foot. Link: twist-off turn details
Week of May 2, 2016: This week’s home assignment is receiving air balls with the foot (“roof” or “cradle” touches), thigh or chest. We want to keep the ball on the ground most of the time, since it’s easier to control. But there are plenty of times the ball will be in the air — including throw-ins, deflections, goalie punts, and poor passes that go up in the air. How quickly can you get to an air ball and control it to the ground? Check this link for demo videos and descriptions of the skills.

April 2016:

Week of April 25, 2016: This week’s home assignment is the pullback move, and other dribbling moves that include a pullback, such as V-pull moves. These moves help you create space when you have the ball, but also have a pair of bones and shin guards right in front of you. If you have a playing partner, try Texas Draw and dribble — this will help you with pullbacks and help you keep the ball while under pressure.
Week of April 18: Dribbling games, including the electric fence and snow cones games. Many of these games require a partner, so we encourage parents or siblings to help out as opponents!
Week of April 11: The “foot surfaces” juggling challenge. This includes 16 different individual challenge levels, juggling with the inside, laces and outside of each foot. Juggling helps develop balance, coordination, agility and ball control (coaches sometimes call this “touch”). Players can work to a certain level during one practice session, and resume at that same level the next practice without having to start over at level 1.
Week of April 4: It’s spring break, so we’re taking a different approach this week. We ask the girls to check out the Slam! game. (This is a game that requires a partner and some space.) We’ll play this at our Thursday spring break mini-camp. It’s a fun game that helps you improve your receiving and passing skills.

March 2016:

Week of March 28: We ask the girls to work on V-pull moves. The V-pull move is very effective when an opponent is blocking your path. It allows you to create space and change direction with two quick touches. Try them all, see which one works best for you, and then practice, practice and practice it some more!
Week of March 21: We ask the girls to work on passing and receiving, with an emphasis on receiving the ball into new space. Link: practice activities
Week of March 14: We ask the girls to continue to work on fakes and feints, this time focusing on fakes that involve hip turns: the cookie, the hip shimmy and the hip swivel.
Week of March 7: We ask the girls to continue to work on fakes and feints, also known as dribbling moves to beat (get behind) a defender.

February 2016:

Week of Feb. 29: Work on fakes and feints, also known as dribbling moves to beat (get behind) a defender.
Week of Feb. 22: Two “sister” dribbling moves: U-turns, and the “cookie” stop and go move.
Week of Feb. 15: Two “sister” dribbling moves: the pullback and the pull-push stop and go move.