youth floorball coaching manualwellingtonfloorball.org.nz/images/pdf/fnz-youth... · 2016-06-15 ·...

Youth Floorball Coaching Manual

Floorball New Zealand1 Earn PlaceIsland BayWellington, New [email protected] June 2014

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.floorball.org.nz/

Youth Floorball CoachingFNZ, June 2014 2


Floorball New Zealand Youth Floorball Coaching Manual

Table of contents

1. Introduction 42. Basics 53. Floorball coaching, typical structure of a session 74. Drills 95. Floorball Sessions 116. Warm-up games 157. Drills 168. Basic Floorball Rules 23


1. Introduction

Floorball is a type of indoor hockey which has seen strong growth in New Zealand over the pastfew years. It is played with light-weight plastic or carbon fibre sticks and a light hollow plastic ball.It is fast, fun, easy to learn and safe to play. It does not require much specialised playingequipment apart from a stick for field players and some protective gear for goalies.

Floorball can be played in school gyms, recreation centres, school halls and even outdoors. Thesize of games and teams can be adapted to the space available. It can easily be played in mixedgender teams as agility, technic and skills are more important than just physical strength.

This Youth Floorball Coaching Manual was put together to help people relatively new to the sportto understand some of the basics and to get an introduction into how to coach Floorball to youngpeople. This manual is intended for club coaches, parents, teachers and anyone else interested inproviding Floorball activities.


2. Basics

Some of the basic facts are outlined below. A basic set of rules is attached to the back of thisdocument. The set of rules is a simplified version of the proper international rules, however it issufficient to run safe Floorball activities with juniors and covers all the main rules.

Stick:sticks are either left (to be played on left side of your body) or right (played on the right)the length of the stick should be a bit higher than the belly button of a player when heldvertically and touching the groundthe hand at the top of the stick should remain in that position at all timesholding the stick with both hands gives the most amount of control when playing the ball

Playing area:a rink surounds the playing area andthe ball can be bounced off the sidesof the rink, the walls of school hallsor gyms can also be used for thatpurpose if a rink is not availablethe goals are set in from the sidesand play continues around the goalsplay doesn’t stop unless the ballgoes out of the playing area, e.g.across the rink boardsGoals are 1.6m wide and 1.15mhigh, they are set in from the rink oredge of playing area so that the game can continue around the goals.

Goalies:goalies play without a stick and canuse their hands to catch and throwthe ballwhenever available, goalies shouldwere a goalie helmet and also kneepadsthere is a goalie area where only thegoalie is allowed to be in, as a rule ofthumb that area is approx. 1m deepand 2m wide in front of the goal.goalies often stay on their knees tobe low to the ground


Rules of the game:The main purpose of the rules is to keep the game safe for all players and make the gameenjoyable. Playing the games is one of the highlights for the kids and it is important to followsome of the most important rules right from the beginning.However, introducing to many rules at the beginning will confuse players, it is better to explain themost important ones and enforce them. Further rules can be added during further sessions.The following rules should be introduced early so that drills and games are safe for all players.Further rules are outlined in section 8.

ball can be played with both sides of the bladeball can be stoped and even passed with your foot, but foot can not be used twice in a rowball can not be played if it is higher than knee heightif taking a shot the swing can not go higher than waste heightyou are not allowed to hit or kick the stick of another playeryou are not allowed to use your hands to play the ball

Face-off:to start a game or to restart after agoal is scoredtwo players stand face to face in themiddle of the court, the ball is on theground in between, with one player’sstick to the left, the other stick to therightwhen the referee blows the whistle,the players try to win the ball fortheir teamOther players need to be 3m awayfrom the face-off point

Ball control:keep the ball close to the bladetouch the ball lightly, don’t hit it too hardkeep the stick in both hands to have the best control of the balluse the body to shield and protect the ball from other players

Passing:passing is key to a good and fast game of Floorballeven top level teams do a lot of passing exercisesan assist counts just as much as a goal towards being top scorer, so encourage players topass to team mates right from the beginning rather than try and score by themselveskeep passes on the ground, if they bounce, they are harder to controlpasses should not be too hard and ideally are dragged/pushed rather than hitencourage players to move towards a pass rather than to wait for the ball to get to them


3. Floorball coaching, typical structure of a session

StructureThe structure below is a typical set-out for a Floorball session and can be used at any level. It isbased on a 60 minute session, but times can be adapted for shorter or longer sessions.The session plans for particular sessions further back in this manual are based on this structure.

Each session should also follow the main principles outlined below:Keep explanations short and simplePlayers should be active with/without ball as much as possibleUse drills that have several players active at the same time, rather than waiting for theirturnUse simple drills and use a certain amount of repetition mixed with some new exercisesUse positive encouragement for all players and point out what they are doing wellEncourage and emphasize team play and passing more than individual skills

The session plans under section 5 suggest specific drills for the individual sessions.Each drill is also rated for its difficulty, which is indicated with a star, e.g. (*).The more stars, the more difficult the drill.

Typical Floorball session:

Duration Activity GoalsStart, welcome 3’ Welcome players, introduce yourself

Explain rules/rule of the weekMake players feel welcome,teach some basics

Warm-up 5’ Play warm up game:Ball rush, marbles, piggy in themiddle, etc

Everyone is moving,running and controlling aball

Individual skills 10’ 1-2 exercises which focus ondribbling, ball control, moving withthe ball, shooting

Every player is active withone ball, lots of touches onthe ball

Team skills 15’ 2-3 exercises which focus onpassing, runing without the ball,attacking, defending

Players learn to worktogether as a team

Game time 25’ Play small sided short games,Team size depends on spaceavailable and can be 3+goalie up to5+goalie, length of game 3-5minutes

Players play in a team andtry to use skills theypracticed in gamesituations

Finish 2’ Get players to come togetherCollect all the equipment

Tell players what they didwell and what youobserved during the gametime


Start, welcomeWelcome the players, introduce yourself and explain briefly what is going to happen during thesession.Explain the basic rules of the game to make it safe for everyone or for players who have playedbefore explain one new rule per week. Answer some questions, but keep that short to have plentyof time for children to be active and run around.

Warm-upPlay a warm-up game so that everyone has to move around and participate, while playing a gameat the same time. Some game ideas are listed under section 6.

Individual skillsRun one or two drills that focus on individual skills like dribbling, ball control, moving with the balland shooting. Important is that every player has got a ball and gets lots of touches on the ball.Important for good ball control is to keep the ball close to the blade and not hit it to hard.

Team skillsRun two or three drills that focus on team skills like passing, running with the ball, attacking,defending. Key is to improve passing skills and get the players to work together.

Game timeFor most people and especially for children, playing a game is the most important part and this iswhat they like best. The earlier parts of the sessions are aimed at increasing the skills of players sothat in a game situation, they will be more confident and will be able to start playing as a team.Games should be kept short so that those players who are not playing don’t have to wait too long,3-5min is a good length for these games.

Teams typically consist of 3 field players plus agoalie, but can possibly be 4+goalie if the areais big enough. Having big teams in a small areameans that the game gets crowded whichprevents passing and also makes it moredangerous for players getting hit by sticks.It is better to have smaller teams and shortergames to make the experience of the game asgood as possible for players.

The coach should act as referee during the games. Play according to the rules and try to find theright balance between enforcing the rules and keeping the game flowing. The key is to keep thegame safe for all the players. If the game is interupted due to a foul, explain to all players what thefoul was. Through that you can slowly introduce more and more rules.

Finish:Give feedback to the players on what they did well and what they might still need to improve on.


4. Drills

Even so kids mainly want to play games, drills are still very useful to teach the basic skills. Theyoffer the opportunity for each player to get lots of touches on the ball and improve individualskills.Drills should be run so that a lot of players are active at the same time rather than waiting for theirturn. This can be achieved by running the same exercise in different parts of the court or bysplitting into several smaller groups.

Each of the session plans under section 5 contains some drills and further drills are listed undersection 7. Each drill contains a drawing and a description explaining how the drill works.Below is a sample of a drill description:

Drill: “diagonal pass and shot” (**)Players in both corners and also on both sidesof half way lineBalls in the corners on both sidesPlayer B starts to run without a ball towards thegoalPlayer A plays a pass to player B, player B takesa shot on goalAfter the pass, player A moves along the sidesto postion CAfter the shot, player B moves to the corner position ANow player C starts to move towards the goal without a ballPlayer D plays a pass to player C who takes a shot at goal

Note: Encourage players to keep passes on the ground and to the forehand side of the receivingplayer’s stick

Legend to the drill diagrams: Moving without the ballPassShot at goalMoving with the ball, dribblingGroup of playersConeBalls


The drills have got a star rating, indicating how difficult and how complex the drill is:

(*) new players, also for years 1 and 2(**) beginners, also for years 3 and 4(***) intermediate, also for years 5 and 6 and intermediate(****) advanced

Drills with one star are easy to understand however still offer very good training of skills. They arestill very suitable for sessions with advanced players. The focus then would be on precise, strongpassing and faster execution of the drill. It will still improve the individual skills of players even ata higher level.

Very young or new players might stick with (*) drills for a while.It is better to use simple drills that the players understand rather than to try difficult drills whichcan be frustrating for players if they don’t understand them.

Each drill contains some notes to point out specific things to watch out for or to explain to players.

It is useful to have a set of drills for the same group of players and keep repeating some of thosedrills, together with introducing a new drill every now and then. That way players get morecomfortalbe and sessions are still kept interesting and challenging enough.

Take notes for the drills. At the end of section 7, there is a blank drill page so that you can makeup your own drills.


5. Floorball sessions

5.1 Session One: Introduction, dribbling

Start, welcome Welcome everyone and introduce yourselfExplain what is going to happen during the next 60 minutesExplain the basic floorball rules:

Show the stick and the ball, explain left and right sticksExplain how to hold a stick: Top hand never moves, hands should beabout 40cm apartExplain dribbling, allowed to use both sides of bladeAllowed to stop ball with your foot, even pass with your foot, butcan’t score with your feetCan’t play the ball if ball is above knee height (=dangerous)When shooting keep swing below waste height

Warm-up Ball rush, see section 5 for explanation

Individual skills

Drill: “Slalom” (*)Set up cones in a slalom patternPlayers start in the corners with a ballDribble through the cones to the end of theslalom and take a shot on goalGo around the goal to join the group in theopposite cornerNext players starts as soon as player in front isat the third or fourth cone

Note: Encourage players to dribble holding the stick in both hands.


Team skills

Drill: “Passing” (*)Players pair up with another player and standopposite each other, about 5-8m apartPlayers pass to each other back and forthPasses should stay on the ground, no bounceand go to the forehand side of the other playerFor more advanced players, passes can bemade to/from backhand side or can bethrough the air to mix it up a bit

Note: Do this drill for one minute and get the players to count the number of passes, see whogets the highest amount of passes.

Drill: “Relay” (*)Splitt group into teams of 4-6 playersPlace the groups on one side of the court, witha cone opposite them on the other sideEnsure groups have space between themOn the start signal, the first player of eachgroup dribbles with the ball up and around thecone, once around the cone, the ball can bepassed back to the next player of the teamAs soon as the ball gets to the next player in the team, that player runs around the cone andpasses it to the third player, etc.See which group is fastest

Note: With uneven numbers, some players can go twice to make the number of runs equalGet players who have done it to sit down to see easily which group has finishedWith beginners, get them to dribble the ball back to the team rather than pass it

Game time

Play short games of 3-5min each in teams of 4 to 6 players. Whenever possible, start to usegoalies right from the beginning as part of the team, get players to take turns at being goalie.

Finish

Tell the players what they did well and what they still need to improve on. Emphasize team playand passing rather than individual skills and scoring lots of goals.


5.2 Session Two: Passing

Start, welcome Welcome everyone back and ask the players, what they remember fromsession 1, see whether they remember any of the rules.Explain what is going to happen during the next 60 minutes.Repeat the basic floorball rules from session one and maybe introduce onenew rule like:

No tackling through an opponents legsNot allowd to use your hands

Warm-up Ball rush or marbles, see section 5 for explanation

Individual skills


Note: Do this drill for one minute and get the players to count the number of passes, see whogets the highest amount of passes.


Team skills

Drill: “Pass and shoot” (*)Splitt the group into two halfs, positioned inopposite cornersStronger players and/or the coach arepositioned in spots B and D and remain therefor the drillPlayer A starts in the corner and passes toplayer BPlayer A moves towards the goal and receives apass back from player B, then takes a shot at goalAfter the shot, player A moves around the goal and joins the group in the other cornerThe same drill is played down the other side of the court, with a player in position D to receivea pass

Drill: “Horse shoe” (**)Two groups of players in the cornersSet up two cones about 4m from either sidePlayer A starts to run without a ball around thecone on his side of the field on turns backtowards the goalPlayer B plays a diagonal pass to player APlayer A takes a shot at goal and then joins thegroup in the opposite cornerNow player B runs without a ball around the cone on his side of the field and receives a passfrom the opposite corner

Note: players in the corners need to be ready to play a passpasses should be on the ground, no bounceencoureage kids to play passes onto the forehand side of the receiving playerplayers switch corners after each turn

Game time

Play short games of 3-5min each in teams of 4 to 6 players.Encourage players to use the techniques learnt earlier and to pass to each other.

Finish

Tell the players what they did well and what they still need to improve on. Emphasize team playand passing rather than individual skills and scoring lots of goals.


6. Warm up games

Ball rush: Two players stand in the middle of the court as defenders/tacklers, withouta ball.Everyone else has got a ball and is at one end of the court.On the start signal, the players with the ball try to move to the either end ofthe court by dribbling past the tacklers/defenders, without loosing the ball.If the tacklers get the ball, the player joins them in the next round and alsotackles other players.The last two remaining players start off again.

Marbles: Every player has got a ball and dribbles around in a defined area.While dribbling, the players need to protect their own ball while they also tryat the same time to hit a ball from one of the other players outside thedefined area.Looses a player his ball and the ball goes outside the defined area, thatplayer moves to the side and does some shooting practice onto a goal, whilethe other players continue until only 1 or 2 players are left.

Piggy in the middle: Form groups of 5 players, four players form a square, one player ispositioned in the centre of the square.The four players on the outside pass the ball to eachother, while the playerwithin the square tries to intercept the passes.If a pass is intercepted, the player who made the last pass takes the positionin the centre and the player who intercepted the pass takes up a position inthe square.

Variation: To make it easier for the players to pass around in the square, theplayer in the middle holds the stick up side down, with the end of the shafttowards the ground.


7. Drills

Drill: “Slalom” (*)Set up cones in a slalom patternPlayers start in the corners with a ballDribble through the cones to the end of theslalom and take a shot on goalGo around the goal to join the group in theopposite cornerNext players starts as soon as player in front isat the third or fourth cone

Note: Encourage players to dribble holding the stick in both hands.


Note: Do this drill for one minute and get the players to count the number of passes, see whogets the highest amount of passes.You can repeat this and check with players if they improve on their score.Advanced players should be very active and moving towards the ball at all times.Speed of passing can increase with better players.


Drill: “Relay” (*)Splitt group into teams of 4-6 playersPlace the groups on one side of the court, witha cone opposite them on the other sideEnsure groups have space between themOn the start signal, the first player of eachgroup dribbles with the ball up and around thecone, once around the cone, the ball can bepassed back to the next player of the teamAs soon as the ball gets to the next player in the team, that player runs around the cone andpasses it to the third player, etc.See which group is fastest

Note: With uneven numbers, some players can go twice to make the number of runs equalGet players who have done it to sit down to see easily which group has finishedWith beginners, get them to dribble the ball back to the team rather than pass it

Drill: “Pass and shoot” (*)Splitt the group into two halfs, positioned inopposite cornersStronger players and/or the coach arepositioned in spots B and D and remain therefor the drillPlayer A starts in the corner and passes toplayer BPlayer A moves towards the goal and receives apass back from player B, then takes a shot at goalAfter the shot, player A moves around the goal and joins the group in the other cornerThe same drill is played down the other side of the court, with a player in position D to receivea pass

Note: For advanced players, two passes can be played, to players in positions C and D.Players receiving a pass and passing it back can be swopped at some stage


Drill: “Horse shoe” (**)Two groups of players in the cornersSet up two cones about 4m from either sidePlayer A starts to run without a ball around thecone on his side of the field on turns backtowards the goalPlayer B plays a diagonal pass to player APlayer A takes a shot at goal and then joins thegroup in the opposite cornerNow player B runs without a ball around the cone on his side of the field and receives a passfrom the opposite corner

Note: players in the corners need to be ready to play a passpasses should be on the ground, no bounceencoureage kids to play passes onto the forehand side of the receiving playerplayers switch corners after each turn

Drill: “Passing through gates” (**)Set up pairs of cones, about 1m apartPlayers pair up with one other playerAs a pair, the pass to each other and each passneeds to go through a gatePlayers can’t pass through the same gate twicein a row and need to move around

Note: Get players to count the passes and see which pair gets the most passesPoint out that the player without the ball needs to move quickly to the next gate, thisencourages moving without the ballEncourage players to call out to each other to communicate which gate they go to next


Drill: “Follow your pass” (**)Four players take positons at spots B, C, D andE, the other players start in the corner atposition APlayer A passes to B and follows the pass tomove to spot BPlayer B passes to C and moves to position C,etc.Player E takes a shot at goal and joins theplayers in the corner again

Note: Reverse/mirror the drill after some time to go the other wayAdvanced players should take one touch passesEncourage players to run rather than walk after they have passedEncourage players to call out to each other when they are passing

Drill: “Passing lanes” (**)Form groups of 4-6 players, with 2/3 playerson one side and the other on the other side,about 7-10m apartPlayer A passes a long pass to player B andstarts to move towards player BPlayer B receives the pass and plays it staightback to player A without moving from his spotPlayer A receives the pass back from B whilemoving towards B and then plays a second short pass to BPlayer B now plays a long pass and starts to do what player A did before, moving across to theother groupPlayer A moves to the back of the line

Note: Start slowly and make sure passes are accurateOnce passes are hard and accurate, players can increase the speed of moving from oneside to the other


Drill: “move to the free cone” (**)Form groups of three playersSet up cones in squares, cones are about 5mapart, there might be 5-8 squares,dependingon number of players overallPlayers start off at a different cone each, withone ball between the three players at player APlayer A passes to either player B or player Cand then moves to the free cone.However receives the ball then decides which of the other two players in the group to pass to.After a pass, the player having made the pass always moves to the free coneContinue this drill for about one minute, have a quick break and start again

Note: Players should move quickly to the free cones.Players should look up before making a pass to know where the other players arepositioned.

Drill: “diagonal pass and shot” (**)Players in both corners and also on both sidesof half way lineBalls in the corners on both sidesPlayer B starts to run without a ball towards thegoalPlayer A plays a pass to player B, player B takesa shot on goalAfter the pass, player A moves along the sidesto postion CAfter the shot, player B moves to the corner position ANow player C starts to move towards the goal without a ballPlayer D plays a pass to player C who takes a shot at goal

Note: Encourage players to keep passes on the ground and to the forehand side of the receivingplayer’s stick


Drill: “two diagonal passes and shot” (***)Players in both corners and also on both sidesof half way lineBalls on both sides of half way linePlayer B starts to run with a ball towards goaland plays a pass into the opposite corner toplayer APlayer A plays the pass straight back to playerB, player B takes a shotAfter the pass, player A moves along the sides to postion CAfter the shot, player B moves to the corner position ANow player C starts to move towards the goal and passes to DPlayer D plays the pass straight back to player C who takes a shot at goal

Note: Advanced players should aim for one touch passesPasses need to be strong and accurate


Drill: “ ” ( )

Drill: “ ” ( )


8. Basic Floorball Rules

3 to 5 field players and a goalie are playing on the court (depending on the court size)the field is surrounded by a rink and the ball can be bounced off the rink. In schools sidewalls of a gym are adequate to be used as a make shift rink, benches can be used to squareoff cornersthere is no outs unless ball goes out of rink or in gym if it hits wall at high levelgoals are 1.6m wide and 1.15m high and placed about 3m inside from the back lineplay continues behind the goalthere is no offside and goals can be scored from anywheregoalies play without a stick and can catch the ball within the goalie crease.goalies must not hold the ball for more than 3 seconds and when throwing the ball, it musthit the floor before passing the centre lineboth sides of the blade can be used to play the ballyou are allowed to stop the ball with your foot, leg or bodythe ball maybe kicked, but no more than oncethe ball must not be played with the hands, arm or headyou are not allowed to touch the ball with the stick if it is above knee levelfor a shot the forwards and backwards swing needs to stay below waist heightno form of pushing or physically tackling the body of a player are allowedyou are not allowed to jump and play the ball at the same timeyou are not allowed to play the ball when lying on the groundyou are not allowed to tackle through the legsyou are not allowed to hit or lift an opponent's stickafter a foul, the non offending team receives a free hit. Players from the other team need tobe 3m away, including sticks. A free hit needs to be a clear hit and can not be a tap andrun. A free hit can go directly into the goalTo start a game, one player from each team stands opposite each other in the middle ofthe court. The sticks are placed parallel to each other on the ground, with the ball put inbetween. When the referee blows the whistle, the two players both try to win the ball fortheir team. This is called a Face Off and is also used to restart the game after a goal hasbeen scored.

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