Week 1 "What gets measured gets better"

For this season I thought that I'd try testing our players every week.  Below are the results from Week 1.  I had hoped that we could get this done in about 10 minutes (30 seconds for each test so 3:30 for each player), but it took us nearly 40 minutes with 17 players  (ended up putting the 17 players present into groups of 3 - one to score, one to receive the passes, and one to test).  I think the next time I'll try groups of two as I think the scorer can score and receive the passes.

Push Left refers to 1-touch push passes using only the left foot.  The repetitions refers to the number of passes that were received by the tester in 30 seconds.  Passes don't count if the tester has to move to receive the ball.  And, the distance is fairly short, say 10 yards.

Push Right refers to 1-touch passes using only the right foot.  Note that I forgot to sort the PushRight data, but you can  probably visualize a curve similar to the PushLeft above.  It's neat to see that the dominant foot (the right) delivers as you would expect.

Pullbacks refers to the "drag-back" move, alternating feet:  say pull back with the right foot, turn 180 degrees, then pull back with the left foot and repeat for 30 seconds.

Cruyff Turns are the classic fake named after Johan Cruyff.  None of my players are doing them proficiently so I'll need to put more time into teaching them how to make the feint.

Dribbling is how many out-and-backs the player can dribble through 4 cones using one foot in one direction and the other foot on the way back (say Left foot on the way out and Right foot on the way back).  The 4 cones are separated by 5 yards so this is about 15 yards out and 15 back for 30 yards total.  I had expected to see some doing 4 repetitions in 30 seconds, but obviously not!

Stop turns refers to the quick stopping of the ball followed by reversing direction.  As with Cruyff, I need to spend more time teaching the skill and the players have to repeat, repeat :)

Push Far refers to long push passes, with either foot.  The length of these is about 20 yards and, like the Push Left and Right, repetitions only count if the scorer can play the ball without moving.