After watching the Div 1 final between Cork and Laois (what a game by the way) corks tactic from the kick out was to hit the wings at all costs. Their advantage however was that their goal keeper had a strong kick and could get good distance. Seamie my advice would be - to get your outfield players to do all the movement and make it as easy as possible for your goal keeper - what i mean by that come up with a plan that allows your goalie to be kicking into space not to a stationary target - eg. If your team is set up as normal from kick out, get your 2 wing backs to move in towards the keeper when she is going to kick- Midfielders meet in the middle just say on the 45 -Then just get your keeper to pop it over the wing backs heads while the mid fielders are moving into this space towards the wing. The important thing about this example is that we maximise the space. Get your corner backs to go as wide as possible. When your wing backs are coming towards the keeper make sure they are looking for the ball - if the wing forward does not track them the goalie gives the ball short to the wing back.

They way to maximize the effectiveness of any plan is that we practice it at match pace at training. You could make numerous plans just make sure all are to do with movement and kicking it into space.

Hope this helps
Andy

Andy,
Thanks very much for this insight. I have been working closely with the keeper of my U16 team in trying to improve our possession stats from his kick outs (currrently not doing well here). I will now try to put more emphasis on the out field players creating as many different options as possible and ensure they are thoroughly practiced and understood by everyone.

I've had this problem with my under 16 team as well, what we did was to leave the midfielders out of it mostly, and leave it to the wing backs to fight for the ball. Very few under 16 keepers would be hitting beyond the 45. It is all about the movement of the other players as Andy said

I got my corner backs to walk the forwards into the 20 metre line and for the keeper to kick out over the corner backs into the wing back space, making sure the corner back stands in front of the forward in case the kick goes badly. While the keeper is preparing for the kick, the wing backs walk back towards the centre and the keeper puts the ball into space. A variation is that the all three in the half back line go to one side, creating a 3 v 3 situation there, and the midfielders/corner backs move into the space left to claim possession - corner backs start moving when the keeper is about to kick the ball

An astute coach on the opposite sideline will spot this pretty quickly, so what they would probably do is to get the corner forward out to fill the space, leaving the corner back unmarked, so get her to go towards the sideline - so play the short kick out then to them and work the ball up. Just make sure for the wide (taken from the 13m) that the corner back is outside the 20m line and for a score that the corner back isn't within 10 metres of the keeper.

I've seen quite a number of intercounty ladies games this year, and movement is the one word that brings them all together at kickout time. There is nothing worse than being on the 20m line with the ball, and not one player making a move for the ball. At younger level, there is not a lot of clean possession taken from kickouts, so it is very important to teach players where they need to be to pick up the breaks and how to put their body between the opposition player and the ball in order to gather possession legally!! For example, two players going up for a high ball, instead of telling the player going up to catch, see if you can get a teammate into a position to gather a knockdown. There aren't a huge amount of high catches as the ball is broken more often than not, so get the players into position to pick up those breaks as well.

I do think that it does come down to technique as well as having organisation- I play in goals for the junior team, and I find that it is important to get a routine going when kicking. I haven't kicked a ball in about a month due to a broken ankle, but its kind of hard to describe without actually showing you. If you look at your keeper kicking, a lot of them lean back quite far kicking it, which gives the ball the elevation, because she is striking the bottom part of the ball. Get her not to lean back as much, and it will help, especially when playing against a wind, to get a lower trajectory. It will ensure that she strikes the ball more towards the centre than the very bottom. that all depends on the ability of your keeper though - I was able to do it because I understood how to, might be difficult to communicate that to an under 16 keeper

the main thing is if you don't win clean possession, then make sure the opposition don't win clean possession

i believe that the goalkeeping position is the most vital in ladies football. the key for me is timing. especially after conceeding scores players seem to panic. just watch the next time your team play, how many players have made their run before the goalkeeper has even reached the 21? it all comes down to timing your runs and waiting untill the keeper is ready. personally i would like to examing giving keepers the option of kicking off a tee the lower trajectory of the ball would make it easier to attack the ball, and improve high fielding

"the key for me is timing. especially after conceeding scores players seem to panic."

This is a huge thing, and any keeper I work with its a small bit of psychology - after conceding a goal, make sure your next kickout or puckout is good, take your time after it. I don't think that kicking off a tee would be any more effective than the current system, coming from my own point of view and my own experience, the ball wouldn't end up past the 45 for many keepers,