Step 1 Shielding

The Step Across

This is the most basic shielding move. The player steps over the ball to put either one or both legs between the ball and an incoming opponent.

There is a trick to it, however. In stepping across the ball, the player usually wants to end up being positioned to face the direction where there is the best chance of finding support players (i.e., toward the open field- not the touchline). In general, the only time that you want to turn towards the touchline is when it makes sense to kick the ball off of the opponent's shin guards to get a throw-in.  After learning the basic step across, the player needs to know when/how to use the move. However, give the players some time to experiment on actually doing the move before you get into this.

Example: Have one player pass to another player, then walk towards the receiver to start shutting him down. Have the receiver step across the ball to put himself between the opponent and the ball - and end up with his back foot (the foot farthest from the opponent) resting on top of the ball. Once they have this basic idea down - and have learned the mechanics, it is time for the next step - which is to make actual contact with the opponent.

Now, return to the grid and allow players to practice making the shoulder-to-shoulder contact (or getting their shoulder into the opponent's chest, depending on the angle). The idea is to confidently hold the opponent on one shoulder while you get your head up to find a team-mate to give the ball to. In the warm-up, the players experiment with moving the ball while leaning into the partner, so they should have some ideas of their own which they should be allowed to explore.

Step 2 Shielding

Rolls

When in the basic shielding position, the ball is moved around either with the side of the foot or the sole of the free foot.

Allow the players some time to work on this with each other- and also suggest to players that they can work on this at home by pushing one shoulder against a wall, and simply rolling the ball back and forth to move in a circular fashion. After some experimentation, play a game where the defender gets 1 point if he can steal the ball or kick it away before the count of 5, while the attacker gets 1 point if he can hold the ball to the count of 5. Increase the holding time to 7 or 9 as you get success.

Step 3 Shielding

Pull-Backs

The pullback move is used when an opponent is coming in so quickly that it will be hard to step across the ball in time to shield it, so the ball is basically pulled or rolled to one side using the sole of the foot.

Once the ball is pulled back, the basic shielding posture is used to lean into the opponent - but the player will need to be more braced for the contact, as he likely will not have time to initiate the contact himself.

After illustrating this move, have the receiver move up into the middle of the grid (which will reduce the time needed for the server to get to him), and work on using the pull-back to get ready to shield the ball. Play the same game of points for holding the ball or stealing it.

Step 4 Shielding

Circle Turn

There are two types of circle turns - one by using the inside of the foot and one by using the outside of the foot.

The latter is the one which is most commonly used - although both can be practiced. In an outside circle turn, the foot used to turn the ball is cocked outwards and somewhat back, and the ball is tapped 3-4 times to allow the player to make a complete circle.

Usually, a circle turn will be used in a pressure situation to spin off of an opponent and explode away on the last tap. Therefore, when practicing circle turns, add an explosion to the last tap so that the ball is pulled with the foot in the new direction. Note that it is fine to do partial circles (and, in games, most "circle" turns actually are about _ of a full circle). The key to using circle turns well is to be able to look up as the taps are being made, so that the ball can be laid off to a team-mate if close support is available - as the ball almost always should be laid off in such situations, since the natural position of the first player will serve to obstruct the opponent. When you observe a player actively obstructing the opponent, however, you need to bring up the difference between just holding your ground (which is legal) and active movement to prevent the opponent from getting to your team-mate with the ball (which is a foul).

Return to the same grid to work on the circle turn. Put the receiver on the back end line (to give him more time to control the ball once received, and allow him to initiate the circle turn as soon as the opponent gets within contact range. Instruct the server to act more like a shadow, just slightly crowding the receiver from the rear as he makes the circle - but not really make an effort to steal the ball. Remember: you are just introducing the idea of this move at this stage. Young players are unlikely to be able to execute this move under full pressure until they have spent more time working on dribbling (especially on explosions), so simply encourage effort.