Small-Sided Transition Games Progressing to Goal

with Brian McMahon,
Palm Beach Atlantic University Head Coach;
2015 NCAA Elite Eight and NCAA South Region Champions, 2014 NCCAA Final Four and NCCAA South Region Champions, 2012 NAIA National Champions, 2012 NSCAA and the NAIA National Coach of the Year, over 300 wins at the collegiate coaching levelThe best teams in the world are dangerous in the attack and well-organized defensively, but they also have the ability to make quick transitions. Top level teams like Atletico Madrid, Dortmund, and Chelsea under Jose Mourinho were known for the way they used transition.

Teaching a team to instinctively transition and react positively to moments of change can be challenging. Brian McMahon introduces the concept of a holistic team approach to executing transitions through innovative, progressive training exercises. Coach McMahon differentiates his training approach by incorporating an attacking, up-tempo style that has made his team an attacking threat in Division II with over 80 goals in 2015.

Coach McMahon demonstrates five transition exercises that will help your team not only attack with lightning pace, but also transition quickly and get organized behind the ball. Coach McMahon provides in-depth illustrations, both on a white board and on the field, where techniques and tips are shared before the exercise is introduced. The exercises are simplified, which allows you to teach main points of the drill as variations are added in order to gain technical teaching opportunities.

The teaching points emphasized during the exercises include:

• Quick speed of play and ball circulation to break teams down
• How to quickly organize your teams for transitional play
• The technical aspects to keep possession of the ball both as an individual and as a team
• How to defend to quickly start a counter attack

The progressive nature of Coach McMahon’s training exercises enable players to pick up the principles of transition piece by piece. The activities build in a sophisticated package of concepts. Team and individual competition is expertly weaved into Coach McMahon’s training approach. The activities inject an element of competition, which raises the standard of play.

Exercises include:

• 5v2 Rondo (keep away) Drill – Incorporating the entire team in a competitive, yet dynamic environment, the Rondo Drill trains players to develop a sense of rhythm in possession and maintain a high level of speed of play to move to the next grid.
• Bayern Munich Drill – An unopposed passing pattern that teaches players to prepare their body to receive the ball and improve one- and two-touch passing. Coach McMahon shows four progressions to this passing pattern, which leads to a nine-pass combination for players to work on quick ball circulation, through balls and the timing of supporting runs.
• Transition Possessions – This small sided game keeps your players on their feet and alert to transition at a moment’s notice. Coach McMahon separates his players into three teams with one team ready to quickly transition on the field from the outside. Players try to keep possession for a certain amount of passes before the defending team has to transition.
• Transition to Goal – Game situation drill where each team must think about which goal to defend when transitioning onto the field. This drill uses elements of previous drills to demonstrate game-like play. Coach McMahan shows variations and restrictions that can be included in this game.

On average, there are over 200 transitional moments during a game, and it’s important to master and take advantage of those moments to be successful. This video will teach you how important it is to attack with pace and how quick your team needs to be to get in good defensive positions when they lose possession of the ball.

64 minutes. 2016.