Week 3 · U14
Scanning & awareness
Objectives — what the players will do
- 1Check both shoulders BEFORE the ball arrives so you already know your next move
- 2Name what you saw on your last look — the free teammate, the presser, the space to turn into
- 3Let the scan pick your first touch: turn when you have room, play the way you face when you do not
Play 1 — starts when the second player arrives
Scan-Count Rondo
Arrival rondos (4v1 → 5v2) with a twist: each player pairs with a counter on the outside who tallies how many times they scan — a real look over the shoulder — in two minutes. Swap and compare scores; set personal bests. Teens love a stat, and this one is the most important stat in soccer. 15 minutes.
Practice — the one taught activity of the night
Open Door, Closed Door
Groups of four in a 15x15 square: two servers on opposite ends, a receiver in the middle, and a defender who quietly picks a spot behind the receiver before each rep. The server plays in; while the ball travels the receiver scans, reads the picture, and calls it out loud BEFORE the first touch — ‘turn!’ if the defender is far (open door: receive across your body and play to the far server) or ‘back!’ if the defender is tight (closed door: one-touch bounce to the server who passed it). The call is the proof of the look. Rotate the middle player every six reps. About 25 minutes.
Defender stands still where one glance finds them, unlimited touches, and the only job is the call — ‘turn’ or ‘back’. A correct call with a scrappy touch is a win for newer players.
Defender drifts AFTER the pass is struck, so the first scan lies and only a second look tells the truth. Then go fully live: the defender can steal, and a wrong call almost always costs the ball.
Play 2 — always finish playing the real game
Prove-the-Look Game
4v4 or 5v5 to small goals, 25 minutes. Twist: a goal counts double if the scorer can tell you where the nearest defender was when they received the ball (‘on my left shoulder’, ‘behind me, five yards’). If they can name the picture, they saw it — and seeing it is the whole week.
Key coaching points — in your own words
- ·Scan while the ball travels — that is the free moment to look, not after the ball lands.
- ·One look is a glance, two looks is a picture: check before your teammate passes AND while the ball rolls.
- ·‘What did you see on your last look?’ — ask it all night and make them narrate the picture.
- ·The scan chooses the touch: space behind you, turn; pressure behind you, play the way you face.
- ·Count looks, not just goals — teens improve whatever you keep score of.
Defenders live everywhere, demand the free teammate called by NAME, shrink every grid.
Passive defenders, bigger squares, and let the call come after the first touch while the habit builds.
Game-day focus — watch for this on Saturday
Watch the midfield three between the lines: are they checking both shoulders before every ball arrives? One sideline cue all game — ‘pictures’ — and a named leader on the field whose job is to ask teammates what they saw. When a player turns into space they could only have known about by looking, celebrate it like a goal.
Message to forward to your parents
This week is scanning — looking over your shoulder before the ball arrives so the decision is already made. It is the quietest skill in soccer, and the research says it separates levels. Watch a pro match together and count one player’s shoulder checks; then on Saturday, resist instructing from the sideline — the whole point is that THEY see it and THEY decide.
This week's two videos
Prep the night before; copy the activity on the field.
DOES SCANNING IMPROVE FOOTBALL PERFORMANCE?
Watch the night before to understand the idea
The scanning research in under four minutes — why the best players in the world check their shoulders more, and what it does to their passing numbers. Show this to the players themselves in Week 1; at this age, evidence buys buy-in. It frames OBSERVE as a performance edge, not a coaching nag.
Watch on YouTube5 Scanning Drills to Improve Football IQ | How to Scan Like a Pro
A drill you can copy on the field
Five scanning drills that scale from unopposed picture-building to opposed decisions — a ready-made spine for your Introduce and Develop weeks. Lift two drills per session and hold the standard: a scan only counts if it happens while the ball travels. Reference it when players ask what scanning like a pro actually means.
Watch on YouTube