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99 teachwire.net/secondary THE AUTHOR Jack Costello is assistant principal and DSL at Richmond Park Academy in southwest London, having originally joined in 2002 as a short-term supply teacher after relocating to the UK from Sydney MAIN ACTIVITY Set up as many speed squares as necessary for your class size – I’d recommend 8 or 12 students per square. Divide your students into groups of four of similar ability, number each group and then allocate a colour cone for each group to sit behind. You now have four teams – get them to come up with a team name – and don’t forget a pen and clipboard to keep score! Place a football on each team cone and one on the cone in the middle of the square – the latter is the ‘golden ball’, which acts as the goal. Once your groups are set up, the square should look like the illustration in fig1. The aim of this speed square activity is for the teams to use their balls to try and knock the golden ball off. The first team to manage that in each round gets a point. Progressions The activity will then proceed through a series of progressions, with the running direction changing as you reach each one. To begin with, on your whistle, have the first player from each team sprint around the square anti-clockwise once without the ball, then have them dribble their ball off their team’s cone and use it to try knocking the golden ball off. For the second progression, have the players dribble the ball around all four corners of the square before attacking the golden ball. On the third progression, make it a relay. Each player on the teammust complete a whole lap of the square while dribbling the ball (the ball can cut corners, but the players must run around them), and only the last player to go gets to attack the golden ball. For older and more able groups, you can specify that players complete the whole circuit using only 4 touches. The group can also choose how the relay order is decided and if/how the order is changed. For subsequent progressions, you can introduce further restrictions. Add a compulsory 1v1 feint or turn when players reach each side of the square. Require players to start with 5 sole taps or toe taps to incorporate ball mastery skills, or limit them to using only their stronger or weaker foot. Specify that players can only dribble using their instep, sole or laces. Make it run smoothly • Each differentiated group of 4 should be competing • Use five differently coloured cones to help with the set up • Ensure the rest of the team is SUMMARY Use the think-pair-share model to get some feedback and assessment, and employ prompts to guide the students in analysing their performance: “ Who did this really well, and why was that?” “How would you teach an alien to run or dribble fast?” “Which part of your foot were you using?” “Did any team use a unique tactic, and if so, why did/didn’t it work? ” Discuss which areas of fitness and skills this activity can help improving, and which areas won’t benefit. Finally, add up the scores and award achievement points for FOLLOW-UPS • Move these principles towards 1v1 attack and defence, and team fast break attack and defence drills and progressions • Adapt the activity for basketball, AFL, handball or hockey (remove the 'golden ball' from the latter for health and safety reasons) positioned well back from the square during the action – it’s fast! • Perform a walking demonstration • Give out team points to those who manage to reset the balls quickly • Make sure everyone knows which direction they should be travelling in • Use non-participants to help judge the winners, reset the squares and keep score excellence in effort, performance, teamwork and overall improvement. Teaching points • The importance of efficient running technique – i.e. heads up, arm action, balls of feet • Small touches help to maintain ball control • The left foot will be predominantly used when travelling clockwise, and the right foot when travelling anti-clockwise • Decision making – is it better dribble all the way in or shoot from a distance? You’re never out of the match until the ball is off! Red 3 Red 2 Red 1 Orange 1 Orange 2 Orange 3 Green 1 Green 2 Green 3 Blue 3 Blue 2 Blue 1 GOING DEEPER • Increase/decrease the size of the square • Change the type of ball • Keep the ball in the air all the way around • Introduce a passive defender behind • Link to aerobic and anaerobic fitness/training methods and training principles • Link to exercise intensity and recovery RESOURCES REQUIRED • 5 footballs for each speed square • 5 domed cones for each speed square • Bibs (optional) • Paper for scoring • Your trusty whistle