
Fifteen years ago, FC Barcelona was king of the soccer world and rondo was the buzzword of the day. The Spanish style of possession had taken over and some of the soccer pundits had claimed that their success boiled down to one simple drill that they created… the rondo.
Staking all their success to just one drill was probably a bit of a stretch. The rondo (or piggy in the middle or plain old keep away) had been around since the creation of the ball and one drill alone wouldn’t lead to world domination, but the La Masia culture, incredible players like Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta, and the way Guardiola implemented training most likely had a bit more to do with it.
Nevertheless, the rondo was billboarded as the drug of choice for all aspiring coaches to fill their weekly practice plans. The problem with any drug though is that it can obscure you from reality. And in the youth soccer world, the reality is that you must constantly teach the game. A drill alone can’t take your players to the promised land.
So, for the last fifteen years, we have had youth coaches everywhere, setting up blocks of rondos and heading off to the podium thinking the league title was a foregone conclusion. But it wasn’t…
When you use a rondo in your training, you need to have written down your teaching topic and your focused coaching points. And then you want to stand right next to them and encourage your players with endless energy.
Depending on the rondo variation, any number of training topics can come to the forefront:
4v1 rondo- Activation, Communication, First Touch, Deception
3v1 rondo- Movement off the Ball, Body Shape, Receiving Across the Body
4v2 rondo- Defending in Pairs, Pass and Move, Finding the Cut Pass
3v1+1 rondo- Transition to Attack, Pass or Dribble, Switching the Point
Rondo Progressions
If you want to make sure you don’t mess this up, here’s a great video to help you progress and get your rondos right for your players.
Tactical Rondos
And as they grow, your rondos will need to grow too to help them continue to develop when they’re older.
Here’s another great video to help add a tactical element to your rondos as they progress.
Please remember coaches, it’s never the drill alone… it’s the energy, the encouragement, the demands, and the knowledge that you pour into a drill that makes all the difference in the end.
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