Coaching Insight Volume 8 | Page 47

A Fielding Focus Two to try One Start with a consistent set position. That should be with “energy in your feet”, as Trevor Penny used to tell me, or the same position you see tennis players take up when receiving serve, or goalkeepers facing a penalty. From there, you can move quickly in any direction. It’s hard work and requires strong bum and leg muscles but if you can get the players doing that they’ll move much better. A good way to practise this is to set out three cones and number them. Have the players take up the set position and when you shout out one, two or three they have to move from the set position and reach the numbered cone as quickly as possible. Two Badminton is the best game I know for footwork, so I’d always encourage your players to take that up in their spare time. But we can incorporate some of the benefits of badminton into a practice. Using a shuttlecock and racquet, position a player close to you then hit the shuttle over their head and behind them, forcing them to run back and catch it. Once caught, or not, hit another shuttle short to bring them back in. Repeat until you run out of shuttlecocks. 45