Philosophy
Shield Academy is committed to developing players who:
- Are comfortable in 1v1 situations (attacking and defending) and can dominate these.
- Are technically comfortable to perform various skills and techniques.
- Understand the key principles of play in possession/out of possession/in transition.
- Are equipped to make and apply decisions with autonomy, risk and quality.
The 4 corners
We utilize the FA 4 corner model to ensure that:
- Players have the physical capacity to perform successfully
- Players have good game understanding and positional understanding.
- Players develop tactical understanding to outsmart the opposition.
- Players are given the technical tools to successfully apply their decisions with high levels of control.
- Players develop and embed psychological characteristics that support success.
- Players develop and enhance social characteristics, such as team work to enable them to be successful.
How do we do it? – 3v3 and 4v4’s
- Technical Sessions – We emphasise these to refine technical skills that increase the confidence of our players.
- Individual challenges – this allows us to target players to offer specific challenges.
- Team challenges – these relate to our themes and outcomes.
- Small Sided Games (1v1 to 4v4) – these allow us to maximise contact time and develop themes.
- Imaginative Coaching – In line with our philosophy that enables us to deliver high quality sessions within blocks of learning.
- Rotation – Where possible, we fully support ensuring a fair rotation of players. We recognize that players need minutes to progress.
The Shield Philosophy
Our philosophy at Shield takes into account various points of research and our beliefs take into account the fact that our sessions and structures must vary, dependent on the age group of the team. We pride ourselves on creating imaginative structures.