☂️ THE UMBRELLA ANALOGY! Try this at your next session to help children understand when to make the pitch big and when to close it up. When your team has the ball, ask the children to “open the umbrella”. That means spreading out, creating space and making the pitch as big and wide as possible so the player on the ball has options. It gives them a really simple visual. If the umbrella is open, we’re big, stretched and ready to attack! Then, as soon as they lose the ball, ask them to “close the umbrella”. Now everything comes back in. Children move towards the centre, protect the goal and get compact quickly. It’s such a simple way of helping children understand two really important principles of the game without overcomplicating it. Open the umbrella when you have it. Close the umbrella when you don’t. Give it a go at your next session and let me know how it works. Follow @coachjonnyfff for more top tips! Always keen to hear other analogies and ideas that help bring the game...