Space settler
Why it works
Against zone, a receiver who keeps running arrives in somebody else's area and a receiver who stops is open. Youth players do the first thing because running feels like effort and stopping feels like giving up. The gate at the top is what stops the settle turning into standing about: he settles, then he works.
Run it
10 MINSix each, alternating sides, with the throw split between the settle and the gate. Ten minutes.
Say this
“Stop, do not drift.”
A settle is a full stop with the feet alive, not a slow jog.
“Face him and show your hands.”
Settling only counts if the thrower can see you are ready.
“Then work. Do not admire it.”
The gate is what makes the settle a route rather than a rest.
Good looks like
- The break is decisive, either way, not a drift toward the middle.
- There is a visible full stop at the wide cone, with the feet still moving.
- The body faces the thrower during the settle, every time.
- The work through the gate starts before the thrower has decided.
The mistakes
Coasting through the spot, which is what leaves him covered again a second later.
Say: “Stop, do not drift.”
Settling with the back half turned, which makes him unthrowable to.
Say: “Face him and show your hands.”
Stopping and staying stopped, which in a game is a defender arriving.
Say: “Then work. Do not admire it.”
Tell him which side before he runs, and throw it at the settle every time. Add the gate once stopping is a habit.
Put a defender in the middle of the T. Now the quiet grass has to be found rather than assigned.