Cover the Crease
Teach off-ball defensive positioning and recovery based on ball location. X1 starts with the ball and passes around the perimeter (X2, X3, X4). As the ball moves, the on-ball defender extends to cover the receiver while off-ball defenders recover inside to help guard X5 on the crease. Maintain man-you-ball triangle positioning at all times. Variation: Initially don't allow passes to X5 until recovery technique is mastered. Then open it up as a live 5v4 — offense scores if they move the ball fast enough to find X5.
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