As many teams are limited in the amount of time that is together, it is important to maximize the vision and awareness opportunities. From the beginning of training, we can use a simple movement preparation exercise to ask players to seek out relevant game cues. In this exercise, players are asked to find the imaginary lines between other players. We refer to these imaginary lines as ‘curtains’. As players move farther apart, the lines lengthen and the Curtain is opening. As players move closer together, the lines shorten and the Curtain is closing. If a player cannot move through the curtain because it is closing, the good news is, there is a curtain that is opening on either side. Players are moving, warming up, and practising their vision and awareness.

As players move within the area they focus on finding spaces between other players (Breaking the imaginary lines). When they get to the middle of the area they split their feet (similar to doing a jumping jack without using the arms (however, you can ask younger players to actually do a jumping jack)) and then move in a new direction.

Continuing on from the previous exercise, players arrive on the outside of the area and swing their leg across their body and turn. This movement of swinging the leg is similar to the movement of a SLIDE turning technique. Gradually ask the players to swing their leg (right and left) even higher across their body. This is a good dynamic stretch.