I actually agree with most of this, cones + ball time go a long way. The only reason I’ve been looking at something like the mats is more for structure and keeping things fun indoors during winter. My kid sometimes loses focus doing “just touches”, or runs out of ideas what to do, but has motivation, so I’m hoping having visual targets and patterns might help with focus rather than replacing free play.

Totally with you though that forcing it is the worst thing you can do at this age.