Circle passing

thanks to FineSoccer for this drill

This is a good drill to use as a warm up before a match or training session or as part of a basic skills practice.

Start with 5 players in a circle with a 20 yard diameter.  Then have another player behind each of these players.  See diagram below

X1 starts with the ball and passes to X2.  X1 then sprints behind X2 (so it's a pass and follow the pass).  X2 then passes to X3 and sprints and follows the pass.  X 3 then passes to X 4 and does the same.  X 4 passes to X5 and then X5 passes to X1.  After each pass the player follows the pass and goes to the back of that line.

Do this for 2-3 minutes and then add a second ball.  Now the balls start with X1 and X4.  While X1 is passing to X2, X4 is passing to X5.  This will require a lot of movement, hard sprints, communication and vision.

Next add one defender in the middle.  The difference now is the players can pass in any direction they want.  However, they still must follow their pass.

Next add a second defender so it's sort of a 5 v 2 game but with much more movement and confusion than normal (must like a real game of soccer).

There are other variation you can do with this type of activity with the biggest limitation being your imagination.