Category: Passing

Objective: to improve weight and direction of passes.

Age group: U7s and upwards.

Set-up:

• Divide your players into teams of four or five.
• Create two open-ended “bags” for each team with semi-circles of cones that are six yards wide and about 10 yards apart.
• One of each team’s bags is empty. The other contains six balls.
• The teams stand behind their empty bag.

How to play: on your command, the first player in each team runs to their bag of six balls, collects one and tries to pass it into their empty bag.

If the ball misses the bag it is out of the game.

Once the first player has tried to pass all six balls into the bag, the second player in the team repeats the exercise in the opposite direction, but only using the balls that the first player managed to get into the bag.

When every player has had a turn, the team with the most balls in their bag wins.

Progression:

1. If a player misses, they must collect the ball, bring it back and try again.

2. Pass with alternate feet: left/right.

Tip: make the game easier for younger players by making the bags bigger and deeper.

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coaching Club.

Objectives: to improve short passing, team shape, support play and communication.

Experience: intermediate.

Warm-up: players in groups of five or six in a 15-yard square playing area are numbered one to five/six. They pass a ball to each other in numerical order and follow their pass. The receivers need to control and move the ball on before the player who passed to them arrives to take over their spot in the playing area.

Coaching points:

Check that your players:

• Place their non-kicking foot next to the ball, pointing in the direction they want the ball to go.
• Strike through the middle of the ball.
• Keep their head over the ball.
• Open up to receive the pass and that their first touch is in the direction they intend to pass the ball.

Game set-up:

Create an area 50 yards long by 20 yards wide with a centre line.

Place two teams of five or six in each playing area, one team in each half.

How to play:

One team starts with the ball. The other team sends two players into the opposite half to try and steal the ball and pass it back to their team mates.

If they succeed, the two “stealers” rejoin their team.

The team that lost the ball now sends two of its best “stealers” into the other half of the playing area to try to win the ball back.

Each team gets a point for every five consecutive passes they can make before they lose possession of the ball or it goes out of bounds.

This is a simple version of keepaway that is suitable for players who are able to pass the ball confidently over short distances.

Objective: To improve passing and communication skills.

Set up: Divide your players into two teams and create two playing areas next to each other, one for each team.

Each player has a number.

How to play: Each team passes the ball to each other in their playing area. After a few seconds, you call out a number.

The player with that number runs into the other team’s area and has 20 seconds to try to gain control of the ball.

They can either kick it into touch (for one point) or take it back to their own area (for three points).

The first team to X number of points wins.

Progressions:

1. Each team has two balls to protect.

2. Two players try to snatch the ball from the other team (call two numbers).

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coach Weekly.

This is a very simple but very effective way to practice quick passing and supporting play with older or more experienced players.

Experience: intermediate.

Set-up: Two teams of four in an area 30 yards long by 20 yards wide, marked with flat cones.

How to play:

• Each team has two players in the inside of the playing area and a player at each end as a target.
• The objective is to get the ball from one target player to the next without losing possession.
• The two teams play in two different directions. One team plays north to south, the other east to west.
• Make the game competitive by awarding a point for each successful play. First to five points wins.

Tip: set up several playing areas next to each other and rotate the teams so that all the teams play each once. Then add up the scores to decide an overall winner.

Objective: To improve passing and receiving skills.

Age group: U7s to U10s.

Set up: Use a 10-yard square for every three players in your squad.

One ball to each group.

Two of the three players (players 1 and 2) are positioned on one side of the square. Player 1 has a ball.

The third player (player 3) is on the opposite side of the square.

How to play: Player 1 passes to player 3 who receives the ball with the inside of the foot, takes the ball a couple of yards to the side and passes the ball to player 2.

After two or three minutes, change player 3.

Coaching points

Ask your players: What is a good pass? Answer: One that is directed towards the receiver, not hit so hard that they can’t control it or hit so softly that it doesn’t get there.

Remind the receiving player to move towards the ball.

Make this drill competitive by seeing how many passes each group of three can make in a minute or how long they can go without making a mistake.

Progression:

Player 1 (the player with the ball) passes to the opposite player (player 3) and sprints around him.

Player 3 taps the ball to the side, with his first touch, as the sprinting player 1 comes around him.

The sprinting player passes with his first or second touch to the player facing him (player 2) who repeats the action.

After a couple of minutes, change player 3.

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coaching Club.

Objective: To improve weight and direction of passes.

Age group: U7s and upwards.

Set up: Divide your players into teams of four or five.

• Create two sets of open-ended “bags” for each team using semi-circles of cones that are six yards wide and 10 yards apart.
• One of each team’s bags is empty. The other contains six balls.
• Teams stand behind their empty bag.

How to play: On your command, the first player in each team runs to his bag of six balls, collects one and tries to pass it into the empty bag.

If the ball misses the bag, it is out of the game.

Once the first player has tried to pass all six balls into the bag, the second player in the team repeats the exercise in the opposite direction, but only using the balls that the first player managed to get into the bag.

When every player has had a turn, the team with the most balls in its bag wins.

Progressions

1. If a player misses, they must collect the ball, bring it back and try again.

2. Pass with alternate feet: Left/right.

Tip: Make the game easier for younger players by making the bags bigger and deeper.

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coach Weekly.