Football passing drill

A great practice for young teams to aid decision making.

"Not over there! Ryan was open!"

When your players are under pressure to make a choice of where to pass the ball, it's no good shouting at them if they make the wrong choice. How do they know if you haven't shown them in training why they should make the right choice?

When you are coaching, you need to help your players learn about passing and the consequences of their passing decisions. This is a great practice for young teams - there are three games in one here:

Pass forward.
Pass wide.
Keep possession.

If possible, players should look to play forward, simply because that is where the goal is. If this is blocked then play wide, if this is blocked then they should look to play back, move off the ball, and start the process again.

These are simple tactics that are very effective at the top level of professional football and no less effective at the grass roots level. It’s impossible for the opposition to block the middle and the sides all the time.

By playing wide, you will stretch the opposition and create chances through the middle. By playing through the middle, you will force them in tight and be able to exploit the space this creates out wide.

Here's how it works:

You can change the size of the pitch depending on the number of players, their ability, age and the intensity required. But I recommend starting with half a full size pitch and reduce the size for a more intense session.

You should start by playing a set period for each game (say, 3 minutes each) and then randomly call out the game to be played.

Game 1: possession game – simply make 5 passes to get a goal.
Game 2: 4 goal game – try to score in the small wide goals.
Game 3: 2 goal game – try to score in the normal goals.

If you found your players enjoyed this session why not give them more? Simply click here for more information.