Speed passing warm up

Set up

A 10m square. One ball. Cones in a diagonal about 2m apart.

HOW TO DO IT

• Put four attackers at the side of the box and put three defenders (with or without pads) in a staggered diagonal line in a box about 2m wider and back than the player before them.
• Have the attackers run back and around a cone and into the box.
• The first player straightens and attacks the first defender and then makes a flat pass to the next player who should have worked around the corner and straightened in line with “their” defender.
• This repeats for the third attacker who gives a flat pass to the fourth attacker running into space.

Notes

With this being more drill based I would work this for 5-10 minutes maximum but maybe repeat a couple of times in between games to see if I am getting transfer of the skill into the game.

COACHING POINTS

Comfort and speed

We want players to be comfortable to receive the ball at their maximum speed. The relevance of this is if I have received a pass going through a space I want to be going at speed through that gap.

Passing pace

We don’t need the player passing to be at maximum speed so players should accelerate onto the ball but manage their speed in front of the defender so that their pass is accurate.

Reaching top speed

How quickly can players get to top speed and how does that affect their timing of their run?

Blocking lines

We can use this practice to highlight blocking lines. So the player that passes may initially run at the centre of the defender and then as they pass drift onto the outside shoulder putting themselves between the defender and their support player.

Different angles

Make players aware that there are benefits to attacking defenders in different ways.

Sometimes attacking the inside shoulder can be useful, sometimes fixing the player where they are will be needed and other times driving at the outside space between two defenders will work well.