Cutting in 3s

Most of the time, your attack will face an organised defence. In which case, your players will need to break it down using good lines of running and accurate passing. This session works towards a 3 v 3 situation, challenging the attackers to move in or out to create gaps.

Warm up time: 5
Session time: 5-8
Development time: 6-9
Game time: 15-20
Warm down time: 7

What to think about

This session forces players to run different angles. Repetition will ingrain better running lines, and will challenge players to pass to others running these lines. The “cut” is a hard word which gives a sense of the angle to take. You might need to start the players slowly and narrow the space they are running, so the angles are not too acute and the passes not so long. An important part of this session is communication – where and when to pass.

set-up

1. Run angles, don’t run straight against an organised defence.
2. Believe in your running line and run hard.
3. Tell the ball carrier where you are!

What you get your players to do

Set up five gates as in the top picture, the size of the gate can be one to three metres wide, depending on the skills of your players. The attackers cannot run through the gate immediately in front of them. Both the gates behind the front three are out of bounds for all attackers. The players run forward and use one pass before reaching each set of cones.