Drills / With a friend
Receive on the half-turn
Your friend passes to you from behind. Open your body, take the ball with your back foot and play forward through a gate.
- Players
- You and a friend
- Space
- 16 × 10 m
- Kit
- 1 ball, 4 cones
- Time
- 12 minutes
- Age
- Under-9s and older
Set up
- Your friend stands with the ball at one end.
- You stand in the middle. Two cone gates at the far end, one on each side.
How it works
- Your friend passes into you.
- Before it arrives, check over your shoulder and turn your body side-on.
- Take your first touch with the foot furthest from the ball, forwards, towards a gate.
- Dribble through the gate, then pass back to your friend and swap.
What to work on
- Look over your shoulder before the ball arrives. Twice if you can.
- Side-on, so you can see the passer and the gates at the same time.
- Let the ball come across your body and take it with your back foot.
- The first touch goes forward, not to a standstill.
Easier
Let the receiver take two touches to turn.
Harder
Your friend calls "left" or "right" as the ball travels, and you go through that gate.
Try next
Drills that work the same skills.
first touch · 10 min · Just you
Wall passes across the body
Pass against a wall, take the rebound across your body to the other cone, and pass again. The best way to practise passing and first touch on your own.
passing · 10 min · You and a friend
Two-touch through the gate
Pass to each other through a small gate. Control with one touch to the side, pass with the second.
attacking · 15 min · Groups of 3
2v1: pass or go?
Two attackers against one defender. The player on the ball decides: dribble past, or pass to a teammate who is free.