Check, then turn or protect
Transcript
One look over your shoulder tells you whether to turn or keep it. Here's the game. You need a server five metres away, a defender behind you, a ball and a gate ten metres back. Watch. Check your shoulder before the pass arrives. First, if you're free, turn and dribble through the gate. Then, if they're tight, protect it and play it back. Not this. Turning into a tight defender gives the ball away. Never tackle from behind. Our target is three rounds of eight, one minute rest. After any knock to the head, if in doubt, sit them out. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
A turning decision: check over your shoulder before the pass arrives, then turn and play forward if the defender is far away, or protect the ball and play it back if they are tight. FIFA coaches the same rule.
Set up
- A server, 5 m away
- A defender behind you
- A ball
- 3 m gate, 10 m behind
How it works
- Warm up first. Mark an area about 15 x 10 m with 4 cones and set a 3 m gate (2 more cones) in the middle of one end. Use a size 4 ball up to U13 and a size 5 from U14.
- The server stands at the other end. You stand 5 m in front of them with your back to the gate, which is 10 m behind you.
- The defender stands behind you, either close (about 2 m) or far away (6 m or more), and changes it between goes without telling you.
- The server passes along the ground. Check over your shoulder before it arrives. Far away: turn and dribble through the gate. Close: protect the ball and pass it back to the server.
- Do 3 rounds of 8 goes with 1 minute of rest between rounds, and rotate roles after each round.
Coaching points
- If free, turn and go. If your check shows the defender is far away, you have time: take your first touch across your body on the side away from them, turn and dribble through the gate. England Football: scan before, during and after receiving.
- If tight, keep it. If the defender is tight, do not turn. Keep your body between them and the ball, with the ball on the foot furthest from them, and pass it back to the server along the ground.
Not this
Turning into a tight defender, because you did not check or did not trust what you saw. They step in and win the ball, or you run into them.
Dose
- 3 rounds of 8 goes
- 1 min rest, swap roles
Our target: 3 rounds of 8 goes with 1 minute of rest between rounds, mixing close and far (the Football Reach target, not an FA rule).
Harder / Easier
Harder
The defender moves as the pass is played, closing you down or staying off, so you have to check later and decide faster. Then they may try to win the ball, always on their feet and never from behind.
Easier
Tell the receiver before each pass whether the defender is close or far, and roll the ball in gently, until the check and the choice feel natural.
Safety
- If in doubt, sit them out: anyone with a suspected concussion stops straight away, does no training for at least 24 hours and plays no matches for at least 21 days (UK concussion guidelines).
- The defender never tackles from behind and stays on their feet: no slide tackles. Protect the ball with your body, arms out for balance only, no pushing or holding. Passes stay on the ground.
- Warm up first. Flat grass with space all round, never a road or driveway.
- Under 16: if your knees or heels hurt when you run, stop and tell an adult; a GP or physio can help.
Sources
- FIFA Training Centre - receiving on the half-turn (pass back if closely shadowed, turn if not) (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - moving with the ball and turning: scanning and turning (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - session programme: moving with the ball and turning to attack (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - moving with the ball and turning: escaping the defender (opens in a new tab)
- England Football - UK concussion guidelines for grassroots sport (opens in a new tab)
- The FA Boot Room - growth and the physical corner (opens in a new tab)
Not sure which skill to work on first? The free Football Reach test gives you a Player Development Score and shows which of the four corners of your game to work on next, in about two minutes.
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