Full-back: recovery run, then 1v1
Transcript
Full-backs, recover inside and stop the cut-back. Here's the drill. You need a partner, a ball, and a channel twenty metres by ten along a touchline, with a cone gate near the far end. Start three metres behind them. Watch. They break, you sprint back goal-side. First, run inside their line, towards goal. Then, show them down the line, and block the cut-back. Not this. Chasing the ball lets them cut inside. Stay on your feet. Our target is six goes each side, resting a minute. After any knock to the head, if in doubt, sit them out. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
A full-back's recovery: when a winger gets past you, sprint back on a line inside theirs until you are between the ball and your goal, then defend the 1v1 on your feet and block the cut-back. Built from FA and FIFA defending advice.
Set up
- A partner, the winger
- A ball
- 20 x 10 m channel
- 2 m gate near the end
How it works
- Warm up first. Along a touchline (or any straight line), mark a channel 20 m long and 10 m wide; its far end is the byline. Put a 2 m cone gate on the inside edge, about 10 m from the byline.
- Your partner, the winger, starts at the near end with the ball, about 2 m in from the touchline. You start 3 m behind them, a little inside.
- On their first touch, sprint back on a curve inside their line, towards goal, until you are between the ball and the gate. Then slow down with short steps.
- Show them down the line and block the cut-back on your feet. They score 1 point by getting the ball through the gate along the ground; you score 2 by winning it.
- Walk back and rest 1 minute. After 6 goes, run the channel the other way so the line is on your other side, then swap roles.
Coaching points
- Run inside their line. Do not run at the ball. Sprint on a curve inside the winger's line, towards your goal, until you are goal-side: between the ball and the goal. Then slow down with short steps.
- Down the line, block it. Stand side-on so the only way on is down the line. Stay between the ball and the gate, close enough to block, and stop the cut-back with your feet and legs, staying upright.
Not this
Chasing straight after the ball, behind the winger. You never get goal-side, so they can cut inside you or play the cut-back past you.
Dose
- 6 goes each side
- 1 min rest between goes
Our target: 6 goes each side, resting 1 minute between goes, then swap roles (the Football Reach target, not an FA rule).
Harder / Easier
Harder
A bigger head start: on their first touch, touch a cone 3 m behind you before you recover (the FA's 1v1 recovery idea), or start 5 m behind them.
Easier
Start level with the winger. They dribble at jogging pace and only try the cut-back from near the byline, until the inside line feels 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).
- Stay on your feet: no slide tackles, no pushing or pulling, and keep the ball on the ground.
- Flat grass with space all round and room to slow down past the lines, never a road or driveway.
- Stop if anything hurts. Under 16: knee or heel pain when you run? Stop and tell an adult; a GP or physio can help.
Sources
- England Football Learning - 1v1 recovery session (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - what is covering and recovering (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - Ashley Cole: defending skills (opens in a new tab)
- FIFA Training Centre - Michael Johnson: defending principles (full-backs) (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - how to coach tackling (opens in a new tab)
- England Football - UK concussion guidelines for grassroots sport (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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