Pass on the move: keep your stride
Transcript
Pass forward without breaking stride, and the move keeps flowing. Here's how. Warm up first. You need a partner, a ball and six cones. Set three gates, two metres wide, down a thirty metre lane. Run ten metres apart. Watch. Run with the ball, and pass it through the gate, ahead of your partner. They pass it back ahead of you. First, pass into the space in front of them. Then, keep your running speed, and pass off your front foot. Not this. Stopping to set it up. Our target is six lengths, walking back to rest. Swap sides each length. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
Pass forward while running with the ball, without breaking stride. England Football Learning: passing with the front foot works well when travelling with the ball, and lets you pass forward without breaking stride, so the move keeps flowing.
Set up
- A partner and a ball
- 3 gates, 2 m wide
- 30 m lane
- 10 m apart
How it works
- Warm up first. On flat grass, mark a 30 m lane. Down its middle line, set 3 gates of 2 cones, each 2 m wide, about 10 m apart, the first about 7 m from the start. Use a size 5 ball.
- Start level with your partner, one on each side of the gates, 10 m apart. You have the ball.
- Run with the ball and pass it forward through the first gate, into the space ahead of your partner, without slowing down.
- They take one touch forward in their stride and pass it back through the next gate, ahead of you. Keep going to the end of the lane.
- Walk back to the start as your rest, swap sides and go again: 6 lengths in all.
Coaching points
- Into the space ahead. Pass into the space a step or two ahead of your partner, so they run onto it at full speed instead of waiting for it. Time the pass with their run.
- Keep your running speed. Keep your running speed through the pass: no stop and no extra touch to set it up. Play it off your front foot in your stride, toes pointing down and ankle firm, with barely any back-lift.
Not this
Stopping, or taking an extra touch, to set the pass up. Your partner has to slow down and wait for the ball, and the move loses its flow.
Dose
- 6 lengths, walk back
- Swap sides each length
Our target: 6 lengths of 30 m, walking back between lengths and swapping sides each time (the Football Reach target, not an FA rule).
Harder / Easier
Harder
Only one touch before each pass, so every pass is played on the move. Then raise your running speed.
Easier
Jog instead of running, and use a 20 m lane with 2 gates until the timing feels natural.
Safety
- Warm up first. Flat, dry grass with room to slow down past the end, never a road or a driveway.
- Keep the lane clear of other groups. Passes along the ground only, nothing lifted into the air.
- Stop if anything hurts, and tell your coach or a parent.
Sources
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.
Take the free test
