Two-touch tempo
Transcript
Two touches, two seconds, and the ball keeps moving. Here's how. Warm up first. You need three players, a ball and five cones. Make a triangle, twelve metres a side, with a two metre gate on one side. Watch the ball go round. Touch, pass, every player, every time. First, let your first touch set up the pass. Not this. Stopping it dead, so you need a third touch. Then, pass with your second touch, inside two seconds. That's our rule. Our target is four blocks of two minutes, resting a minute between. Change direction every minute, for both feet. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
Keep the tempo high: receive and pass on within two touches and about two seconds, round a triangle. FIFA's activation drills ask players to move the ball on the first touch and play it on the second.
Set up
- 3 players
- 5 cones
- Triangle, 12 m a side
- 2 m gate on one side
How it works
- Warm up first. On flat grass, set 3 cones in a triangle, 12 m apart, one player just behind each cone. Put 2 cones 2 m apart halfway along one side as a gate. Use a size 5 ball (U14 and up), with 2 spares beside the triangle.
- Pass round the triangle along the ground. Every player takes two touches: the first sets the ball up, the second passes it.
- The pass along the gate side goes through the gate every time it comes round.
- Move the ball on within about 2 seconds of it arriving (our rule). If a pass goes astray, play the next ball from the spares straight away.
- Change direction every minute so both feet get work. Play 4 blocks of 2 minutes with 1 minute of rest.
Coaching points
- Set up the pass. Open up before the ball arrives, so you can see the passer and the next player. Let it run across you and use your first touch to push it a little forward, out of your feet, towards the next pass.
- Two touches, two seconds. Pass with your second touch, firm and along the ground, timed and weighted so the next player can do the same. Two touches, and the ball is gone inside about two seconds.
Not this
Stopping the ball dead under your feet. You then need a third touch to set it, the next player waits, and the tempo drops.
Dose
- 4 x 2 min, 1 min rest
- Change direction each min
Our target: 4 x 2 minutes, 1 minute rest, changing direction every minute. Two touches in about 2 seconds: our rule, not an FA or FIFA rule.
Harder / Easier
Harder
One touch only: pass first time, as FIFA's activation drills encourage. Or add a defender in the middle who tries to intercept, on their feet, never tackling.
Easier
Three touches allowed, softer passes, until the ball arrives on target and keeps moving.
Safety
- Warm up fully first. Flat, dry grass with space all round, never a road or a driveway.
- Every pass stays on the ground: nothing lifted into the air.
- Spread out from other groups so a stray ball does not run into them.
- Stop if anything hurts, and tell an adult or coach.
Sources
- FIFA Training Centre - technical activation circuit 1 (move it on the first touch, play it on the second) (opens in a new tab)
- FIFA Training Centre - John Peacock: passing and receiving (one or two touches) (opens in a new tab)
- FIFA Training Centre - individual actions for developing central midfielders (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - passing and receiving: connecting with teammates (opens in a new tab)
- England Football FutureFit - ball sizes by age group (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.
Take the free test
