Brake and go

What it trains

Deceleration: braking from a run under control, in a few short steps, then going again. A review of elite matches found hard braking more frequent than hard accelerating in football, and The FA calls acceleration and deceleration practice especially important for 5-11s.

Set up

• Warm up first
• 4 cones, 2 lines
• Stop line 10 m away
• 5 m past the stop line

How it works

1. Warm up first, every time: your club warm-up, the FIFA 11+ Kids (up to 13) or the FIFA 11+ (from 14).
2. On flat, dry, non-slip grass, mark a start line and a stop line 10 m away, with 2 cones on each. Keep at least 5 m clear past the stop line and behind the start. Never on a road.
3. Jog from the start, speed up, then stop on the stop line in a few short steps. The brake zone in the diagram is just the last 3-4 m before the line: you do not need to mark it.
4. Freeze for 2 seconds, low and balanced. Then turn and sprint back past the start, and slow down gradually.
5. Walk back and rest about 60 s. Do 6 reps (our target), turning a different way each time.

Coaching points

1. Brake in short, quick steps. Start braking a few metres before the line with short, quick steps, each foot landing a little in front of you. Braking over several steps spreads the load, and FIFA's coaching advice says the same: decelerate with short, controlled steps.
2. Stop low, chest over knees. Finish low and balanced: hips down, knees bent, chest over your knees, front foot flat and back foot on its toes. Freeze there for 2 seconds; from that position you can push off in any direction.

Not this

Stopping with one big, stiff step: a straight front leg landing heel first far in front, with the body upright or leaning back. The stop jolts, you cannot freeze in it, and straight-knee braking is one of the patterns linked to higher knee loads.

Dose

• 6 reps, 2 s freeze each
• Rest 60 s between reps

Our target: 6 reps with a 2 s freeze, resting about 60 s (the age-ladder dose, our target), inside the plan's agility time.

Harder / Easier

Safety

• Flat, dry, non-slip grass or a track, never a road, pavement or driveway. No braking drills on wet, slippery grass. Keep 5 m clear past the stop line and behind the start, away from walls, posts and people.
• Braking puts big loads through your knees and heels: start at jog pace and add speed over a few sessions.
• Under 16: if your knees or heels hurt when you run, stop or jump, stop and tell an adult. Knee and heel pain is common while you are growing (heel pain from Sever's disease is most common at 8-12), and a GP or physio can help. 16 and over: if something hurts, stop and get it checked by a GP or physio.

Sources

• England Football Learning - movement skills (5-11s: acceleration and deceleration) (opens in a new tab)
• PMC - Harper et al. 2019, decelerations vs accelerations in elite matches (opens in a new tab)
• PMC - McBurnie et al. 2022, deceleration training (low, over several steps) (opens in a new tab)
• FIFA Training Centre - defending in 1v1: short, controlled steps (opens in a new tab)
• England Football Learning - pressing session: slow down, get low (12-16) (opens in a new tab)
• Sheffield Children's NHS - Sever's disease (heel pain, ages 8-12) (opens in a new tab)
• FIFA - injury prevention (FIFA 11+, ages 14+) (opens in a new tab)
• PMC - FIFA 11+ warm-up for ages 7-13 (opens in a new tab)