Pass and move through the gates
Transcript
Pass, then move to a new gate, ready for the next pass. Here's how. Warm up first. You need two players, a ball and ten cones. Make five gates, one and a half metres wide, in a fifteen metre square. Watch. Pass through a gate. Then you both move to a new one. They pass it back. First, move straight away after every pass. Then, look up, and point to the next gate. Not this. Using the same gate again. Our target is four rounds of one minute, resting a minute between. Count your gates. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
Pass through a gate to your partner, then both move to a new gate, every time. England Football's 7-11 sessions use gates like this to teach pass and move: after passing, move into new space, ready to receive again.
Set up
- 2 players
- 1 ball
- 5 gates, 1.5 m wide
- 15 x 15 m square
How it works
- Warm up first. On flat grass, mark a 15 x 15 m square and scatter 5 gates of 2 cones, each 1.5 m wide, at different angles. Use a size 3 ball up to U11, size 4 at U12-U13 and size 5 from U14.
- Stand either side of a gate, a few steps back from it, and pass along the ground through the gate to your partner.
- As you pass, point to a new gate. Both of you move there straight away: the receiver takes the ball with them, the passer runs round to the other side.
- Pass back through the new gate, then pick another one. Count how many gates you pass through in 1 minute.
- Play 4 rounds of 1 minute with 1 minute of rest, and try to beat your count.
Coaching points
- Move straight away. As soon as the ball leaves your foot, go. Move to the far side of a new gate, a few steps back from it, so your partner can pass straight through to you. Don't let the ball stop.
- Look up, point the way. Look up between passes to find the next free gate, and point to it as you pass, so your partner knows where you are going. Pass it the way you would like to receive it: firm and along the ground.
Not this
Passing back through the same gate, or waiting at one gate. The drill is moving into new space after every pass, so you are ready to receive again.
Dose
- 4 x 1 min, 1 min rest
- Count your gates
Our target: 4 rounds of 1 minute with 1 minute of rest, counting your gates each round (the Football Reach target, not an FA rule).
Harder / Easier
Harder
Only one-touch or two-touch passes. England Football's harder version asks for a first-time pass through the gate.
Easier
Stay at one gate for two passes before moving, and make the gates bigger and further apart.
Safety
- Warm up first. Flat, dry grass with space all round, never a road or a driveway.
- Spread the gates out so you never run into each other, and look up before you move.
- Passes along the ground only, nothing lifted into the air.
- Stop if anything hurts, and tell an adult.
Sources
- England Football Learning - passing and receiving to score (session programme) (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - receiving and finishing to score (session programme) (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - combinations to play forward (through the gates) (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - passing to penetrate (passing gates) (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.
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