Switch the play
Transcript
When one side is crowded, switch the play. Here's the game. You need five players, a ball and a thirty by twenty metre pitch with two side zones. Three attack, two defend. Each switch scores. Watch. Two defenders crowd the left, so it goes inside and out to the right. First, scan both sides before it arrives. Then, switch it to the free side, along the ground. Not this. Passing back into the crowd. Defend on your feet. Our target is four sets of six switches, resting a minute between. After any knock to the head, if in doubt, sit them out. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
Switch the play: when one side is crowded, move the ball quickly to the free side, through a middle player or with a long ground pass. England Football suggests a goal after a switch counts as two in four-goal games, so players scan for space.
Set up
- 5 players, 3 v 2
- 30 x 20 m pitch
- 2 side zones, 8 m wide
- 1 point per switch
How it works
- Warm up first. Mark a 30 x 20 m pitch with 8 flat cones: an 8 m wide zone down each side, open in the middle. Size 5 ball.
- Play 3 v 2: one attacker in each side zone, one in the middle. The two defenders can go anywhere.
- Score a point every time the ball gets from one side zone to the other, through the middle player or with one longer pass. Every pass stays on the ground.
- When the defenders crowd one side, scan both sides, open up and switch it to the free side. If the defenders win it, swap roles.
- Play 4 sets of 6 switches, with 1 minute of rest between. Take turns in the middle so everyone switches with both feet.
Coaching points
- Scan both sides. While the ball is on its way to you, look at both sides: where the defenders are crowding and which side is free. Then your decision is made before it arrives.
- Switch to the free side. Open your body to the free side, touch the ball out of your feet towards it, then pass firmly along the ground. For a longer switch, strike through the middle of the ball with your laces so it stays low.
Not this
Passing back into the crowded side, where the defenders already are. It invites more pressure; the free side gives your team time on the ball.
Dose
- 4 sets of 6 switches
- 1 min rest between
Our target: 4 sets of 6 switches with 1 minute of rest between (the Football Reach target, not an FA rule).
Harder / Easier
Harder
Skip the middle: switch with one longer pass along the ground straight from zone to zone. Or play to four small goals, two at each end, where a goal after a switch counts as two (England Football's four-goal game).
Easier
Unopposed first: put two cones in one zone as the crowd and switch to the other zone (3 players). Or move the zones in, so they are about 15 m apart.
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).
- Defenders stay on their feet: no slide tackles. Every pass stays on the ground: no lofted balls.
- Warm up first: long passes load the hip and groin, so stop if anything hurts. Flat grass, never a road or driveway, flat cones.
- Under 16: if your knees or heels hurt when you run, stop and tell an adult; a GP or physio can help.
Sources
- England Football Learning - practice design: four-goal games (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - different passing techniques (opens in a new tab)
- England Football Learning - how to build a passing session (opens in a new tab)
- England Football - UK concussion guidelines for grassroots sport (opens in a new tab)
- The FA Boot Room - growth and the physical corner (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
