Christmas colours

WHY USE IT

This practice gives players lots of touches on the ball, allowing them to practice their dribbling and encouraging them to understand where the space to move into is.

SET UP

Set out an area relative to your number of players. Mark out some small zones in the area, each a different colour.

HOW TO PLAY

Players dribble around the area, keeping the ball under control and avoiding collisions. The coach will then shout out a Christmas object that is the colour of one of the zones - Christmas tree for green, for example, or Rudolph’s nose for red. The players must dribble their balls into the correct zone as quickly as possible. Players start on 10 points - if they are the last player to get to the correct area, they lose a point. The player with the most points at the end wins.

Adaptations: Change the shape, size and placement of the area. Split the players into teams, and they have to work the ball into the area together, rather than dribble it.

Coaching points

• Keep your head up when moving around the area so you have an awareness of where other players are
• Make sure you always have the ball under close control so you can accelerate to the right area when you need to.