Transitions matter

WHY USE IT

Gives players a chance to work on retaining possession and assessing when to attempt a more risky pass. It also gives the team who are defending motivation to win the ball and a realistic task to complete, should they be successful in winning it.

SET UP

Create a square grid, suitable for your players, with four goals positioned outside and away from the area (one on each side). Split players into three teams, with two teams playing inside the area and the other acting as support players outside the area.

HOW TO PLAY

One team starts and have to complete a set number of passes before they can pass into one of the small goals. If the other team wins possession, they can try to pass into a small goal straight away. Whichever team wins stays on and starts with the ball – the other team swaps with the team acting as support players.

Progression: ‘Pass count’ resets to zero each time the ball is passed to the support players.

COACHING POINTS

• Players should pass the ball into an area that helps their team-mate keep possession and play quickly. 
• The player wanting to receive the pass needs to be able to see the ball and they need to know what they want to do before they receive it.