Dribbling session: passing and moving

Session

England Football Learning

3 mins - Sep 16, 2024

Session intentions

This is week three of the turning and dribbling to score session programme. Check out the whole six-week programme here.

This session aims to teach players to create space and opportunities for themselves and their teammates.

It will help players:

improve their dribbling techniques
develop confidence and composure on the ball while under pressure
work on their decision-making skills – such as when to dribble forward, when to shield the ball, and when to pass or shoot.

If you like this idea, download the session plan and give it a go. And don’t forget to share your experience on the England Football Community. We’d love to know how you got on.

Session setup

In our example, this is what we’ve used to set up this session. But adapt it to suit your team and the space available to you.

Half a pitch

Flat cones

Bibs

Passing and moving

Create an area with a scoring zone in each corner. Pair players up – one attacker and one defender. Players start outside of the area. Play the ball into the area for an attacker to receive. They look to turn and dribble to a scoring zone behind them. The defender looks to win the ball back.
Set up a square with cones in each corner and two in the middle. Create two gates. Put a player on each cone and both gates. Give a player in opposite corners a ball. They pass to a middle player, who passes to the next corner. They pass to the gate player, who passes to the player behind them.
Create an area suitable for a 4v4. Have two neutral players at both ends. The team in possession work together to get the ball from one side of the area to the neutral players on the other. They score a point each time this is done. The other team needs to win the ball and then do the same to score.
Play a matched-up game. Each side has two unopposed wingers who can dribble up and down the outside of the area or cut inside to put crosses into the box. A goal is worth one point. Two points are awarded if all of the team’s outfield players are over the halfway line when scoring.

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Tactics board

Looking for a bit more detail? Check out Pav’s tactics board video for this session.

How to make it easier

Using the STEP framework (Youth Sports Trust, 2002) can help keep things fun, engaging, and appropriate. For this session, you could make areas bigger to give your players more room to run with the ball. In the matched-up game, you could position multiple footballs around the pitch to restart play from different positions. This allows for the ball to end up in the final third quicker.

How to make it harder

To make this session harder, you could make the areas smaller, and the attacking team underloaded. You could also challenge players to only play forward once they receive the ball from a neutral player in the third drill.

Coaching points

Stress the importance of being comfortable dribbling with both feet. This maximises versatility and minimises predictability for opponents.

Teach players to use subtle body movements and feints to deceive defenders and create space to advance with the ball.

Show players how to use their body to protect the ball from defenders. They can use their arms and body positioning to maintain possession under pressure.

Ensure players rotate roles in practices regularly. Also, consider how the defending team can score points – this will incentivise them more.