Moving with the ball session: through the gates

SESSION

England Football Learning

2 mins - Jun 17, 2024

Session overview

This session will help players:

learn different techniques for moving with the ball
vary speeds when dribbling to get away from defenders
move with the ball as an individual.

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

Set up an area with gates of different sizes marked out using cones. Our example uses an area of 20x20 yards and eight players.

Through the gates

Give each player a ball. Have the players dribble through the gates of different sizes. You could turn this into a competition by seeing how many gates the players could get through in a set time.
Advance the session by making some of the players blockers. The blockers aim to make it more difficult to dribble through the gates by moving around the area. The blockers shouldn't interfere with the ball at this point in the practice.
Progress the session further by adding a goal to each side of the area. Four attacking players start in the middle of the area with a ball. The four defenders start on the outside of the area. The attacking players gain points by dribbling through the gates for a set time.
Once the time is up, the defenders run onto the pitch and play a 1v1 against an attacker. The attackers can continue to gain points by dribbling through the gates. The attackers receive the points they collected from the gates by scoring in one of the goals.
Move the session on by changing to a pitch with two goals at either end. Split the pitch into three zones of equal size and have a 4v4. The aim is to dribble through the zones to score goals.
The defensive zone is worth three points, the middle zone two, and the attacking zone one. A player can dribble through and accumulate points before scoring. For example, a player could dribble from the defensive zone to the attacking zone for a score of six points.

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Tactics board

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

Coaching tips

Change up the size of the gates to create different opportunities for players to move with the ball. Use larger gates to get players used to the session initially. Add smaller gates when the players are ready to try something more challenging.

In the second progression, make sure to swap the teams around so that everyone gets a go at moving with the ball.

And if you feel it’s right, use the STEP framework (Youth Sports Trust, 2002) to help keep things fun, engaging and appropriate.