Pressing session: hunt the ball

Session

England Football Learning

2 mins - Dec 2, 2024

Session intentions

This is week five of the pressing and tackling to win the ball session programme. Check out the whole six-week programme here.

This session aims to help players work together to win the ball back high up the pitch to break to score.

It will help players:

work together to win the ball back
improve fundamental movement skills
practise breaking up the pitch to score.

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

12 players

Flat cones

Bibs

Hunt the ball

Set up two pitches with a goal at each end. Have an even-sided game of handball on both. The aim of the game is to throw the ball into the opposition's goal. The players can pass to their teammates and run with the ball. The ball can be won back by intercepting the pass or by tagging it.
Move on to regular football. If you win the ball in the opposition half and score, it's worth three goals. Then, add a rule: if you win the ball and score within five seconds, roll a dice to determine how many goals it is worth. Finish where each player is 1v1 against an opposition player.
Set up a pitch with goals at both ends and divide it into thirds for an even-sided game. After winning the ball in the attacking third, scoring is worth five goals, the middle third three, and the defensive third one. Refer to the "make it harder" session for progressions to this game.

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Tactics board

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

Make it easier

Using the STEP framework (Youth Sports Trust, 2002) can help keep things fun, engaging, and appropriate. Add safety zones to create an area where players can get a few moments to think. Change your pitch size if your players find it too hard to press the ball. You could reduce the size of the pitch to reduce the area in which the players have to go to press the ball.

Make it harder

To make the session harder, pair players with technical or physical differences. This will create new challenges for your players to consider.

You could make the pitch wider, making pressing as a team more difficult. Also, try overloading or underloading teams. A player could join the opposition if they score to create this scenario. Add time limits to create pressure on winning the ball back quickly so there is time to score.

Progress the final activity first by moving to a different set of rules. If a team scores a goal, they get one point. However, they then get the ball back and can score a bonus point. This is scored if they can keep the ball for six seconds without the other team making contact with it. The final progression for this activity is to have a regular game with no point system.

Coaching points

In the arrival activity, get your players to think about who is helping to defend the ball and who is brave enough to tag the opposition's ball. This will help them start thinking about how best to work as a team.

Encourage the nearest player to the ball to close down the opponent with speed. This will help disrupt the person with the ball and help to win the ball cleanly.

Get your players to use their body to get their opponent off balance or to force them backwards or sideways.

Emphasise supporting teammates who are already pressing the ball. This will help them to "hunt in packs" to win the ball back.