A player looks to move with the ball past their opponent.

Session

Moving with the ball and turning session: moving with deception

Session

England Football Learning

2 mins - Sep 29, 2025

Session intentions

This is week five of the moving with the ball and turning session programme. Check out the whole six-week programme here.

This session will help players:

change direction and speed while moving with the ball
scan for space to discover when and where to move and turn
use deception and disguise to move with the ball and turn while under pressure.

If you're short on time, this structured training programme can be used as it is. Pitch sizes in this programme are shown as how long the pitch is x how wide it is, but these are just suggestions.

To make the session more effective, adapt it to suit your players, your numbers and the space you have. If you want to skip, repeat or amend these sessions – that's fine. It’s up to you how you use this resource.

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.

If you’re coaching U7s, please note that from the 2026-27 season, changes will be made to the formats to improve the experience young players get across the country. Check out the Future Fit digital content hub to find out more and alter training plans accordingly.

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.

45x35-yard pitch

15 players

Mini-goals

Flat cones

Bibs

Moving with deception

Great escape: Set up a 35x35-yard area. Put four different sized gates around the edge of the area and mark out a funnel using cones to act as an entrance point. Two players act as guards and start inside the area. The rest have a ball each and start in the funnel.
Great escape: Players with a ball must dribble into the area and try to escape through a gate for a point. The guards get a point for winning the ball off a player. Keep rotating guards after a few minutes to give everyone a chance of playing both roles.
Connect four: Add a 6x6-yard square to each corner of the pitch. Put players in pairs and give them a ball, except for two defending pairs. The pairs with a ball combine with their teammate to get the ball into one of the squares. Then they do the same until they have reached all four squares.
Connect four: The defending pairs try to stop the others from getting to all four squares, but they can’t enter the squares themselves. If a defending pair win the ball, they become an attacking pair and try to connect all four squares. The pair who have lost the ball, try to win a ball back.
End zones: Create six-yard end zones on your full pitch. Split players into three teams. Two teams compete in the area to pass to their target player in an end zone to score. The passer then becomes the new target player. The third team are bounce players around the area. Rotate teams frequently.
Small-sided game: Finish the session by going into a game. Have three teams with one acting as support players around the outside for the team on the ball. This is an opportunity to notice if players can put their learning into practice and have improved their ability to move with the ball and turn.

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On the pitch

Looking for a bit more detail? Check out this video to see what it can look like on the pitch.

Make it easier

Using the STEP framework (Youth Sports Trust, 2002) can help keep things fun, engaging, and appropriate.

To make this session easier for the players, you could:

make the gates bigger in the great escape game
create a safe zone for attackers to use to help them keep possession
use a larger area for the end zone game.

Make it harder

To make this session harder for the players, you could:

add more guards in the great escape game and encourage them to also escape with the ball when they win it to add incentives and increase duel opportunities
increase the number of defending pairs in connect four
remove the bounce players in the end zone game if space allows.

Coaching points

Remind players to scan before, during and after receiving the ball, so they know where and when to move and turn.

Support players to understand how a change in direction and speed can help them beat defenders and progress forward.

Encourage players to use feints and body movement to disguise their intentions when moving with the ball.

Ask players to think about when they can move forward with the ball, or when they may have to turn and utilise support players to play away from pressure.