As someone who started playing soccer in the local community, I never knew some of the soccer drills we did back then had names.
We did many of them without having extensive knowledge about their importance. However, with the education I have been exposed to now, some of these drills have become clearer than ever before.
To master some of these things now, they require practice drills, which must be done in a controlled and supervised environment, with a coach and some soccer practice equipment.
In this article, I have highlighted six of the best give-and-go soccer drills to get your team playing soccer the right way.
6 of the Best Give and Go Soccer Drills
Here are six best Give and Go Soccer Drills.
2v1 Soccer Square for a Give and Go
This particular drill helps the players to think quickly, create spaces beyond their markers, and coordinate with the bounce player to pass the ball. In addition, it helps to practice effective communication with the bounce players about where to receive the ball.
Another takeaway from this drill is that the players learn to observe the defender and the ball movement simultaneously. Isn’t that good?
Setup: You will need a 7 x 7-yard playing area, a soccer ball, and six players to execute the drill
How to Play: You will have to place two target players and two bounce players on four sides of the field. The remaining two players will remain in the middle.
The drill will begin with one target player passing the ball to one of the players in the middle.
That middle player will now become the attacker upon receiving the ball and will now have to pass the ball to the other target player by playing a give-and-go with a bounce player. Meanwhile, the other middle player will now act as the defender.
With that in mind,, if a pass is successful, the player will take the point, while the roles will be reversed when the defender wins the ball. Each session of the drill should be three minutes, after which the players will change roles.
Dribble and Support Via Triangle
This drill is simply to help practice quick dribbling while maintaining ball control that will help in a give-and-go move. On the other hand, this drill can also work as the perfect warm-up before a training match.
Setup: You need 8 players, a square grid of suitable size, 2 soccer balls, and 2 cones to carry out this drill in your training session.
How to Play: The starting position of the drill goes as thus; you will place two cones at a distance of 5 yards in the center of the field opposite each other.
The next step is to divide the players into a group of four, then two players from each team will stand behind the cones and the other three will take up positions on the pitch such that they form two triangles.
After that arrangement, the player in the bottom right-hand corner starts the drill by dribbling toward the player in the center. The player in the center will now receive the ball and dribble toward the player in the other corner.
Simultaneously, the other team on the other half of the set-up will do likewise. The drill can then go on for about 3-5 minutes.
Conditioned game
I kid you not, this is my favorite give-and-go soccer drill and I am sure your team will also enjoy it.
This drill helps the players improve their passing accuracy and judge the right angle of approach for receiving a pass. In addition, it also teaches players to observe their target while aiming to play a short or long pass.
Setup: You will need 12 outfield players, a 50 x 30-yard rectangular playing area, and one soccer ball to carry out this drill.
How to Play: The first thing to do is to divide the playing area into three sections. You will mark a 10 x 30 yard end zone at each end of the playing area, and the middle will be the remaining 30 x 30 square playing field.
The next thing to do is to divide the players into 2 Targets, 5 Attackers, and 5 Defenders. The two target players are to remain in the divided zone, while the remaining players will move into the 30 x 30 square playing field.
The drill is now set to be carried out. To begin, one target player will pass the ball to one attacking player. The attacking team will have to complete some passes between and ensure the ball gets to the target player on the other end.
To make the drill challenging, the number of touches for each player can be limited. Just like in the “2v1 Soccer Square”, the attacking team will win the point when they successfully pass the ball past the defending team and roles will be reversed if the defending team wins the ball possession.
In cases where the ball goes out of play, it can be restarted by throw-ins or kick-ins.
Beat the Offside Line
The main aim of this drill is to practice give-and-go moves in an actual playing environment. More importantly, the attackers need to time their runs if they are to get behind the opposition’s defense during match situations.
In addition, the players will learn the ability to quickly coordinate with their teammates and also master when and how to receive a pass.
Setup: For this particular drill, the setup is quite different. You will need a full pitch, an equal number of players for both sides with goalkeepers, soccer cones, and a soccer ball.
How to Play: With the plan to test the players out in an actual playing environment, a full-length pitch with cones marking each end of the playing field beyond the 18-yard area and players divided into two separate teams will do just fine.
The attacking team can only go beyond the marked offside line by playing a give-and-go pass. On the other hand, the defenders cannot go back behind the marked line unless such a pass has been played.
Play can be allowed to go on for 15 minutes before roles are reversed. Keen to make it more challenging? You can introduce a first-touch or two-touch restrictions.
3v3 Small Sided Give and Go Game
Your players will be learning more about the give-and-go passing techniques with this drill. They will be learning how to support their teammates, while they are also on the lookout to receive a pass.
In addition, it can also help to develop their dribbling skills and increase stamina.
Setup: For this particular drill, you need 6 players, a 15 x 20-yard playing area, one soccer ball, and two soccer goals with goalkeepers.
How to Play: To begin, divide the players into two teams for a 3v3 soccer game. For a give-and-go pass to happen, two players from a team are to execute that to get past the opposition players. It is an intense drill that will test the players.
For every goal scored from the give-and-go pass, the team gets an extra point.
Give and Go Passing Pattern
Just as the name suggests, it is to practice the give-and-go passing technique repeatedly.
Setup: This drill is best executed with 6 players, a 7 x 7-yard playing area, and two soccer balls.
How to Play: As usual, divide the players into two teams. Two players from each team will have to stand opposite each other on the outside ends of the playing square.
They will pose as the target players, leaving two players from each team in the middle of the playing square.
Play begins with one target player from each team passing the ball to their teammate in the middle.
The receiver, the middle player, then passes the ball back to the target player who moves in to receive it. They then pass the ball to the target players of their team on the opposite end.
The cycle then continues from there as the original middle player will now become a target player and the target player remains in the middle.
This drill should run for three minutes and the team with the most successful give-and-go wins.
Final Thoughts
Soccer is a team sport that has a huge number of players playing at the same time. So, everyone has got to be on the same page.
Truth be told, it takes a lot of hours of soccer training to understand and make perfect use of the give-and-go pass.
In addition, it is important for both the passer and the receiver to focus on their responsibilities if the move is to work.
The drills, if well executed, will provide players with the right amount of practice that will help to break through the opposition’s defenders.
These give-and-go soccer drills will help your team get to understand each other more, select the right passes, and support each other.
And there you have it – six Give-and-Go Soccer Drills to get your team playing soccer the right way!
