Return to play: Short or long

Please check out the latest sport and social distancing guidelines in your area, and follow the recommendations when planning training sessions. This is very easy to set up and can be used for different distances, long and short passing coupled with a one-two skill. It is a simple unopposed activity but it needs good coordination.

Set up

To use this simple warm-up mark out a 10×10-yard square with cones. Position a cone as shown for the central players. We have used 14 players in this activity, including two servers. You need balls and cones.

How to play it

Place the two servers inside the square and arrange the remaining players around the four corners of the area use the central players to make one-two wall passes on opposite sides of the square and a first-time pass along the other sides of the square.
Players should sidefoot their passes to the central players, who must make sure that they control the ball and pass it back to the running players so they don’t have to break their stride.
You should swap the players over regularly, changing the two central wall passers. You must have two balls in play at once.

Technique

This is a great activity for getting cold feet warmed up and ready to play in a match or a training session. Players should pass and move quickly around the square using crisp passing movements.

1. Play starts on both sides with a pass to the server who plays a one-two with the working player

2. The player dribbles towards the cone and passes to the player at the cone

3. The player at the next cone must be on the move to receive the ball and make a one touch pass to the next cone

4. Players must follow the pass and keep moving around the square

5. The receiving player for the one-two pass can take two touches because this needs to be an accurate move with a good weight on the pass