The one show

Use this game and it will develop the ability of your players to use dribbling skills to win one-on-one situations. Individual skills develop players so they can keep the ball when facing an opponent. If they have the ability to get past their opponent, they have eliminated them from the game and will benefit from the space created.

Set up

Set up a playing area of 20×20 yards. In this session we’ve used eight players in two teams of four. You will need balls, bibs and cones.

How to play it

Two teams of four players go 1v1 set up by the coach. Each team has three balls to defend and three balls to attack. The winning team is the first one to knock the balls off the cones. Once the ball goes dead, either by knocking a ball off the cone or going out of the area, a new pair starts. Alternate the team starting with the ball each time.

Technique

In this session players have to keep the ball and try to beat their opponent using speed, skill and accurate shooting. You want to see players trying different skills to get past their opponent, so look for innovation like knocking the ball into space and running past the players using speed and accuracy.

1. Teams line up at one side of the area and the players must go individually – one from each team try to knock their opponents balls off the cones
2. The coach starts each individual battle with a pass to one of the players – alternate the pass between the teams at each restart

3. When the players have had their turn, they go to the opposite end. They should start again from that end when all the players have had a turn
4. Here the player has knocked the ball to one side of his opponent and has run around the other side to get past him and score for his team

5. Here the player has dribbled the full length of the area to try and beat his opponent with speed – he misses but his team have won 2-1