Ball movement

Organisation

• Simple to organise – class warm-up activity to raise the heart rate and promote working as a team
• No more than ten players in each area
• One player starts as the tagger and the chain builds each time a new player is tagged
• The last player left is the winner and becomes the first tagger of the next game
• You can play the game with different types of movement, e.g. hopping, skipping, jumping, etc.
• Develops confidence and personality

Ways to make the exercise easier

• The taggers have to move with a ball at their feet

Ways to make the exercise harder

• The players now have to run while dribbling a ball

Great questions to ask the players

• Can you show me ways to change direction to avoid the taggers?
• How do you know where the taggers are?
• How can you be a clever player and avoid being tagged?
• What goals could the taggers set for themselves in this game? (E.g. catching all the players within five minutes)

Safety tips

• Make sure taggers tag the body, not the head

Organisation

• Create passing areas with a maximum of five players per team
• You can make more than two passing areas if you have a larger group
• Each time the green cone is shown, the player with the ball has the chance to score a goal
• Don’t forget to change goalkeepers regularly

Ways to make the exercise easier

• No goalkeepers to start

Ways to make the exercise harder

• Make it a race between the groups to score the first goal – the first player to score wins!
• Add a second ball to the passing groups, so two players in each group can race to score
• A player from the other group can also act as a defender

Great questions to ask the players

• What do you do when you see the green cone?
• Can you think about your shooting technique: accuracy or power?
• Can you show me the best way to move quickly with the ball?
• What did you do well in this game?

Safety tips

• Attackers should keep their heads up when running towards goal

Organisation

• Pick equal teams and make one or more pitches
• Create more pitches if needed for more teams
• Teams have two goals at each end to score in, and can also earn a point every time they complete five passes
• Encourage the players to think about when to try to score and when to try to retain possession with five passes
• Add another ball to create two games in one

Ways to make the exercise easier

• One team can have extra players
• Use a larger area and larger goals

Ways to make the exercise harder

• A team can play with fewer players
• Require more passes to score a point
• Limit the number of touches per player

Great questions to ask the players

• What do you prefer: keeping the ball or scoring a goal?
• Can you try to spread out as a team?
• What can you do as a team when you lose the ball?
• What did you do well in this game?

Safety tips

• Create a safe zone between each pitch
• Give the players a short rest between each mini-match and drinks breaks if needed