TeloframeTeloframe
Features
For CoachesFor ClubsPricingLibraryDrills
Sign inStart free
TeloframeTeloframe
The connected football coaching platform. Plan sessions, build drills, manage teams, develop players, visualize tactics.
Product
Tactics Board3D PitchAnimation TimelineAI ToolsSession PlannerDrill EditorTeam ManagementPlayer DevelopmentClub WorkspaceExport & Sharing
Explore
Tactical LibraryFormations guideSession plansTraining Drill LibraryYouTube tutorialsBlog
For
Academy coachesFirst-team staffFederationsContent creatorsAgenciesSession Planner SoftwareTactics Board Software
Company
AboutPricingFAQContactCareersOpen TeloframeSecurity
© 2026 Teloframe (formerly FC Tactix). All rights reserved.
Privacy PolicyTerms of ServiceData Processing AddendumSubprocessorsCookie Policy
TeloframeTeloframe
Features
For CoachesFor ClubsPricingLibraryDrills
Sign inStart free
/
/
/
TeloframeTeloframe
The connected football coaching platform. Plan sessions, build drills, manage teams, develop players, visualize tactics.
Product
Tactics Board3D PitchAnimation TimelineAI ToolsSession PlannerDrill EditorTeam ManagementPlayer DevelopmentClub WorkspaceExport & Sharing
Explore
Tactical LibraryFormations guideSession plansTraining Drill LibraryYouTube tutorialsBlog
For
Academy coachesFirst-team staffFederationsContent creatorsAgenciesSession Planner SoftwareTactics Board Software
Company
AboutPricingFAQContactCareersOpen TeloframeSecurity
© 2026 Teloframe (formerly FC Tactix). All rights reserved.
Privacy PolicyTerms of ServiceData Processing AddendumSubprocessorsCookie Policy
TeloframeTeloframe
Features
For CoachesFor ClubsPricingLibraryDrills
Sign inStart free
Home/Training Drills/Conditioning Drills/Activation: Ladder, Hurdles and Pass
ConditioningBeginner

Activation: Ladder, Hurdles and Pass

Prepare the body and the first touch to train. Move through the ladder and hurdles with quick, controlled feet, then check in, receive on the half-turn and return the pass first time before rotating out.

Create your own drill
Live animationCON
Duration
12 min
Total drill time
Players
2
Recommended
Pitch
26 × 14 m
Setup space
Level
Beginner
Skill required
Intensity
Medium
Physical demand
Age band
U6-U8
Any format

Setup & instructions

Lay a ladder, then three hurdles, then a check-in gate, with a feeder holding a ball beyond it. Players work one at a time: quick feet through the ladder, sharp over the hurdles, then check in to receive a pass and play a first-time return before jogging out to the back of the line. Build the intensity across the set: light footwork first, sharper and faster by the last rounds. Keep both feet involved.

Setup time: 2 min

Tactical breakdown

Order matters in a warm-up more than the content of it does. The widely used structure is raise, activate, mobilise, potentiate, and this sequence follows it: raise the temperature and heart rate, activate the feet and the nervous system through the ladder, mobilise through the hurdles, then potentiate with something close to session intensity. Running those elements in a different order does not merely make the warm-up less tidy, it removes the point of the later ones.

The specific error is putting the explosive part first. A hurdle stride or a sharp check-and-receive at the front of a warm-up asks a cold muscle for something it is not ready to give, which is where warm-up injuries genuinely come from. It also means the potentiating element, the part meant to leave players ready to train hard, has been spent before anybody was warm enough to benefit from it.

Within the block, the hurdles are the element done badly. A lazy stride over them achieves nothing, because the aim is a controlled lift of the knee and a clean landing rather than simply getting across the obstacle. Sharp and controlled is the instruction.

The passing element at the end is doing real work and should not be treated as a gentle finish. Checking away and coming short means the player receives already moving, and receiving on the half-turn at the end of a warm-up is the closest thing in the whole block to what the session is about to demand.

Twelve minutes is enough. Longer warm-ups eat the session they were meant to prepare for.

How to run this drill

  1. Follow the order: raise, activate, mobilise, potentiate. Each stage depends on the one before it. Rearranging them does not just reorder the block, it removes what the later parts were for.
  2. Never put the explosive work first. Asking a cold muscle for a sharp movement is where warm-up injuries actually come from, and it spends the potentiation too early.
  3. Light quick feet in the ladder, eyes up. This is the activation stage. Watching the rungs turns it into a coordination puzzle instead of a priming exercise.
  4. Lift the knee over the hurdles. A lazy stride across achieves nothing. The aim is a controlled lift and a clean landing, not clearing the obstacle.
  5. Check away, then come short. The check is what means the player receives already moving, which is the difference between a warm-up pass and a football action.
  6. Receive on the half-turn and return first time. This is the potentiating element and it should be sharp. Treating it as a gentle finish wastes the only part running at session intensity.
  7. Keep the whole block to twelve minutes. A warm-up that overruns eats the session it was preparing for, which is a poor trade whatever the quality of the preparation.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Light, quick feet in the ladder, eyes up not down
  • Sharp and controlled over the hurdles, not a lazy stride
  • Check away then come short so you receive already moving
  • Open the body to receive on the half-turn, first touch tidy
  • Return the pass first time and firmly, then jog out

Common mistakes

  • Head down watching the feet through the ladder
  • Drifting through the hurdles without intent
  • Standing still to receive instead of checking in
  • A loose first touch that kills the one-touch return

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Add a turn or a change of direction out of the last hurdle
  • Two-ball feeder: return one, receive and set the second
  • Raise the tempo each round toward game speed

Regressions

  • Walk the footwork pattern before adding pace
  • Two touches to receive and return rather than one
  • Drop the hurdles and use the ladder and pass only
Equipment
Cones×2
Hurdles×3
Ladders×1
Tactical principles
movement preparationramp warm upladder and hurdlesactivation drillreceiving on the half turnwarm up structurepotentiationu8 warm upchecking to receivefootball warm up sequence
Audience
U6-U8

Make it yours

Save this drill to your private library, then tweak the animation, swap equipment, or drop it into a session.

Explore more drills

LIBRARY
All Conditioning drillsAll drill collectionsConditioning for U6-U8

Ready to run this drill?

Save it to your private drills, then change the animation, adjust positions, swap equipment, or drop it into a session block. Or start from a blank pitch and build your own.

Library Create your own drill
TeloframeTeloframe
The connected football coaching platform. Plan sessions, build drills, manage teams, develop players, visualize tactics.
Product
Tactics Board3D PitchAnimation TimelineAI ToolsSession PlannerDrill EditorTeam ManagementPlayer DevelopmentClub WorkspaceExport & Sharing
Explore
Tactical LibraryFormations guideSession plansTraining Drill LibraryYouTube tutorialsBlog
For
Academy coachesFirst-team staffFederationsContent creatorsAgenciesSession Planner SoftwareTactics Board Software
Company
AboutPricingFAQContactCareersOpen TeloframeSecurity
© 2026 Teloframe (formerly FC Tactix). All rights reserved.
Privacy PolicyTerms of ServiceData Processing AddendumSubprocessorsCookie Policy