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Home/Training Drills/Passing Drills/Around the Square in Pairs
PassingBeginner

Around the Square in Pairs

Build passing accuracy through a target, with enough repetition at each corner for a correction to actually take hold. Three exchanges per pair means a player gets immediate second and third attempts at the same pass.

Create your own drill
Live animationPAS
Duration
12 min
Total drill time
Players
5
Recommended
Pitch
Full Pitch
Setup space
Level
Beginner
Skill required
Intensity
Medium
Physical demand
Age band
U11-U12
Any format

Setup & instructions

Mark a square about twelve metres across with a gate of two markers at each corner. Five players. A pair at one corner exchanges three passes through their gate, then the ball is played on to the next corner where a new pair takes over. Work round the square in one direction, then reverse. Every pass must go through a gate, not around it. Two touch, one touch once it flows.

Setup time: 2 min

Tactical breakdown

Passing accuracy is usually trained one repetition at a time. A player passes, the ball goes elsewhere, and by the time it comes back to him he has forgotten the small thing he was going to change. Corrections do not stick that way, because there is never a second attempt while the first is still fresh.

Three consecutive exchanges at each corner fixes that cheaply. A player who puts the first ball wide of the gate gets to try again immediately, and again after that, which is when adjustments actually happen. The instruction that the second and third should be better than the first sounds obvious and is worth saying out loud, because otherwise players simply repeat the same pass three times and move on.

The gates make the accuracy measurable, which is the other half of it. A pass that goes vaguely toward a teammate is impossible to grade, but a pass that goes through a gate or does not is unambiguous, and players self-correct without a coach saying anything. The cue that changes most of them is aiming at the gap rather than at the person, because looking at the receiver pulls the ball toward whichever marker is in the eye line.

Moving the work rather than the players is what keeps five people busy in a twelve metre square. Nobody queues, nobody jogs to the back of a line, and the next pair has to be alert because the ball arrives whether they are ready or not. That small pressure is worth more than it looks in an otherwise gentle technical exercise.

How to run this drill

  1. Through the gate, never round it. When the angle gets awkward the easy option is to go outside the markers. That removes the only thing making the pass measurable.
  2. Aim at the gap, not the player. Looking at the receiver standing behind a gate pulls the ball toward the marker in your eye line. Aim at the space between them instead.
  3. Make the second one better. Three goes at the same pass exists so a correction can happen while the first attempt is still fresh. Repeating the same error three times wastes it.
  4. Three, then hand it on. Lingering at a corner leaves the rest of the square idle. The count is fixed so the work keeps travelling.
  5. Be in position before it arrives. The ball comes to the next corner whether that pair is ready or not. Stepping in as the previous exchange finishes is what keeps the tempo.
  6. Firm it through. A soft eight metre pass drifts, and a drifting ball misses a gate it would have found. Accuracy at this range comes from a struck pass, not a gentle one.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Every pass goes through the gate, never round the outside
  • Three exchanges, then hand it on: do not linger
  • Aim at the gap, not at the player standing behind it
  • The second and third exchange should be better than the first
  • The next pair steps into position before the ball arrives
  • Firm passes: a soft one through a gate drifts wide of it

Common mistakes

  • Passing round the outside of a gate when the angle gets awkward
  • Repeating the same error three times rather than adjusting
  • The next pair arriving late so the handover stalls
  • Aiming at the receiver, which pulls the ball into a marker

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • One touch on all three exchanges
  • Narrow the gates
  • Reverse the direction on a call, mid sequence

Regressions

  • Two exchanges per corner instead of three
  • Widen the gates
  • Remove the gates and pass corner to corner
Equipment
Markers×8
Tactical principles
passing gates drillpassing accuracy drillsquare passing drillu11 passing drillpaired passing drilltechnical passing sessionpassing through cones drillfive player passing drillfootball passing shapesshort passing drill
Audience
U11-U12

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