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Home/Training Drills/Passing Drills/Diamond Passing Pattern
PassingIntermediate

Diamond Passing Pattern

Groove crisp passing with movement off the ball. Pass to the correct foot, follow your pass to the next point, and check away before you receive to create the angle. Raise the tempo toward one touch as you warm up.

Create your own drill
Live animationPAS
Duration
10 min
Total drill time
Players
4
Recommended
Pitch
18 × 18 m
Setup space
Level
Intermediate
Skill required
Intensity
Medium
Physical demand
Age band
U9-U10
Any format

Setup & instructions

Set a diamond of four cones about ten metres apart with a player on each. Pass to the next point and follow your pass to that cone; the player there receives and plays on. Check away from the cone before receiving. Progress to one touch, then reverse the direction to pass at new angles and use both feet.

Setup time: 2 min

Tactical breakdown

Pass and move is the most repeated instruction in football and one of the least useful, because it tells a player to do something without telling them where. Young players hearing it will jog two yards sideways and consider the instruction satisfied. Following your pass replaces the vague version with a specific one: you go to the place you just sent the ball, which means the movement has a destination and the coach can see whether it happened.

The rotation is what makes the shape work. With four points and four players, somebody has to be arriving at each point as the ball does, and the only way that happens is if everyone moves every time. Stand still once and the pattern breaks two passes later, which is a useful property because the error is visible and self-correcting rather than something the coach has to spot.

Checking away before receiving is the detail that turns this from a passing drill into a football one. Arriving at a point and standing there is how a marked player receives. Taking two steps away and then coming back to the ball creates the separation the pass needs, and it is the same movement a midfielder makes to receive between lines.

Raise the tempo towards one touch as the group warms up. At one touch the checking movement stops being optional, because a player who has not created his angle before the ball arrives has nowhere to put it.

How to run this drill

  1. Set a diamond with a player on each point. Ten to fifteen yards between points, one ball. Tight enough that passes are firm and accurate rather than long enough to hide poor weight.
  2. Pass to the next point and follow it. The passer runs to the position he has just passed to. That gives the movement a destination, which is what the usual pass-and-move instruction lacks.
  3. Check away before you receive. Two steps away from the point, then back to the ball. That separation is exactly the movement a midfielder makes to receive between lines in a match.
  4. Pass to the correct foot. The receiver's back foot, so his first touch can go forwards. A pass to the wrong foot costs an extra touch and breaks the rhythm of the whole rotation.
  5. Build the tempo towards one touch. At one touch the checking movement stops being optional, because a player who has not made his angle before the ball arrives has nowhere to put it.
  6. Reverse the direction regularly. Switch which way the ball travels around the diamond so both feet are used and players are not grooving a single-sided receiving pattern.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Pass to the correct foot so the next player can play first time
  • Follow your pass to the next point: pass and move as one habit
  • Check away from the cone before you receive to open the angle
  • Weight the pass so it arrives at a controllable pace
  • Open the body to see the next point before the ball arrives
  • Communicate and keep the tempo high

Common mistakes

  • Passing and standing still instead of following the pass
  • Receiving flat-footed on the cone without checking away
  • Passing to the wrong foot and breaking the rhythm
  • Over-hitting the pass so the next player cannot control it

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • One touch only once players are warm
  • Reverse the direction to pass at new angles and use both feet
  • Pass across the diamond, or add a one-two between two points

Regressions

  • Two touches: control and pass
  • Enlarge the diamond so passes have more time
  • Walk the pattern and the follow before adding pace
Equipment
Cones×4
Markers×1
Tactical principles
diamond passing drillpass and movepassing patternfollow your passrotation drillpassing and receivingchecking awaytechnical passing drillone touch passingu10 passing drill
Audience
U9-U10

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