Passing drills for U9-U10

A one-touch triangle circuit for seven players: every 1-2 at a cone sends the player on the outside marker round the corner onto a through ball.

A first-time passing pattern for eight players: a wall pass, a bounce round one side, a switch and a set into a forward run, with a rotation.

Aerial control is decided while the ball is still travelling. Players who wait to see where it lands are already choosing a surface too late.

Three passes, and only the third is hard. Up into feet, back first time, then a through ball weighted so the runner never breaks stride.

A five player passing square, one touch: play it up, get the lay-off back, slide it into his path as he spins round the cone, and take his place.

A twelve metre pass, a one-two at the midpoint, then twelve metres back. Simple enough to run in the first five minutes of any session and still worth doing.

Three players, four cones, one open corner: pass along the side, run round your cone into the open corner, and keep the ball moving with two touches.

A five player passing square, one touch: back to the runner, across, lay it off to the man who started it, then the diagonal. The third man in four passes.

Variation 5 of the Y passing pattern: the pivot opens out one way, sells that pass, then reverses the ball across his body to the opposite arm.

Same pattern, less grass, and it becomes a different exercise. Shrinking the area is the cleanest way to add difficulty without new rules.

Four players play a one touch 1-2 at every cone of a triangle: lay it back, slide it into the spin round the cone, and take the wall player's place.

Three players, three poles, seven metres a side. It separates controlling the ball from moving it, which is the distinction a rushed first touch always hides.

Three players, a seven by ten metre grid, and no pass longer than four metres. Rotating which pair works keeps all three involved without anyone standing in a queue.

Everybody coaches the one-two and nobody coaches what follows. You arrive at speed, off balance, with the goal at an angle you did not choose.

Receiving square is the safe option and that is exactly the problem. You cannot lose the ball backwards, and you cannot play forwards either.

Bad turnout is the most common coaching problem nobody publishes a session for. Three players is enough for a genuinely good hour.

A third man triangle for four players: take the long ball outside your cone, set it to the runner, and he plays it first time long to the third cone.

Height is what kills a switch. A defensive block needs about two seconds to shift across, and a hanging diagonal hands it every one of them.