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Home/Training Drills/Passing Drills/Split It, Then Set It
PassingIntermediate

Split It, Then Set It

Train the long splitting pass through a narrow gap, and the short pass that sets it up. Players have to strike a sixteen metre ball accurately enough to find a gate under five metres wide, then follow it and be ready to receive.

Create your own drill
Live animationPAS
Duration
14 min
Total drill time
Players
5
Recommended
Pitch
Full Pitch
Setup space
Level
Intermediate
Skill required
Intensity
Medium
Physical demand
Age band
U13-U14
Any format

Setup & instructions

Set four mannequins in two pairs to leave a gate of about four and a half metres, with stations either side of the wall and one above and below it. The long pass goes through the gate to a player on the far side, who sets it short to the next station. That player then plays the long pass back through the gate the other way. Everybody follows their pass to the station they played to. Two touch throughout, and keep the gate narrow.

Setup time: 2 min

Tactical breakdown

The pass that splits two defenders is the one that changes a game and the one players practise least. Passing drills are overwhelmingly played into open space, at a teammate who is entirely free, which trains weight and accuracy in a general way but never trains the thing that makes a splitting pass different: it has to go through a specific gap and it has to be flat.

A four and a half metre gate at sixteen metres is a genuinely demanding target, and it produces the correct technique almost by itself. Players quickly discover that a lifted ball does not work, because a bouncing pass through a gap is uncontrollable at the far end, and that a soft one does not work either, because it spends too long in the gate. What is left is a firm, flat, accurate ball, which is the only version that works against real defenders.

The coaching cue that changes most players immediately is to look at the gate rather than the receiver. Aiming at a teammate standing behind two mannequins naturally pulls the pass toward the mannequins, because that is the line the eye is drawn along. Aiming at the gap itself, and trusting the receiver to be behind it, straightens the ball out.

The short set on the far side is not filler. It is what turns each repetition around and, more usefully, it is the pass that in a real sequence would set the splitting ball up. Following your pass keeps everyone moving and stops the drill becoming five players in fixed positions, which is what it would collapse into within two minutes if the rotation were dropped.

How to run this drill

  1. Aim at the gate, not the player. Looking at a teammate behind two mannequins pulls the pass toward the mannequins. Aiming at the gap itself straightens the ball out immediately.
  2. Keep the long pass on the ground. A lifted ball through a gap is a guess, and it arrives bouncing and uncontrollable. Flat and firm is the only version that works against real defenders.
  3. Set it first time into the striking foot. The short pass exists to set up the next long one. Delivering it to the wrong foot costs a touch and the long ball loses its rhythm.
  4. Follow your pass. Standing still to watch it turns five moving players into five stationary ones within a couple of minutes. Move to the station you just played into.
  5. Half turn as the long ball travels. Receiving square means turning before you can set it, and the rhythm of the drill is gone. Open your body while the pass is still coming.
  6. Narrow the gate when it gets easy. The gap is the entire difficulty. Once the group is finding it consistently, take a metre off rather than letting the drill become comfortable.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Look at the gate, not the player, when you strike the long pass
  • Pass along the ground: a lifted ball through a gate is luck, not skill
  • The short set is played first time and into the striking foot
  • Follow your pass immediately, do not admire it
  • Receive the long ball on the half turn so the set is available at once
  • Firm the long pass: a soft one dies in the gate and gets cut out

Common mistakes

  • Lifting the long pass over the mannequins rather than through the gate
  • Aiming at the player instead of the gap, so the ball clips a mannequin
  • Standing still after the long pass, which breaks the rotation
  • A soft long pass that arrives late and would be intercepted in a match

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Narrow the gate to three metres
  • One touch on the short set
  • Call the direction late so the long passer cannot pre-set his body

Regressions

  • Widen the gate to seven metres
  • Allow a touch to set before the long pass
  • Shorten the long pass to ten metres while the technique is built
Equipment
Mannequins×4
Markers×4
Tactical principles
splitting pass drillkey pass drilllong passing drillpassing through the lines drillmannequin gate drillu13 passing drillpenetrating pass drillfollow your pass drilltechnical passing drillpassing accuracy drill
Audience
U13-U14

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All Passing drillsAll drill collectionsPassing for U13-U14

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