TeloframeTeloframe
Features
For CoachesFor ClubsPricingLibraryDrills
Sign inStart free
Teloframe

The Coach OS for football. Plan, run, observe, reflect, develop, one loop, one tool.

Product
Tactics boardDrill editorSession plannerMatch dayPlayer developmentClub workspaceAI assistantExport and sharingAll features
Explore
Tactics librarySession plansDrill libraryFormationsGuidesVideo tutorials
Use cases
Coaches and academiesContent creatorsSession planner softwareTactics board software
Company
PricingFAQContactOpen Teloframe
© 2026 Teloframe. Built for serious staff.PrivacyTermsSafeguardingSecurityDPASubprocessorsCookies All systems normal
TeloframeTeloframe
Features
For CoachesFor ClubsPricingLibraryDrills
Sign inStart free
/
/
/
Teloframe

The Coach OS for football. Plan, run, observe, reflect, develop, one loop, one tool.

Product
Tactics boardDrill editorSession plannerMatch dayPlayer developmentClub workspaceAI assistantExport and sharingAll features
Explore
Tactics librarySession plansDrill libraryFormationsGuidesVideo tutorials
Use cases
Coaches and academiesContent creatorsSession planner softwareTactics board software
Company
PricingFAQContactOpen Teloframe
© 2026 Teloframe. Built for serious staff.PrivacyTermsSafeguardingSecurityDPASubprocessorsCookies All systems normal
TeloframeTeloframe
Features
For CoachesFor ClubsPricingLibraryDrills
Sign inStart free
Home/Training Drills/Passing Drills/Switch It, Then Combine
PassingBeginner

Switch It, Then Combine

Wake up the range of passing before a session. Alternate a driven switch with quick short combinations so players change the weight, surface and tempo of the pass every few seconds rather than grooving one length.

Create your own drill
Live animationPAS
Duration
10 min
Total drill time
Players
7
Recommended
Pitch
Full Pitch
Setup space
Level
Beginner
Skill required
Intensity
Low
Physical demand
Age band
U11-U12
Any format

Setup & instructions

Lay six markers in a hexagon, roughly 15m across and 10m deep, and put a player on each with a spare feeding in. Play one long pass across the shape, then one or two short exchanges among the players on that side, then switch it back. Players stay on their markers throughout. Start two touch, and call the long switch early so the receiver can open his body before it arrives. Change direction of travel every couple of minutes and add a second ball once the rhythm holds.

Setup time: 1 min

Tactical breakdown

The problem with most passing warm-ups is that they train one distance. Players stand ten yards apart, pass for eight minutes, and arrive at the session having grooved exactly one weight of pass. Then the first thing the game asks of them is a driven forty-yard switch, and it goes into the stand.

The hexagon exists to force the change. It is roughly fifteen metres across and ten deep, which means the diagonal is meaningfully longer than the sides. Play across it and you have to drive the ball. Play around it and you have to roll it. Alternating the two is the entire exercise, and the alternation is what a warm-up should be doing: touching every range a player will need, rather than the most comfortable one.

The detail that decides whether it works is body shape before the switch arrives. A player square to the ball can only play it back where it came from. Opening the hips a beat early, having already looked at the far side, is what turns the received switch into the start of the next sequence rather than the end of the last one. That habit is worth more than the passing itself, and it is cheap to build here because nobody is under pressure.

Keep the players on their markers. The instinct, especially in a warm-up, is to drift toward the ball, and drifting shortens every long pass until the drill quietly becomes the one-distance exercise it was designed to replace.

How to run this drill

  1. Change the weight, not just the target. The switch is driven and the short exchanges are rolled. If every pass leaves the foot at the same speed, the drill has stopped doing its job.
  2. Open your body before it arrives. Square to the ball you can only return it. Opening the hips early, having already looked across, turns the switch into the start of the next sequence.
  3. Look at the far side before you receive. The decision to switch should be made before the ball gets to you. Scanning afterwards adds a touch, and a touch is the whole margin here.
  4. Keep the short ones to one or two touch. Three touches on the near side lets the far side reorganise, and the switch that follows arrives into a set shape instead of a stretched one.
  5. Stay on your marker. Drifting toward the ball is the natural instinct and it shortens every diagonal. Move the ball, not yourself, or the hexagon collapses into a small square.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Open the body before the long ball arrives, not as it arrives
  • Drive the switch, roll the short ones: two different weights
  • Scan the far side before you receive, so the switch is decided early
  • Short exchanges are one or two touch, never three
  • Receive across your body so the next pass is already available
  • Keep the shape honest: stay on your marker, move the ball instead

Common mistakes

  • Hitting every pass at the same weight, which removes the point of the drill
  • Square body on the switch, so the next pass has to go backwards
  • Taking a settling touch on the short exchanges and killing the tempo
  • Drifting off the marker, which collapses the shape and shortens every pass

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • One touch on the short exchanges, two on the switch
  • Add a second ball so two sequences run at once
  • Receiver of the switch must play the next short pass first time

Regressions

  • Unlimited touches while the shape is being learned
  • Walk the rotation once so everyone knows where the switch goes
  • Shrink the hexagon so the long ball is a shorter, easier range
Equipment
Markers×6
Tactical principles
passing activation drillfootball warm up passinglong and short passing drillswitching play drillhexagon passing drillweight of pass drillu11 passing warm uppre session activationtwo touch passing drillscanning before receiving
Audience
U11-U12

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 Passing drillsAll drill collectionsPassing for U11-U12

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
Teloframe

The Coach OS for football. Plan, run, observe, reflect, develop, one loop, one tool.

Product
Tactics boardDrill editorSession plannerMatch dayPlayer developmentClub workspaceAI assistantExport and sharingAll features
Explore
Tactics librarySession plansDrill libraryFormationsGuidesVideo tutorials
Use cases
Coaches and academiesContent creatorsSession planner softwareTactics board software
Company
PricingFAQContactOpen Teloframe
© 2026 Teloframe. Built for serious staff.PrivacyTermsSafeguardingSecurityDPASubprocessorsCookies All systems normal