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Home/Training Drills/Dribbling Drills/The Dribbling Race
DribblingBeginner

The Dribbling Race

Train close control at genuine speed by adding a direct opponent. The race forces a pace the player would not select alone, and the finish at the end tests whether control survived it.

Create your own drill
Live animationDRI
Duration
14 min
Total drill time
Players
4
Recommended
Pitch
Full Pitch
Setup space
Level
Beginner
Skill required
Intensity
High
Physical demand
Age band
U9-U10
Any format

Setup & instructions

Set two parallel lanes of four cones with a turning cone at the far end, and a goal at the starting end. Two players race at once, one per lane. Slalom out through the cones, turn, come back through, and finish at the goal from around eighteen metres. First to score wins the heat. Run the heats continuously with the other pair recovering, and swap lanes each round so neither is an advantage.

Setup time: 3 min

Tactical breakdown

Cone dribbling has a poor reputation among coaches, largely deserved. A player weaving through static cones at a comfortable pace is practising something that does not exist in a match, and doing it in a queue for twenty minutes is close to a waste of a session.

The race fixes the largest of those problems. Left alone, a player picks a speed at which he does not lose the ball, which by definition is a speed at which his control is not being tested. Put somebody in the next lane and he goes faster than that, immediately, without being told. The errors that follow are the useful part: they show exactly where the ceiling of his control is.

The finish at the end is doing more than adding fun. It means the run has a consequence, so a player who arrives having lost the ball, or arrives out of control and off balance, is visibly punished. Racing to a line rewards speed alone; racing to a finish rewards speed that has kept the ball usable, which is a different and better thing.

The honest limitation is that this remains a closed exercise with static obstacles, and it should be treated as a technical block for younger players rather than a substitute for one-against-one work. Used that way, for ten or fifteen minutes, it produces a very high number of touches at speed with genuine competitive intensity, which is hard to get any other way at that age.

How to run this drill

  1. A touch every stride. Through the cones the ball should be touched with each step, not pushed and chased. That is what close control means and the race exposes who is doing it.
  2. Use both feet round the cones. Inside of one foot then outside of the other is the pattern. Taking every cone with the same foot is slower and only trains half of you.
  3. Turn tight at the far cone. Swinging wide to keep your speed feels faster and loses more ground than the tight turn costs. This is where most heats are actually decided.
  4. Head up as you exit. The goal should be located before you are clear of the cones, so the strike is prepared rather than a surprise at the end of a sprint.
  5. Push and run on the open ground. Between the slalom and the shot there is clear space. Small touches there waste it; put the ball ahead and sprint onto it.
  6. Fast, but not past the point of control. Losing the ball loses the heat regardless of how quick you were. The skill is finding the edge, not going past it.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Touch the ball with every stride through the cones, not every other one
  • Use both feet: inside of one, outside of the other, round each cone
  • Turn tight at the far cone, do not swing wide to keep speed
  • Head up as you exit the cones so the goal is already located
  • Push the ball ahead on the clear ground and run onto it
  • Do not race so fast that you lose the ball: a lost ball loses the heat

Common mistakes

  • Big touches through the cones, so the ball goes wide of the slalom
  • Swinging wide at the turn, which loses more time than a tight turn costs
  • Head down the whole way, so the shot at the end is unprepared
  • Racing past the point of control and losing the ball entirely

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • Add a cone or narrow the spacing
  • Require a specific turn at the far cone, such as a Cruyff or a drag back
  • First-time finish with no touch to set

Regressions

  • Run it untimed, without an opponent
  • Widen the cone spacing
  • Remove the finish and race to the line only
Equipment
Cones×9
Goals×1
Markers×4
Tactical principles
dribbling race drilldribbling drill footballcone slalom drillclose control drillu9 dribbling drillcompetitive dribbling drilldribbling and finishing drillspeed dribbling drillkids football drillchange of direction drill
Audience
U9-U10

Make it yours

Save this drill to your private library, then tweak the animation, swap equipment, or drop it into a session.

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All Dribbling drillsAll drill collectionsDribbling for U9-U10

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