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Home/Training Drills/Passing Drills/Up One Arm, Down the Other
PassingIntermediate

Up One Arm, Down the Other

Train the change between short combination passes and long transfers, and make players use both arms of the shape rather than favouring one side. The long balls have to be accurate enough to land on a marker twenty metres away.

Create your own drill
Live animationPAS
Duration
12 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

Lay four markers in a Y: two arms at the top about ten metres apart, and a stem running twenty metres down the middle. Five players. Play a one-two at the junction you are at, then a long ball up one arm. Combine again at the top, then send it back down the stem, and go up the other arm next time. Alternate arms strictly. Two touch, and a carry of a few metres before a long ball is allowed.

Setup time: 1 min

Tactical breakdown

The Y is one of the oldest passing shapes and it usually gets run as a single-length exercise. Ball up, ball back, everyone passing at roughly the same distance, and the shape may as well be a straight line.

Using it properly means the arms and the stem do different jobs. The stem is long, twenty metres or so, and the junctions are where short combinations happen. That gives an alternation, three metre return then sixteen metre transfer, that repeats every few seconds. Switching weight that frequently is meaningfully harder than either pass in isolation, and it is the thing this shape is actually good for.

The rule about alternating arms exists because groups will not do it otherwise. Left to themselves, the ball goes up the same side every time, usually the one that suits the majority's stronger foot, and half the shape becomes scenery. Calling the arm before playing it is a small discipline that keeps both sides live and adds a communication element at no cost.

The technical point that gets missed is receiving the long ball. Twenty metres arrives with pace, and a player who is square to it needs a touch to control and another to turn, by which point the combination at the top of the arm is late. Opening the body while the ball is travelling turns two touches into one, and over a session that difference is the whole tempo of the drill.

How to run this drill

  1. Alternate the arms strictly. Groups default to one side within a couple of minutes, usually the one suiting the stronger foot. Calling the arm before you play keeps both live.
  2. Drive the long ball, do not float it. A lofted twenty metre pass arrives bouncing and costs the receiver a touch. Flat and firm is what makes the combination at the far end possible.
  3. Open up as the long ball travels. Square to a twenty metre pass you need one touch to control and another to turn. Half turned, it is one touch and the combination starts on time.
  4. Two weights, deliberately different. The return is cushioned, the transfer is struck. Playing both at the same pace is the default and it removes the entire point of the shape.
  5. Carry a few metres before the long ball. A short carry changes the angle and makes the long pass to the far arm available. Playing it from a standing start narrows what is on.
  6. Combine at the junctions, not in transit. The one-twos belong at the markers where the shape gives you a partner. Trying to combine halfway up an arm just breaks the rhythm.

Coaching focus

FROM SESSION PLAN

Coaching points

  • Alternate the arms, never twice up the same one
  • The long ball is flat and firm, not floated: it has to arrive usable
  • Receive the long ball on the half turn, already facing the next pass
  • Cushion the one-two returns, strike the long transfers
  • A short carry before the long ball opens the angle, use it
  • Call which arm you are going up before you play it

Common mistakes

  • Going up the same arm every time, so one side never gets used
  • Floating the long ball, which arrives bouncing and hard to control
  • Receiving the long ball square and needing a touch to turn
  • Hitting the short return with the same weight as the long transfer

Progressions & regressions

VARIATIONS

Progressions

  • One touch on the one-twos
  • Add a second ball working the opposite arm
  • Lengthen the stem so the long balls reach twenty metres

Regressions

  • Shorten the arms so the long ball is ten metres
  • Remove the one-twos and simply pass the shape
  • Allow unlimited touches while the Y is learned
Equipment
Markers×4
Tactical principles
y passing drilly shape passing drilllong and short passing drillswitching sides drillu13 passing drillgive and go drillpassing pattern drillreceiving a long ball drillfootball passing shapestechnical passing session
Audience
U13-U14

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