25 September 2026

Coaching drills, animated

Every drill here is animated rather than drawn, so you can see the movement and the timing instead of working it out from arrows on a static diagram. Each one comes with the instructions you would give on the grass and a variation for when the group is bigger or better than you planned for.

Animated finishing drill: a player passes in to a team mate and immediately sprints round the back of him, the receiver carries the ball at a cone and lays it off inside first time without looking, and the runner finishes first time across the keeper, shown off both sides

Finishing Drill with Inverted Pass

Session drill · 13 seconds

Animated possession game: 3 v 3 in a grid with a neutral bouncer on each end line, the team in possession passing into a bouncer and getting it straight back, switching end to end, then losing it and the other team using the same two bouncers

3 v 3 with Bouncers

Possession game · 17 seconds

Animated crossing and finishing drill: four lines of attackers around the top of the box and a feeder, the feeder playing out to a flank who dribbles to the line and crosses, with runners attacking the near post, the far post and the space between, and four reps served from alternating flanks

Far Post, Near Post

Session drill · 24 seconds

Animated passing warm-up: a triangle of cones with a group on each and one ball, every passer sprinting after their own pass to press the receiver, who takes it on the back foot and plays it on round the triangle before the press arrives

Pass and Press

Warm-up · 10 seconds

Animated goalkeeping game: two goals facing each other with a keeper in each and a supply of balls, throwing, volleying and rolling the ball at each other's goal, with saves held, saves pushed wide and two goals scored

Goal Keeper Wars

Goalkeeping game · 20 seconds

Animated free kick routine from the right: two players stand over the ball, the first runs over it and away down the line calling for it, the second waves it away, then the first comes back on the outside and whips a bent cross with the left foot onto a runner arriving in the six-yard box

Free Kick: Dummy and Cross

Set play · 10 seconds

Animated 2 v 1 decision-making drill: a triangle of cones outside the box with a group on each, the back player passing right and following in to support, a defender sprinting across from the left cone, and four goes that each finish differently, an early shot, a square ball, a tackle, and a one-two round the defender

Attacking Decisions

Session drill · 21 seconds

Animated passing warm-up: six players on a dashed circle with one in the middle and a single ball, each passer running after their own pass, in to the middle or out to the circle, so players swap continuously between the ring and the middle

Pass and Follow

Warm-up · 13 seconds

Animated passing and awareness drill: six players stand on a dashed circle with a ball each except one, and a player in the middle receives a ball played in, checks round the circle, and passes to whoever has not got one, with the free player marked and changing every go

Scanning Circle

Session drill · 12 seconds

Animated goal-kick routine on a half pitch: the keeper rolls the ball out to a full-back dropping onto the edge of the box, the full-back rolls it straight back first time, and the keeper runs onto the moving ball and strikes it long over the two forwards who have pressed

Goal Kick: Short One-Two

Set piece · 7 seconds

Animated 1 v 1 drill in a channel with a goal and a keeper: a server plays the ball in, the attacker drops a shoulder to send the defender the wrong way and goes past them to finish at the near post, then everyone rotates a place and the next attacker is jockeyed wide and loses the ball

1 v 1 to Goal

Session drill · 17 seconds

Animated 3v3 attacking drill on a half pitch: a feeder starts each attack, the attackers combine and run in behind to score in the main goal, work the ball wide for a cross and a header, and when the defenders win it they counter into two small goals at the halfway line

Defence versus Attack

Session drill · 18 seconds

Animated passing and vision game: four players on the sides of a square move the ball around the outside while two in the middle guard a small box of four cones, one attempt is blocked and the next is threaded through the box to the far side

Through the Box

Session drill · 13 seconds

Animated heading game: one goal and two teams either side, a player comes to the penalty spot, a teammate serves it up, they head at goal and then sprint straight back into goal because the other team heads next

Heading Game

Session drill · 16 seconds

Animated attacking free kick: the taker disguises the run-up and feeds the edge of the box, a wide midfielder drags his marker away, a runner hidden at the wall peels round the back of it, and the set is played first time into the space behind for the finish

Free Kick: Third-Man Run into the Box

Set piece · 8 seconds

Animated drill: a server plays the ball into an attacker who is pressed from behind, who either beats the defender and finishes on the main goal, or loses it to the defender who counters into a small goal at the far end

Receiving the Ball Under Pressure

Session drill · 15 seconds

Animated 4v2 rondo in a square grid with a small goal on each side, all four facing in: the ball goes round the outside, a defender cuts out the pass through the middle and scores into the near side goal

A Rondo with Goals

Session drill · 9 seconds

Animated 1v1 finishing drill: the attacker dribbles out of his line, beats the defender with a shimmy, crosses the restraining line into the scoring zone and finishes into a small goal

Zoned Finishing

Session drill · 10 seconds

Animated third man run drill: up into the striker, set back first time, then through the line for the original passer running beyond

Third Man Run

Session drill · 11 seconds

Animated set play: three ways of playing out from a short goal kick, wide to the winger, into the forward, or clipped in behind

Playing Out Ideas

Set piece · 19 seconds

Animated short corner routine: the full back runs in for a short one, it is played square to the edge of the box, then forward into the space the taker has spun into

Short Corner 2

Set piece · 7 seconds

Animated short corner routine: a player peels out to the taker, the taker goes around her and finishes across goal from the edge of the box

Short Corner 1

Set piece · 7 seconds

Animated rondo drill: players round the outside of a square keeping the ball away from one defender in the middle

Rondos

Warm up · 11 seconds

Plan the session, then pick the team

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Coaching drills, animated | Starting Lineup | Starting Lineup