Creating Space

Purpose

This drill helps players work on attacking, passing, and defending which will help them improve their overall game skills.

Setup

• Place a goalie in the goal, two defenders and two forwards inside the penalty box, and nine remaining players in a semi-circle about 10 yards outside of the penalty box. Each player in the semi-circle will need a ball.

How it Works

1. The players with the balls will do toe touches on the ball until the coach calls their name. When the coach calls a player’s name, that player must try to pass the ball into one of the forwards.
2. The two defenders will be guarding the two forwards.
3. Meanwhile the forwards are working to get open and create space and the defenders are trying to steal the ball.
4. If a pass gets into a forward then the forwards will try to score.
5. If the ball is taken by a defender then the defender will boom the ball and the passer must chase it down.
6. Players will rotate positions every couple of minutes.

Coaching Tips

• Too often players have trouble creating space between themselves and their defender. This drill will help them learn to create space and offer a target to receive a ball from a passer.