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Defending & Winning the BallPositioning & ShapeDecision MakingIntermediateFoundationalFocused Drill
Body-First Defensive Technique
5-10 minutes Partner, Group 1 soccer ball, 4 cones
Listen to your Coach
Coach Carter
A short spoken walk-through of this drill.
Goal
The defender successfully separates the attacker from the ball using their body before reaching the end cones.
Setup
Create a Y shape with cones. Place one cone at the base, one at the fork, and two 'goal' cones at 45-degree angles 10 yards apart.
Drill Instructions
1. Attacker starts at the base with the ball; Defender starts at the middle fork. 2. Attacker dribbles at speed toward either end cone. 3. Defender jockeys backward, then cuts across the attacker's line to put their body between the player and the ball.
Coach Tip
Keep your knees bent and chest low; look for the moment the attacker takes a heavy touch to step across their line.
Avoid
Running side-by-side with the attacker or reaching for the ball with your foot while off-balance.
Adjust on the fly
Make it easier
Have the attacker dribble at 50% speed so the defender can practice the timing of the crossover step.
Make it harder
Widen the end cones to give the attacker more space to change direction, forcing quicker defensive reactions.
Court diagram coming soon
Ready to train?
Add this drill to your Active Drills to start tracking time and progress.
AI Coach feedback
Upload or record a clip of yourself on this drill and your AI coach will spot what's working and what to fix next.
Setup
Create a Y shape with cones. Place one cone at the base, one at the fork, and two 'goal' cones at 45-degree angles 10 yards apart.
Drill Instructions
1. Attacker starts at the base with the ball; Defender starts at the middle fork. 2. Attacker dribbles at speed toward either end cone. 3. Defender jockeys backward, then cuts across the attacker's line to put their body between the player and the ball.
Goal
The defender successfully separates the attacker from the ball using their body before reaching the end cones.
Coach Tip
Keep your knees bent and chest low; look for the moment the attacker takes a heavy touch to step across their line.
Avoid
Running side-by-side with the attacker or reaching for the ball with your foot while off-balance.
Adjust on the fly
Make it easier
Have the attacker dribble at 50% speed so the defender can practice the timing of the crossover step.
Make it harder
Widen the end cones to give the attacker more space to change direction, forcing quicker defensive reactions.
Watch the Drill
Video coming soon.
QR
coming
soon
coming
soon
Court diagram coming soon
Listen to your Coach
Coach Carter
A short spoken walk-through of this drill.
Ready to train?
Add this drill to your Active Drills to start tracking time and progress.
AI Coach feedback
Upload or record a clip of yourself on this drill and your AI coach will spot what's working and what to fix next.