Coaching tools › Activities › Playing out of the back
Free activity · Travel curriculum, ages 9–12Bounce or Turn
A server twelve yards from a receiver with a shadow defender behind, either tight or loose. The receiver looks first: tight means bounce it back and spin for the return, loose means turn and dribble past the shadow’s line.
Setup
A server 12 yards from a receiver, with a shadow defender behind: tight (touching distance) or loose (3 yards off). The receiver looks first. Tight: bounce it back and spin for the return. Loose: turn and dribble past the shadow's line. The shadow does not tackle. Rotate every 45 seconds.
- Check your shoulder before the ball arrives.
- Backs: split wide, open your body, play what you see.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: The shadow calls tight or loose.
- Harder: The shadow goes live once the receiver touches the ball.
Coach’s notes
- If It Stalls: Always turning into trouble? The shadow raises a hand when tight.
Why it works
Most turnovers at this age happen because a player turned into a defender they never saw. Here the receiver has to look, read tight or loose, and choose, and the shadow never tackles so the choice can be made without fear.
The say-this line is the whole philosophy: your eyes decide, not your coach. Once the shadow goes live, the decision has consequences, and that is when the habit sticks.
Where it sits
This is the Sharpen block of Week 3 · Session 2 in the Full Season Travel Curriculum for ages 9 to 12 (Weeks 3–4 · Playing Out of the Back). Every session in the book runs the same 90 minutes: rondo, sharpen, solve, play and a set piece, drawn for 7v7 and 9v9, with two coaching points a day and a match-day page for every week.
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Open the activity ›The whole season: 24 sessions, 12 match days, 73 videos
The Full Season Travel Curriculum for ages 9 to 12 is twelve weeks of 7v7 and 9v9 sessions built around six team habits, with a game-day warm-up, match-day pages and an animated video of every activity. Week 1 is free as a sample.