Coaching tools › Activities › Pressing and transition
Free activity · Travel curriculum, ages 9–12Lock the Middle
4v4 on a 35x30 with a target player on each end line and three gates across the middle: a wide center gate and two wide ones. Score by passing through a gate to your target, center gate three points, wide gates one. The defenders learn to get small and shut the center.
Setup
4v4 on a 35x30 with a target player on each end line. Three gates across the middle: a center gate 6 yards wide and two wide gates. Score by passing through a gate to your target: center gate 3 points, wide gates 1. Defenders learn to get small and shut the center.
- When they have it, get small and protect the middle.
- Nearest player presses. The next one covers behind.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Make the center gate 4 yards wide.
- Harder: The target may move along the line. Add a neutral player for the attackers.
Coach’s notes
- If It Stalls: Center gate open every time? Freeze and ask the defenders which gate costs the most.
Why it works
Defending is taught here by scoring, not by shouting. The center gate costs three, so the defending four learn within minutes that the middle is the door to lock and the wide gates are the ones you can afford to leave open.
Freeze the game when the center gate is open and ask the defenders which gate costs the most. They will tell you, and then they will close it.
Where it sits
This is the Solve block of Week 7 · Session 1 in the Full Season Travel Curriculum for ages 9 to 12 (Weeks 7–8 · Midfielder Roles). 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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Ages 11+ · Pressing and transitionWin-It-Back BoxesSeveral 12x12 boxes with a 2v2 in each. Five passes is a point, and if you lose the ball you have five seconds to win it back for two.
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Ages 11+ · Pressing and transitionWin and Go3v3 on a 20x15 with a mini goal at each end.
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.