Coaching tools › Activities › Playing out of the back
Free activity · Travel curriculum, ages 9–12Out and Over
A 45x35 with a halfway line. Keeper, two backs and three mids build against four pressers and score by getting the ball under control to a striker waiting in a ten-yard end zone beyond halfway. Pull them to one side, then go out the other.
Setup
45x35 with a halfway line. Keeper, two backs and three mids build against four pressers. Score a point by getting the ball under control to your striker, who waits in a 10-yard end zone beyond halfway. If the pressers win it, they go to goal.
- Check your shoulder before the ball arrives.
- Backs: split wide, open your body, play what you see.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Pressers may not enter the penalty area.
- Harder: Add a defender on the striker.
Coach’s notes
- If It Stalls: Forcing it up the middle? Bonus point for switching from one back to the other before going forward.
Why it works
Four pressers against six builders is a real press, and the only way through it is the switch. Play to one back, let the press come, and the other back has the whole far side.
The bonus point for switching before going forward is the fix for teams that force everything up the middle. Reward the patient route and the players will find it.
Where it sits
This is the Solve 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.
More like this
Ages 11+ · Playing out of the backKeeper and TwoThe simplest build-up picture: a goal, a keeper and two backs on the edge of the box against one presser, with two gates on the far line.
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Ages 11+ · Playing out of the backDiamond OutKeeper, two backs and a center mid in a diamond against two pressers, with three gates across the far line.
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Ages 11+ · Playing out of the backBeat the First LineHalf a field. Keeper, two backs and two wide mids build against three pressers, and a striker waits in an end zone past halfway.
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.