Coaching tools › Activities › Possession and passing

Wide Gates

By Gabe Ramos · U.S. Soccer Coach Educator · Updated October 2026

Cone gates scattered 12 to 15 yards apart across a 30x30. In pairs, pass through a gate to your partner, then both run to a new gate. Receive side-on, take the first touch out of your feet, count gates in 90 seconds.

Setup

Scatter cone gates 12 to 15 yards apart across a 30x30. In pairs, pass through a gate to your partner, then both run to a new gate. Receive side-on and take the first touch out of your feet. Count gates in 90 seconds.

Make it easier or harder

• Easier: Stop the ball, then pass.
• Harder: Two touches. Weaker foot at every second gate.

Coach’s notes

• If It Stalls: Passes missing the gate? Bring partners 3 yards closer.

Why it works

Technique with a decision in it. Every pass has a target the size of a gate and every receiver has to pick the next gate before the ball arrives, so the first touch is already going somewhere.

The side-on body shape is the coaching point. A player who receives square has to turn before they can move; a player who receives side-on is already moving.

Where it sits

This is the Sharpen block of Week 1 · Session 1 in the Full Season Travel Curriculum for ages 9 to 12 (Weeks 1–2 · Positions and Shape). 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.

Run it inside the free U10 practice plan ›

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Open the activity ›Ages 11+ · Possession and passingPass and Move Square

A 4v1 rondo with one rule that changes everything: after you pass, you must move to a different side of the square before you can receive again.

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