Passing Drill with an Open First Touch

Setup

Pitch: Five cones mark positions A to E.

Equipment: 5 cones and several balls.

Players: Every cone is occupied by one player; at least four players stand at the first cone.

Variation 1:

Player B moves 1.5 metres to the left in a laterally open position.
Player A passes with the inside of the foot onto the open foot of Player B.
Player B controls the ball and plays a precise inside-of-the-foot pass onto the open foot of Player C, who has previously dropped 1.5 metres to the left.
Player C passes to Player D, who drops to the right.
Player D plays a one-two with Player E; Player E dribbles to the starting position.
Every player moves on to the next marker.

Variation 2:

Player C moves 1.5 metres to the left in a laterally open position.
Player A plays a precise inside-of-the-foot pass onto the foot of Player C that is furthest from the opponent.
Player C closes up and lays the ball off into the space of Player B.
Player B plays a precise inside-of-the-foot pass onto the foot of Player D that is furthest from the opponent.
Player D lays the ball off to Player C, Player C passes to Player E.
Player E lays the ball off to Player D; Player D plays a one-two with Player E, and Player E dribbles to the starting position.
Every player moves on to the next marker.

In Variation 1, when dropping off the cones only move sideways and not backwards.
In Variation 1, play firmly into the front foot.
In Variation 1, control the ball so that ideally only one intermediate step is needed before the pass.
In Variation 2, delay briefly after the lay-off.
As soon as a player has been played past, that player follows up at high speed — but not before the pass, because otherwise a square pass results.