Exercises › Game exercise

2v2 ladder: winners move up

• 14 min
• 8–24 players
• 3v3
• 5v5
• 7v7
• 9v9
• 11v11
• Build-up play
• Finishing & Scoring

Courts about 15 x 10 m in a row, court 1 at the top. Each court has two small goals and one ball. The players are split into pairs and each pair meets another pair on a court. Play 2 minutes or first to three goals. The winning pair moves one court up towards court 1, the losing pair one court down. On the top court the winners stay, on the bottom court the losers stay. Randomise the starting places: every player draws a slip or a cone with a court number, so nobody is picked. With an odd number, keep a rest court at the bottom where one player waits and is swapped in. On a draw both stay put, or play 20 seconds of extra time. The pairs are also drawn at random at the start. After a few rounds each pair meets opponents of about the same level, so the games get more even and everyone makes many decisions. Progression: a goal counts double if it comes after a wall pass, or each player is limited to two touches.

What the coach should look for

• Talk to your partner: who presses and who covers?
• Make yourself available straight after every pass.
• Use wall passes to get past when the space is tight.
• Randomise the pairs and start courts so everyone meets everyone over time.

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