Reaction and Acceleration Race
A lead player jogs to the middle cone, throws a fake or two, and sprints for a corner — trying to beat the follower there, with five pushups on the line.
The race pits the leader's body fakes and quick sprint against the follower's quick reaction and acceleration — building both on every turn.
10 min tonight · Whole team, four even lines
- Ages 9+
- Whole team, four even lines
- 10 min as the drill is written
- Cones, balls
Grab Cones for the grid and its center, and balls for the later rounds.
Build Build a grid 30 by 30 yards with one cone directly in the middle.
Place Split the team up evenly on the four corners — no balls to begin; they join later in the drill.
- 1
Organize the players
Split the team evenly on the four corners. Players 1 and 2 are the lead players and players 3 and 4 are the followers — the diagram shows which line is which — and everyone returns to their same line after each turn.
“Four even lines on the corners. Two lines lead, two lines chase — and you always come back to your own line.”
- 2
Show the jobs
Walk one turn — the leader and their follower jog toward the middle cone together; at the cone the leader makes a fake, or two, and sprints to either of the two target cones. The leader's goal is to make it to the cone before the follower — if the follower beats them there, the leader does five pushups.
“Jog in together. Leader — fake, then go! Get to your cone first or it's five pushups.”
- 3
Play
Run the turns and keep the lines moving. Watch the two jobs — leaders using body fakes and feints then quickly sprinting to the cone, followers reacting quickly and accelerating to beat them.
“Sell that fake with your whole body! Followers — react and go!”
Look for The fake sold before the sprint — and the follower reading it, reacting quickly, and accelerating to answer.
- 4
Switch and repeat
Switch the leaders and followers after a few rounds so every player gets a chance to lead and follow. Then add the balls — dribble in, make a fake, and beat the follower to the cone.
“Switch jobs! Next round the balls come in — dribble, fake, and beat them to your cone.”
If the lines tangle over who runs next, freeze it and ask — which lines lead, which follow, and where do you go when your turn ends? Let them answer, then play on.
Go deeper · 2 notes
Why it works
Reaction time and acceleration get trained against each other — the leader can only win with a convincing fake and a quick sprint, and the follower can only win by reacting fast and accelerating — so both players in every race are working the drill's focus at once.
What they learn
Reaction time and acceleration — body fakes and feints, quick sprints out of the fake, and quick reactions; dribbling joins the same race when the balls come in.
Where does this come from?
SoccerXpert — their published drill library.
A published drill library. Useful and widely used, but not a governing body — so it fills gaps rather than leading.