Combination Crossing Drill
A dummy and a first-time ball release the top player down the wing to cross one-touch — while the two checkers crash the back and front posts to finish.
Becoming comfortable on crosses within the 18 takes reps — the right serve picked and driven in, and runs timed to meet it at the front and back post.
Set up · 3 actions · before the kids arrive
- Grab: Cones, balls, your practice sticks, and your full-size goal.
- Build: On a half field, set 2 sticks around the 18-yard box — goal-width and squared up to the goal — and two sticks near each sideline, where the diagram shows them.
- Place: Split the team into 4 even groups — a line on the end line about 5 yards off each goal post, and two lines about 30 yards out, each even with an end-line group. The balls start at the top line.
Show me the setup picture
One thing to remember: Crossing and finishing on goal — the right serve for the spot (on the ground from inside, driven from outside), properly timed runs, holding the back post, cutting to the front post, and one-touch passes and finishes.
How it runs — the whole game in one sentence
The top player passes and runs wide around the sideline stick; a dummy and a first-time ball send the cross in one touch, with the two checkers crashing back and front post to finish.
1Organize the players▾
Coach does
Make your 4 even groups — one on the end line about 5 yards off each post, two about 30 yards out facing them. Keeper in the goal, balls with the top lines.
Coach says
Four groups — two at the goal, two out top with the balls. First pair, ready to check.
2Show the jobs▾
Coach does
Walk one combination — two players check in from the end line, about 5 to 7 yards apart. The top player plays into the front checker and sprints around the sideline stick closest to him. The front checker dummies the run — steps over the ball, lets it run between their legs — then sprints around the back stick and runs to the back post. The back checker plays a first-time ball into the space of the outside stick for the top player to cross on one touch, then rounds the closest stick and makes the front-post run.
Coach says
Play it, then go get your cross. Front runner — back post. Back runner — front post. Fill them both.
3Play▾
Coach does
Let the serves fly and coach the cross — too far inside, a good solid cross on the ground into the advancing player; outside, drive a good cross into the advancing players. Keep passes and the finish to one touch when possible, watch that the runs are properly timed — not in the box too soon or too late — that the back-post runner does not let the ball through, and that the front-post runner is cutting to the front post.
Coach says
Pick your serve — inside, on the ground; outside, drive it! Nothing runs through the back post!
Look for: The timing — runners hitting the box neither too soon nor too late, arriving as the cross does.
4Switch and repeat▾
Coach does
Rotate each combination — the back-post runner moves to the top line, the back checker goes to the back of the line and becomes the next front checker, and the top player joins the back of the end-line group. Alternate sides so both wings serve.
Coach says
Rotate! Other side — your turn to serve.
If it's not working
If the runs keep colliding, freeze it and ask — who's at the back post, and who cuts front? Let them answer, then play on.
Want to go deeper? Optional — not needed to run the game.