The Cristiano Ronaldo Speed Test
A timed solo gauntlet — sprint to the ball, thread the gates, figure-eight the corners of the box, and stop the clock with a shot into the net.
It's an individual assessment of one thing — a player's ability to dribble the ball at pace while maintaining control — and the stopwatch makes the answer concrete.
10 min tonight · One runner at a time, coach on the stopwatch
- Ages 9+
- One runner at a time, coach on the stopwatch
- 10 min as the drill is written
- Cones, balls, practice sticks, full-size goal
Grab Cones for the grids and gates, balls, and your stopwatch.
Build Build a 4-by-4 starting grid 6 yards from the goal line, a gate about 6 yards above the goal box directly in line with it, and a 4-yard gate on each top corner of the goal box, about 3 yards in from the corner.
Place The runner starts in the starting grid without a ball; the ball sits in the gate directly above the goal box.
- 1
Organize the players
Put one player in the starting grid without a ball, stage the ball in the gate directly above the goal box, and take the stopwatch — you're recording every time.
“One at a time — you're racing the clock, and it doesn't stop until the ball hits the back of the net.”
- 2
Show the jobs
Walk the course — sprint from the starting grid to the ball and dribble through its gate; dribble to the gate on one of the corners of the box and do a figure eight through it; sprint to the gate on the opposite corner and figure-eight that one; come back through the gate at the top of the goal box; then dribble into the starting grid and take a shot on goal from inside it.
“Sprint to your ball, through the gate. Figure-eight one corner, across to the other, back through the middle — then home to your square and finish!”
- 3
Play
Start each run and record the time. Watch the dribbling — speed with quick, tight turns in the figure eights, the ball kept close on the tight corners and pushed out a bit across the face of the penalty area, and a precise shot aimed for the corners of the goal.
“GO! Tight on the turns — push it across the middle — now pick your corner!”
Look for Speed with control — the ball close through the figure eights, pushed out a touch across the face of the penalty area.
- 4
Switch and repeat
Reset the ball into its gate and send the next runner, recording each player's time.
“Time! Reset — next runner in the grid.”
If a runner loses the course mid-attempt, stop and ask — which gate comes next? Let them talk the course back, then run it again.
Go deeper · 2 notes
Why it works
One player, one ball, one clock — the course forces dribbling at pace through tight figure eights and open runs, and recording the time turns control at speed into something you can actually measure.
What they learn
Dribbling with speed, quick tight turns around the gates, keeping the ball close in tight corners and pushing it out across the open face of the box, and a precise shot aimed for the corners.
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.