1-2 Combination Play — Part II
Lay the ball off, sprint around your cone, and get played into your run — the combination rolls corner to corner around the grid.
Improving 1-2 combination play while encouraging good movement off the ball — every lay-off is followed by a sprint into the next pass.
20 min tonight · 3 on cones, a line at the fourth
- Ages 9+
- 3 on cones, a line at the fourth
- 20 min as the drill is written
- Cones, balls
Grab Four corner cones and balls — one ball to start.
Build Build a grid about 20 by 25 yards — a cone on each corner.
Place One player on cones B, C, and D; everyone else lines up at cone A, first player with the ball.
- 1
Organize the players
Put one player on each of three corner cones — B, C, and D — and line everyone else up at the fourth cone, A. The first player in line starts with the ball; begin with one ball.
“One player on each of these three cones, everyone else in line here — first player, you've got the ball.”
- 2
Show the jobs
Walk the chain — A plays a long ball into B and follows the pass; B lays it back to A and sprints around their cone toward C; A plays to C, and C plays the ball into B's run, then sprints around their own cone; B plays long to D, D plays into C's run — and the movement continues around the grid.
“Lay it back, then go — sprint around your cone, because the next ball is coming into your run.”
- 3
Play
Run it continuously with the line feeding through. Watch for accurate passing with good pace on the ball, good communication among the players, and good movement before and after every pass.
“Pass and move — nobody stands still after a lay-off!”
Look for Movement before and after the pass — the lay-off followed immediately by the sprint around the cone into the next ball.
- 4
Switch and repeat
Keep the pattern rolling. Then add a second ball, starting from the opposite corners A and C at the same time, or change the direction of the play.
“Two balls now — A and C together. Heads up and keep it moving!”
If runs and passes keep missing each other, freeze it and ask — after your lay-off, where do you sprint? Let them answer, then play on.
Go deeper · 2 notes
Why it works
The lay-off never ends the rep — the passer immediately sprints around the cone and the next player plays the ball into that run, so good movement before and after the pass is what keeps the chain alive.
What they learn
1-2 combination play, accurate passing with good pace on the ball, good communication, and good movement before and after the pass.
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.