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.
Set up · 3 actions · before the kids arrive
- 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.
Show me the setup picture
One thing to remember: 1-2 combination play, accurate passing with good pace on the ball, good communication, and good movement before and after the pass.
How it runs — the whole game in one sentence
A plays long into B and follows; B lays it back and sprints around their cone; A finds C, C plays into B's run and sprints around their own — and the movement keeps rolling.
1Organize the players▾
Coach does
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.
Coach says
One player on each of these three cones, everyone else in line here — first player, you've got the ball.
2Show the jobs▾
Coach does
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.
Coach says
Lay it back, then go — sprint around your cone, because the next ball is coming into your run.
3Play▾
Coach does
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.
Coach says
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.
4Switch and repeat▾
Coach does
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.
Coach says
Two balls now — A and C together. Heads up and keep it moving!
If it's not working
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.
Want to go deeper? Optional — not needed to run the game.