Football/Soccer Session (Academy Sessions): Long Passing

Long passing in pairs (20 mins)

Organization: In pairs 30-40 yards apart

Instructions: Execute the driven pass, lofted, curled, and chipped to the player on the other side of the area.

Coaching Points: Low driven pass (run up offset to ball, body weight and head over the ball, use top of foot, follow through to target, hit middle of ball). Lofted pass (run up offset to ball, eye contact on the ball, use top of foot, strike underneath the ball, slight lean back). Curled pass (use top of inside, run up offset to ball, cut across ball to create spin, slight lean back, if R footed aim to R of player and curl back into players path). Chipped pass (dig underneath ball to create backspin and chip ball up, run up offset to ball.

Progressions: Using different types of long passes to get the the player on the other side. Pass in groups of 4 - one player passes a short pass to the other player who long passes it to the other two players across the area on the other side (while the ball is rolling).

Game (20 mins)

Match Play: 8 v 8

Instructions: Encourage when to hit a long pass - switching play when space over the other side, ball over the top for striker to run onto, ball down the line into space for winger to move onto etc.

Coaching Points: If there is a gap between opposing players and a teamate is a distance away and in between, you could use a low driven pass to slit them. If there is no room but there is a player in space behind a group of opposing players you could use a lofted pass.