Passing patterns are everywhere in youth soccer. If you want an alternate to rondos but better than passing patterns for your youth soccer team, look no further.
They look clean.
They look organized.
They look “professional.”
But they don’t work.
In this video, I explain why passing patterns take players out of the context of the game, kill decision-making, and leave players bored — then I show three game-like activities that develop passing, movement, and awareness without scripting the game.
If it doesn’t look like soccer, it probably shouldn’t be in your session.
Activities shown in this video (with full Kinoli animations):
The Diamond Game
https://kinoli.com/a/oRw4ouVwBQQa
Transitional Rondo
https://kinoli.com/a/AnVCZ6BneIVx
Keep Away with Consequences
https://kinoli.com/a/xsIDDAgim5Nr
Bottom line: players come to training to play soccer — so let them play soccer.
If you try any of these activities this week, comment below and let me know how it goes.
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Passing patterns look great… until the game starts.
Which of these activities would you run first?
sooooo, what's wrong with piano?
For which age are these exercises suitable? What if I have kids in the team who still have some difficulties with passing or receiving and controlling the ball?
This is such a good video and you make a GREAT point. I REALLY like your second drill with the three sections and the neutral player. I am trying to find the best possible drills to get players to move without the ball to create angle pass opportunities. The 11v11 field is SO big for the U14 rec players that I feel like it SHOULD be a super simple habit of finding the open teammate. Sort of a process of elimination. If you don't find them in front of you, and you don't find them to the side of you, then you must go to one behind you. I am wanting my players to focus WAY less energy on charging forward and more energy on finding connections. I am looking for drills that force players to make one of these three decisions.
your channel is so highly underrated. I only find quality videos here. Keep going and thank you for sharing your experience!
Its driven me mad for years
What is the reason for the neutrals?
I've been using a transitional rondo for my team's warm up and almost every practice session. I've see so much development with my players' vision, passing, and movement.
Passing patterns work, as the coach you have to make it more competitive and realistic to the game in your progressions.
Are these good for under14s too
Hello, vidéo très pertinente concernant le développement de jeunes joueurs de football. 👌
I like the first two a lot, the last practice personally I wouldnt use for two reasons; the first being, you associate running to being a punishment. Running is a fundamental pillar of the game, we need to encourage players to run and not hate it. The second reason is just from a load perspective, if the team in possession lose the ball, you are going to fatigue players faster by making them run more, with the condition of making the player who loses the ball sprint out around the cone on the outside. Players that repeat that action will be far more likely to lose the ball again because they're tired. That effort will be compounded by players who are technically not as good as others. The only time I would use a practice like that would be with senior players in a preseason programme where you want to get volume and conditioning into their legs, and monitor it with very tight blocks.
My new favorite coach to "borrow" ideas from, my boys hate passing drills, the diamond game looks fun and would be a great pre match warmup
I love your love for Cruijff 👍🙂
This is fine and good…when your players have the technical competency to "let the game be the teacher." But when you have low level players that are technically poor and can't recognize those things or for whatever reason are difficient in key areas, then what? How are you preparing the players to be capable to getting the most out of these games? Where are you starting with them?
You need to get your players to learn how to pass first, and after can you start applying show angles and decision make. And by the end wall pass will be the best training to a young player know how to pass the ball, the passing pattern is good to teach player when to check, how to do a give and go, lay offs, 3rd man run. After they know how to all those things is when you start applying rondos and possession games, if they dont know those little things, they will be just running around and lnot able to complete 3 good passes
Repetitive unopposed passing is a valuable part of learning if it's done well. Your main point about the importance of opposed practices that demand decision making is good.
At the Diamond Game, is it a score, when the team mate is in the diamond or outside the diamond?
I've had great success with pattern play. A good coach doesn't only do patterns. You speak as though this is all they do.
How big are the area and the diamond for the first activity? We tried it today. One kid said that it helps "to learn how to support". I am excited about trying the third one when I have more players attending.
Thank you. Your explanatios are helping me to improve my practices.
This guy is really good and I steal these drills and work them into my sessions. I do some passing patterns, like up/down/through to try and get the girls used to to breaking a line, then drawing in the defense and then playing the killer pass into space for the through ball.
I love the 3v3 with 10 passes and runaround-the-cone after loosing the ball. Perfect warmup 7/ technical priming before starting the 3v3 or 4v4.
Completely agree coach and thanks for this great video. I have been guilty of using passing patterns when the boys have had a very hard schedule. I don't want to burn them out, but I rarely use it and when I do, the lines are very short so no waiting around
Passing patterns, like anything have a place and purpose. I agree that they shouldn’t take up the majority of the practice, I’ve included them with success in 10-15 minute increments. I will usually have two lines going so there is very little standing around and after a couple of reps we will introduce a race to bring out the competitive aspect. Then normally will add defenders to progress the drill.
A passing pattern reveals who can pass with proper accuracy and weight whereas a dynamic activity helps players to make decisions that are more game like. This is not an either or option. If your players cannot pass accurately, then use a passing pattern and correct their technique. Poor passing habits do not reveal themselves in a dynamic activity like a passing pattern will.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. There are so many channels with mostly bland excercises. But yours are excellent and very helpfull.
Greetings from Belgium.
And not Just youth football! To me, they Just don't work. Coaching via principles Is Always Better than coaching via patterns. Players can be organized (coach's job) and still think inside the situation (player's job), not only that, It MUST be like that. Fun apart, football Is a situational game, even if they Remember a pattern, if something doesn't go accordingly because of the opponent, everything vanishes
Just the video I needed for this Monday! Was thinking about what to do, because the kids need to move more and I found this way too easy and static passing drill. Monday we will do the 3rd one! Now I'm going to look on your channel for a finishing drill. Today we lost 1-0, while we were in control of the game almost the whole time… Thanks for the video.