A drill to practice decision making and finding space between defenders.
Set up a line of three defenders with tackle shields (roughly 2m apart), with one defender 2/3m behind the middle defender (blue - see diagram).
Roughly 5m opposite the defenders set up three attackers, one opposite the middle defender with the ball and one either side of the ball carrier (red - see diagram).
When the ball carrier starts running towards the defenders the defender behind moves in to fill one of the defensive gaps. The attackers must successfully select the space and pass the ball to the player to run through the gap and score.
PROGRESSION:
Defenders put more pressure on attackers.
All players must touch the ball. The third attacker must get through their space as a support player.
The ball starts on one side instead of in the middle and players have to call whether the space is the first gap or the second gap, in which case the ball carrier should through a miss-pass.
Identification and communication of space between players.
Decision making - watching where the defender is moving and passing the ball accordingly.
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