Wide Channel Target Player Possession

Objective

• -Keep the ball with a forward purpose
• -Play into a target player under pressure
• -Support the target quickly after the pass

Setup

1. 1A pitch with a target player in an end zone at each end in a 40 x 32 yards area.
2. 2Mark five-yard channels down both touchlines with flat cones.
3. 3Balls with the target players, two sets of bibs.

How to play

1. 1Teams keep the ball and score by finding their target player.
2. 2The target sets the ball back and the team must keep it.
3. 3Targets rotate with outfield players every three minutes.
4. 4The practice is started by a pass into one of the wide channels.
5. 5End actions only count when the ball has travelled through a wide channel first.

Progressions

• +Defender allowed into the channel to make it live
• +Raise the demand once the group is consistently successful

Regressions

• -Channel is a free zone with no defender at all
• -Simplify the area or the service until success returns

Variations

• -Switch the ball to the far channel before the end action
• -Run the practice on the opposite side of the pitch

Common mistakes

• -Hitting the target with no support
• -Only passing sideways and backwards
• -Everything funnelling into a crowded middle