Speed & Agility
Counter Change of Direction Grid
Decelerate and re-accelerate safely
Speed & Agility
Football Fitness
Counter Change of Direction Grid is a 14-minute speed & agility drill for 2-20 players, suitable for Under 9 to Adults at beginner, intermediate, advanced level. You need cones, balls. Below you will find the objective, the set-up, how to run it, coaching points, common mistakes, progressions, regressions and variations.
Back to drill librarySpeed & Agility
Football Fitness
Technical Practice
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
Full Squad
Minimal Equipment
Youth Friendly
Adult Suitable
Counter Attack
Duration
14 min
Players
2-20
Pitch size
26 x 26 yards
Ability levels
Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced
Pitch diagram
Counter Change of Direction Grid — Crossing and finishing — wide delivery into the box · 26 x 26 yards
Step 1 of 5Player sprints to a called cone, plants and returns to the middle.
- 1. Player sprints to a called cone, plants and returns to the middle.
- 2. Every third rep finishes with a pass off the central ball.
- 3. Rest twice as long as each work rep.
- 4. The team in possession starts each rep in their own half and must build forwards.
- 5. Turnovers earn a direct counter at the mini goals worth two points.
- Cones mark the area
- Full goal
- Dashed lines = wide crossing channels
- Ball
- Solid arrow = pass, thick = shot, dashed = run / dribble
Objectives
- -Decelerate and re-accelerate safely
- -Turn off both feet with control
- -Build agility that transfers to the game
Setup
- 1Five cones in a cross pattern in a 26 x 26 yards area.
- 2Place two mini goals on the halfway line for the counter-attacking side to aim at.
- 3Balls at the central cone.
Coaching instructions
- 1Player sprints to a called cone, plants and returns to the middle.
- 2Every third rep finishes with a pass off the central ball.
- 3Rest twice as long as each work rep.
- 4The team in possession starts each rep in their own half and must build forwards.
- 5Turnovers earn a direct counter at the mini goals worth two points.
Coaching points
- -Lower the hips to decelerate
- -Plant on the outside foot
- -Push off hard on the way back
- -Counter in a straight line — the first pass forward beats the recovery run
Common mistakes
- -Rounding the turn instead of planting
- -Working through fatigue
- -Dribbling into traffic when the counter is on
Where this drill fits
- More football speed & agility drills
- More football football fitness drills
- football drills for U10s
- football drills for U12s
- football drills for U14s
- football drills for U16s
- Football session plans built around this theme