Speed & Agility

Overload Change of Direction Grid

Decelerate and re-accelerate safely

Speed & Agility
Football Fitness
Premium

Overload Change of Direction Grid is a 14-minute speed & agility drill for 2-20 players, suitable for Under 5 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.

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Speed & Agility
Football Fitness
Technical Practice
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
Full Squad
Minimal Equipment
Foundation Phase
Youth Friendly
Adult Suitable
Overload

Duration

14 min

Players

2-20

Pitch size

24 x 24 yards

Ability levels

Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced

Pitch diagram

Pitch set-up: Overload Change of Direction GridW123424 x 24 yards

Overload Change of Direction Grid — Crossing and finishing — wide delivery into the box · 24 x 24 yards

Step 1 of 5Player sprints to a called cone, plants and returns to the middle.

  1. 1. Player sprints to a called cone, plants and returns to the middle.
  2. 2. Every third rep finishes with a pass off the central ball.
  3. 3. Rest twice as long as each work rep.
  4. 4. The spare player joins whichever side has the ball, so the attack always works with a plus-one.
  5. 5. A goal or completed end action counts double if the spare player touched the ball in the build-up.
  • 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

  1. 1Five cones in a cross pattern in a 24 x 24 yards area.
  2. 2Split the group so the attacking side always has one spare player, and park the spare bibs on the halfway cone.
  3. 3Balls at the central cone.

Coaching instructions

  1. 1Player sprints to a called cone, plants and returns to the middle.
  2. 2Every third rep finishes with a pass off the central ball.
  3. 3Rest twice as long as each work rep.
  4. 4The spare player joins whichever side has the ball, so the attack always works with a plus-one.
  5. 5A goal or completed end action counts double if the spare player touched the ball in the build-up.

Coaching points

  • -Lower the hips to decelerate
  • -Plant on the outside foot
  • -Push off hard on the way back
  • -Find the free player quickly before the defence shuffles across

Common mistakes

  • -Rounding the turn instead of planting
  • -Working through fatigue
  • -Spare player standing still instead of offering an angle

Where this drill fits

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