Continuous Ladder and Ball

Pitch diagram

Objectives

• -Improve foot speed and coordination
• -Link quick feet straight into a football action
• -Keep work-to-rest ratios sensible

Setup

1. 1A ladder with a ball station five yards beyond it in a 20 x 10 yards area.
2. 2Load a ball at each starting station so the next rep can begin immediately.
3. 3One ladder, balls at the far station.

Coaching instructions

1. 1Player works through the ladder pattern then accelerates to the ball.
2. 2They complete a dribble through two gates and jog back.
3. 3Full recovery between reps — quality over volume.
4. 4As soon as one sequence ends, the next server plays in without waiting.
5. 5Run 4-minute blocks and count total completed sequences as a squad score.

Common mistakes

• -Ladder work at jogging pace
• -No rest between reps
• -Long queues while balls are collected