Speed & Agility
Pressure Ladder and Ball
Improve foot speed and coordination
Speed & Agility
Football Fitness
Ball Mastery
Pressure Ladder and Ball is a 12-minute speed & agility drill for 2-16 players, suitable for Under 9 to Adults at beginner, intermediate, advanced level. You need balls, cones, ladder. 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
Ball Mastery
Technical Practice
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
Full Squad
Agility Kit
Youth Friendly
Adult Suitable
Under Pressure
Duration
12 min
Players
2-16
Pitch size
16 x 8 yards
Ability levels
Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced
Pitch diagram
Pressure Ladder and Ball — 2 gates — score by travelling through · 16 x 8 yards
Step 1 of 5Player works through the ladder pattern then accelerates to the ball.
- 1. Player works through the ladder pattern then accelerates to the ball.
- 2. They complete a dribble through two gates and jog back.
- 3. Full recovery between reps — quality over volume.
- 4. The defender is released the moment the ball leaves the server's foot.
- 5. The working player scores by completing the action before pressure arrives; the defender scores by blocking it.
- Cones mark the area
- Cone gates to dribble / pass through
- Ball
- Agility ladder
- C = coach / server
- Solid arrow = pass, thick = shot, dashed = run / dribble
Objectives
- -Improve foot speed and coordination
- -Link quick feet straight into a football action
- -Keep work-to-rest ratios sensible
Setup
- 1A ladder with a ball station five yards beyond it in a 16 x 8 yards area.
- 2Position a recovering defender behind each working player, starting two yards back.
- 3One ladder, balls at the far station.
Coaching instructions
- 1Player works through the ladder pattern then accelerates to the ball.
- 2They complete a dribble through two gates and jog back.
- 3Full recovery between reps — quality over volume.
- 4The defender is released the moment the ball leaves the server's foot.
- 5The working player scores by completing the action before pressure arrives; the defender scores by blocking it.
Coaching points
- -Fast feet, quiet landings
- -Drive out of the last rung
- -Full recovery keeps the speed high
- -Feel the pressure with your body, take the touch away from the defender
Common mistakes
- -Ladder work at jogging pace
- -No rest between reps
- -Facing your own goal and getting trapped by the press
Where this drill fits
- More football speed & agility drills
- More football football fitness drills
- More football ball mastery drills
- football drills for U10s
- football drills for U12s
- football drills for U14s
- football drills for U16s
- Football session plans built around this theme