Football Fitness

Acceleration Starts

Develop the first five yards of acceleration

Football Fitness

Speed & Agility

Acceleration Starts is a 12-minute football fitness drill for 4-18 players, suitable for Under 12 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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Football Fitness

Speed & Agility

Technical Practice

Beginner

Intermediate

Advanced

Full Squad

Minimal Equipment

Youth Friendly

Adult Suitable

Acceleration

Speed

Fitness Type: Acceleration

Duration

12 min

Players

4-18

Pitch size

30 x 10 yards

Ability levels

Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced

Pitch diagram

Acceleration Starts — Pairs facing each other · 30 x 10 yards

Step 1 of 3Accelerate hard to the ten yard cone, then ease down over the next ten.

1. Accelerate hard to the ten yard cone, then ease down over the next ten.
2. Six reps with 45 seconds recovery between each.
3. Finish two reps by driving onto a ball and striking at goal.

Ball
Pairs working across a marked lane
Solid arrow = pass, thick = shot, dashed = run / dribble

Objectives

-Develop the first five yards of acceleration
-Coach a repeatable sprint start position
-Keep quality high with full recovery between reps

Setup

1Start line with cones at five, ten and twenty yards.
2Players in pairs on the start line.
3Balls at the twenty yard cone for the football finish.

Coaching instructions

1Accelerate hard to the ten yard cone, then ease down over the next ten.
2Six reps with 45 seconds recovery between each.
3Finish two reps by driving onto a ball and striking at goal.

Coaching points

-Lean forward through the first three steps
-Drive the arms hard and low
-Full recovery so every rep is near maximal

Common mistakes

-Standing tall on the first step
-Short rests turning speed work into fitness work
-Jogging the deceleration instead of controlling it

Equipment needed

Cones

Balls

Age groups

Under 12

Under 13

Under 14

Under 15

Under 16

Adults

Progressions

+Progressive Tempo: add a fourth maximal round
+Ball For Every Player: shrink the working area
+Reaction Start: two cues, one a decoy
+Add a competitive scoreline for the last round

Regressions

-Progressive Tempo: stay at the first two tempos only
-Ball For Every Player: bigger area, share a ball between two
-Reaction Start: coach counts players in
-Simplify the area or the service until success returns

Variations

-Progressive Tempo — Three rounds: 60% pace, 80% pace, then match pace with full recovery between.
-Ball For Every Player — Every player works with their own ball so no one waits in a queue.
-Reaction Start — Every repetition begins from a visual or audio cue rather than a set count.
-Partner Race — Players work in matched pairs and race each repetition, best of five.
-Mobility Focus — Each round finishes with a controlled mobility hold for the hips, groin and ankles.
-Change Of Direction — Add a 90 or 180 degree turn into every repetition before the finish.
-Team Target — The whole group works to a shared score target and repeats the round if they miss it.
-Flip the practice to the opposite side of the pitch