Football Fitness

Reaction Colour Game

Sharpen reaction speed off a visual cue

Football Fitness

Speed & Agility

Warm Ups

Reaction Colour Game is a 8-minute football fitness drill for 4-20 players, suitable for Under 5 to Under 11 at beginner, intermediate 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

Warm Ups

Warm Up

Beginner

Intermediate

Full Squad

Minimal Equipment

Foundation Phase

Youth Friendly

Quick 10 Minutes

Reaction

Agility

Fun

Fitness Type: Reaction

Duration

8 min

Players

4-20

Pitch size

20 x 20 yards

Ability levels

Beginner / Intermediate

Pitch diagram

Reaction Colour Game — Four-corner square · 20 x 20 yards

Step 1 of 3Coach shouts or holds up a colour and players sprint to touch that cone.

1. Coach shouts or holds up a colour and players sprint to touch that cone.
2. Play five rounds of 45 seconds with a short walk between.
3. Progress to every player dribbling a ball to the called cone.

Cones mark the area
Ball
Cones mark each station in the shape
Solid arrow = pass, thick = shot, dashed = run / dribble

Objectives

-Sharpen reaction speed off a visual cue
-Practise changing direction at speed safely
-Keep every player moving with no queues

Setup

1Four coloured cones on the corners of a twenty yard square.
2Players jog in the middle of the square.
3A pile of balls sits on one corner for the ball rounds.

Coaching instructions

1Coach shouts or holds up a colour and players sprint to touch that cone.
2Play five rounds of 45 seconds with a short walk between.
3Progress to every player dribbling a ball to the called cone.

Coaching points

-Stay light on the toes while waiting for the call
-First step straight towards the cone
-Short braking steps before the turn

Common mistakes

-Standing flat footed waiting
-Running through the cone instead of turning off it
-Watching a friend rather than the coach

Equipment needed

Cones

Balls

Age groups

Under 5

Under 6

Under 7

Under 8

Under 9

Under 10

Under 11

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