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Defensive Heading Clearance: Tempo Clock
Clear the ball high, far and wide
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Defending
Set Pieces
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Defensive Heading Clearance: Tempo Clock is a 12-minute heading drill for 3-14 players, suitable for Under 12 to Adults at beginner, intermediate, advanced level. You need balls, cones, full goals. 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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Defending
Set Pieces
Technical Practice
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
Full Squad
Youth Friendly
Adult Suitable
Goals Needed
Speed of Play
Tempo
Competitive
Duration
12 min
Players
3-14
Pitch size
Penalty area
Ability levels
Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced
Pitch diagram
Defensive Heading Clearance: Tempo Clock — Marked area · Penalty area
Step 1 of 4Defender attacks the delivery and heads clear into the target zone.
- 1. Defender attacks the delivery and heads clear into the target zone.
- 2. Recover to the edge of the box after every clearance.
- 3. Ten repetitions each.
- 4. The ball must reach the end action inside six seconds or the rep restarts.
- Cones mark the area
- Dashed lines = zones / thirds
- Ball
- C = coach / server
- Solid arrow = pass, thick = shot, dashed = run / dribble
Objectives
- -Clear the ball high, far and wide
- -Attack the ball first
- -Reorganise after the clearance
Setup
- 1Server on the flank delivering into the box.
- 2Defenders start on the six yard line.
- 3Target zone cones outside the box.
Coaching instructions
- 1Defender attacks the delivery and heads clear into the target zone.
- 2Recover to the edge of the box after every clearance.
- 3Ten repetitions each.
- 4The ball must reach the end action inside six seconds or the rep restarts.
Coaching points
- -Attack the ball at the highest point
- -Head through the bottom half to send it high
- -Clear towards the side, not the middle
- -Pass with pace and intent
- -Move before the ball arrives, not after
Common mistakes
- -Waiting on the goal line
- -Heading straight up
- -Static jump with no run-up