Ten Passes Game
Two teams in a 25 × 20 m area. The team with the ball counts its passes out loud; ten in a row scores a point. The classic keep-ball game.
- Age
- U9–Senior
- Players
- 8–14
- Duration
- 12 min
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Intensity
- Medium
- Area
- 25 × 20 m
- Type
- Tactical
- Approach
- Global
- Format
- Possession game
- Objectives
- Technical: Passing
- Tactical: Ball possession, Decision making
- Concepts worked on
Training diagram
5v5: the team with the ball counts its passes out loud. Ten in a row is a point.
Legend
- Attacker
- Defender
- Pass
- Run without ball
- Ball
- Cone
The Ten Passes Game is the simplest way to teach young teams to keep the ball: spread out, offer an option and pass to the free player. Counting out loud keeps everyone involved and lets the defending team know how urgently they must press. With one rule — no pass back to the player who just passed to you — players have to find a third teammate instead of playing ping-pong.
Objective
Keep possession as a team by creating space, moving to offer a passing option and passing to the teammate who is free.
Organisation
- Mark a 25 × 20 m area with four cones (20 × 15 m for U9–U10, 30 × 25 m for 7v7).
- Two teams of 4–7 players; one team wears bibs.
- Spare balls at the side with the coach, who restarts play quickly.
How it works
- The coach plays a ball in to one team. That team counts every completed pass out loud.
- Ten consecutive passes score one point, and the team keeps the ball and starts counting again from zero.
- You may not pass back to the player who has just passed to you.
- If the defenders intercept or the ball leaves the area, the other team gets the ball and starts counting from zero.
- Play three rounds of 3 minutes with 1 minute of rest.
Coaching points
- Make the area big when your team has the ball: use the width and the depth.
- After passing, move to a new space where you can receive again.
- Look before the ball arrives so the next pass is quick.
- Defenders: press the ball carrier together and cut the closest passing lane.
Progressions
- Limit players to two touches.
- Ten passes plus a pass into an end zone to score.
- Make the area smaller: 20 × 15 m for 5v5.
Regressions
- First round with the hands (throw and catch, no running with the ball) to learn to spread out.
- Five passes score a point.
- Add one neutral player who always plays for the team with the ball.
Variations
- Pass count only counts if the ball reaches every player of the team at least once.
Key principles
- Width and depth in possession.
- Support the ball carrier with angles, not straight lines.
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