4 Drills to Lock Down Perfect Passing

Every Soccerista knows that their team must score the most goals to win games. But what has to happen for those goals to be scored? It can be a 1v1 scenario. Or most likely, a pass was received, and the teammate scored off that pass–an assist. Passing advances the ball up the field. Passing is key to keeping the ball away from the other team. It is how you dominate the field. Ultimately, the game. 

Passing is a must-have skill a player should have and work at perfecting. The different elements of passing are timing, accuracy, and technique. Training passing drills can get boring and repetitive. This is where dedication comes into perfecting the skill. The more focus and training you put in, the bigger the benefit. The better your passing becomes, the more you can make magic happen on the field.

Here are four passing drills that are must-do to achieve perfect passing:

Wall Passing  

Use a wall/partner to pass the ball, working on passing with different surfaces of your foot. The goal is to work on your first touch as you receive the ball. Then, collect the ball, efficiently bring it to the passing foot across the body and pass it to the wall. This drill works on first touch and accuracy.

If you don’t accurately pass the ball, it will be more difficult to collect. Hit 30 repetitions on each foot in each foot positioning-inside, top, outside. Here are some variations to wall passing where you can work solo on your passing skills.

10 Yard Cone Partner Passing with directional first touch

Set up the cone 10 yards from your partner. Collect the ball on one side of the cone and work on your directional first touch. The focus of the drill should be on the first touch moving the ball to the outside of the cone (defender), followed by an accurate pass.

The touch should be collected with the outside foot, moved across the body, and passed with the opposite foot. 

Partner Square Accuracy Passing

Make a 3×3 square with cones. Both partners begin outside the square. Partner A passes to partner B back and forth seven times with a “turn” command on the last pass. The player that turns dribbles five yards to go around a cone and then back to the square to continue the pattern.

Seven passes make it so the partners alternate their turns with the ball. The passing is kept within the square and tight to the perimeter, focusing on accuracy. See this video for a quick demo of how to initiate the drill.  

Long Passing

Numerous drills can be done to increase your accuracy and technique for long passing. “Short, short, long” is a drill with four players to increase the accuracy of long passing. This video demonstrates the setup and focus of long passes.

Two players set up at least 15 yards from two other players. One pair passes two short passes between them before going long to the opposite pair. The goal is to get a little lift on the ball and work on gauging power and accuracy in this drill. In addition, you will learn to find a rhythm between alternating short and long passes. 

Overall Tips

It is important to understand the key points to good passing. First, speed is essential to passing, making it to the receiver. If the pass is under hit, it can slow down the play, or the defender can step in and take the ball. On the other hand, if the pass is overhit, it will be hard to control or completely bypass the receiver.  

Second, the playability of the pass will either keep the momentum going or kill the momentum of the play. Keeping the ball on the ground will increase the playability of the pass. If the ball bounces, the receiver will have to take extra touches to settle the ball, which could result in the defender taking the ball off the receiver’s first touch. This takes repetition of technique to master this key to passing.

The next key you will focus on as the passer is staying on the ball long enough to create the perfect passing opportunity. Creating space, specific angles, and passing gaps happen when the defender steps out of their position. This happens when the passer holds the ball as they attack the goal, forcing the defender out of position.

Lastly, moving the ball quickly is essential to a great passing game. Knowing when to take multiple vs. one touch, seeing the gaps, and using your eyes to look up before receiving a pass will give you a vision of the field. Vision, speed of play, and decision-making control the speed of the game. The technique is important for connecting the passes. But vision is where you will break the defense down, exploit weaknesses, advance the ball, score, and dominate the game.

Each drill listed above has room for adaptations. Take the key points and integrate them into the drills a little bit at a time. Hone your passing skill set. Watch your game flourish!

Featured image via Adobe Stock Images

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