3v1 Possession Rondo
The 3v1 Rondo is a great exercise that you should use often during your training sessions as it will improve the technical qualities of your players and their ability to keep possession in tight spaces.
The key to it is focus, intensity and quality. You must ensure that your players take the exercise seriously; it’s not just a fun warmup or chance to make the player in the middle run around. It’s about working on passing angles, first touch, weight of pass, speed of movement and quality of decision making.
Bibs are ideal space markers as they don’t impact the roll of the ball but you can use cones or even just estimate the space. The area can be as small as 4 yards between each marker and you can increase the size up to 10 yards, depending on the skill level of your players and what you want to get from the exercise.
A smaller space is more difficult and forces your players to think quicker, whereas a larger space gives your players more time, less pressure and the opportunity to work on passing the ball with more power.
The work your players do in this exercise will transfer directly into games; in this example, look how these players get out of a tight space under pressure by using the principles learned in the 3v1 rondo.
Now, in terms of touch constraints, you can start by allowing your players unlimited touches and as they progress, alternate between 2-touch and 1-touch.
The 1-touch limitation forces players to make very quick decisions and move to create immediate passing options.
The 2-touch option gives players the opportunity to control the ball and then pass firmly with their second touch.
There is a mandatory 2-touch option where players must take two touches every time they have the ball. This forces them to pass very firmly so that they have chance to control and pass the ball again before being closed down by the defender.
For you as the coach, there are a few key things to focus on; player movement and positioning are important to give the receiving player an angle for two options to pass. This obviously makes it difficult for the defender to read and then intercept either option.
You should also focus on encouraging your players to receive the ball across their body with their back foot, furthest away from the defender as this makes it more difficult for the defender to close down and intercept the next pass.
Finally, talk to your players about using their body shape to deceive the defender. They can position their body facing one way to unbalance the defender or make them move slightly and then pass the ball to their other teammate. Body shape and deception are very important; so remember to focus on this coaching point as your players improve.
While you might think this is a basic exercise, don’t underestimate how important it is for helping your players develop. There’s a reason professional level teams continue to work on basic rondos like this every day.
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