---
title: "Controle (Three In, Three Out)"
description: "Attackers keep the ball in the air outside the box and finish with a first-time volley; three goals in or three shots out decide who keeps goal next."
canonical: https://hobbit.football/drills/controle
language: en
publisher: Hobbit (https://hobbit.football)
---

# Controle (Three In, Three Out)

> Attackers keep the ball in the air outside the box and finish with a first-time volley; three goals in or three shots out decide who keeps goal next.

U9 to U16 · 4 to 5 players · 16 × 14 m · 15 min

Also called Wembley, Ten Bys, Head or Volley.

![Diagram of Controle (Three In, Three Out)](https://hobbit.football/api/game-library/diagram/controle)

## How to play

1. Groups of four or five at one goal: one keeper, the rest attackers. Mark a box about 6 metres deep in front of the goal with cones; attackers stay outside it.
2. The keeper throws the ball out. The attackers keep it in the air, passing to each other or juggling; it must not touch the ground.
3. A goal must be a first-time volley from a teammate's lift. Up to U11 it is volleys only, never headers; with older players a header inside the box can count too, within your association's heading rules.
4. Three in, three out: if the attackers score three before they miss three, the keeper stays in goal; if three shots go wide first, the last player to miss goes in goal. A clean catch sends that shooter in goal at once. If the ball touches the ground, the keeper restarts.
5. Run as many groups as you have goals.

## The decision it trains

With the ball in the air, every touch is a choice: keep it up for one more pass, lift it to a teammate who is set, or volley now. The lifter looks for the teammate with the clearest line to goal and lifts it to his good side; the others move to an angle where a volley is on. Each miss brings you closer to going in goal, so a hard volley is weighed against a placed one. The keeper decides when to come off his line.

## Make it harder or easier

- **Too hard:** the ball may bounce once between touches.
- **Too easy:** no juggling: every touch must be a pass in the air or a volley at goal.
- **Younger players:** volleys only, never headers; the ball may bounce once, and the lifter may start by throwing the ball up from the hands.

## What to ask at the breaks

- "Who was the best player to lift it to, and how could you tell?"
- "When did you hit it hard, and when did you place it?"
- "Keeper, when was it worth coming off your line?"

## Where it comes from

A street game from Brazil and Argentina with no named inventor. In Brazil it is controle, três dentro três fora or melê; Freire, as Scaglia cites him, made it one of his four core games for teaching children. In the Argentine potrero it is el centro gol, which Rivoira describes as one player crossing and the others trying to finish. Rules differ from place to place; the rotation here follows the Brazilian coach Danny Carvalho.

## Documented by

- Italian FA (FIGC) (Italy): Tedesca, Bonus
- US Youth Soccer (United States): Wembley, Head or Volley, Ten Bys
- Unicamp (Brazil): Tenteio
- UFMG (Brazil): Controlinho
- EFDeportes (Argentina): El centro gol
- Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil): Melê
- World Class Coaching (United States): Three in, three out
- Auditório Ibirapuera (Brazil): Três dentro, três fora

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