Shape Dribble: A Dribbling and Route Planning Game for U5 to U10

How to set it up

• In a 20 by 20 metre area set nine cones in a grid of three rows and three columns, about 5 metres apart.
• Every player has a ball.

How to play

• The coach calls a shape, a number or a letter: a triangle, a 2, a V.
• Players dribble a route between the cones that draws it, and stop when it is complete.
• Score a point for every finished shape; the fastest players get a bonus point.
• Rules to add: change direction at every cone, never two cones in a straight line; only a cone with nobody at it counts.
• Team version: groups of three or four, each starting from a different corner. The group finishes when its last player completes the shape.

Why it works

Nobody can do the shape with their head down: the route has to be planned, and other players are crossing it all the time.

Each turn at a cone asks for a different part of the foot: the inside one way, the outside the other, the sole to stop and change. The shape decides which one, not the coach.

What to coach

• Plan the route before the first touch.
• Look up between touches for players crossing your path.
• Turn with the inside, the outside or the sole; try all three.
• Keep the ball close as you arrive at a cone, then push away.

Questions to ask

• "Which route did you choose for the triangle?"
• "When someone was already at your cone, what did you do?"
• "How did your team decide who drew which part?"

Make it easier, make it harder

• Easier: simple shapes and numbers; reaching a cone counts without going round it.
• Harder: harder letters like W or G; every cone must be circled; combined calls like "5, diamond, M".

How to adapt it by age

• U5 to U6: shapes and numbers, touch the cone to count.
• U7 to U8: letters, go round each cone, each player starts from a different cone.
• U9 to U10: harder letters and combined calls, players choose their own start, and the team version with a one-minute planning break.