---
title: "Growing Numbers"
description: "A game that starts at 1v1 and adds a player to each side after every goal or out ball, up to 3v3: each step is a new problem, and the players coming on have to read it before they arrive."
canonical: https://hobbit.football/drills/growing-numbers
language: en
publisher: Hobbit (https://hobbit.football)
---

# Growing Numbers

> A game that starts at 1v1 and adds a player to each side after every goal or out ball, up to 3v3: each step is a new problem, and the players coming on have to read it before they arrive.

U8 to U12 · 6 to 8 players · 15 × 20 m · 15 min

Also called Transition Game, Einlaufen, schnelle Angriffe.

![Diagram of Growing Numbers](https://hobbit.football/api/game-library/diagram/growing-numbers)

## How to play

1. Mark a pitch 15 metres wide and 20 long with two mini goals at each end, one in each corner. Put a few spare balls beside each team's goals. Two teams of three; each team agrees an order, first, second and third, and stands between its own goals.
2. The two first players play 1v1, each attacking the two goals at the far end. The coach plays the first ball in.
3. After a goal or an out ball, the two second players run on and it is 2v2. The team that scored, or that did not put the ball out, restarts straight away: its new player dribbles in a spare ball from beside its own goals.
4. After the next goal or out ball, the third players come on: 3v3. Stay at 3v3 for three goals or out balls, then everyone goes back to their goals and you start again at 1v1, in a new order so someone else opens.
5. Keep teams to three, so nobody stands out for more than a duel or two, or to four on a pitch 20 by 25 metres that climbs to 4v4. With more players, set up a second pitch alongside.

## The decision it trains

Every goal changes the problem. In the 1v1 there is nobody to pass to: take the defender on, and pick the goal they are not covering. In the 2v2 the player on the ball suddenly has a choice, go alone or pass, and a defender left on their own has to slow the attack down until a teammate arrives. The players coming on decide before they set foot on the pitch: watching from beside their goals, they see who will have the ball and where the space is, then run either into a gap where they can receive or back between the ball and their goals. Because the team that scored restarts at once with a fresh player and a new ball, the team that conceded has seconds to sort out who goes to the ball and who covers. At 3v3, two goals at each end make the defenders choose which side to protect, and moving the ball to the far goal becomes the weapon.

## Make it harder or easier

- **Too hard:** if the 1v1s hardly ever end in a shot, widen the pitch to 18 metres, so the attacker has room to get past.
- **Too easy:** narrow the pitch to 12 metres, so defenders reach the ball sooner and every step is tighter.
- **Next step:** add one player at a time, so every step is an overload. After the 1v1, only the team that restarts brings its next player on (2v1); at the next stop the other team catches up (2v2); then 3v2 and 3v3.

## What to ask at the breaks

- "Before you ran on, what did you see, and where did you go?"
- "When your teammate came on, what changed in what you did with the ball?"
- "Defending alone while their next player came on with a new ball, what did you do?"

## Where it comes from

Several sources document it. A session from the German FA's children's coach certificate (Kindertrainer-Zertifikat), published by the South Baden FA for under 11s (E-Jugend), calls it Einlaufen ("running on") and uses the same idea for its closing game, Treppenspiel ("the staircase game"). The South Baden FA's Funino sheets play it from 1v1 to 3v3 on four mini goals. The Hamburg FA's training proposals for the same age group have a version with an extra attacker at every step, schnelle Angriffe ("quick attacks"), which the sheet credits to three Hamburg coaches. Football Australia's session on 1v1 defending grows a 1v1 into 2v2 and 3v3 after every goal. No source names who created the idea itself.

## Documented by

- German regional FAs (Bavaria, Hamburg, South Baden) (Germany): Einlaufen, schnelle Angriffe, Wachsende Teams
- Football Australia (Australia)
- FIFA Training Centre (International)
- Ontario Soccer (Canada): Transition Game

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