---
title: "Honda's 4v4"
description: "Four a side with keepers, a 20-second shot clock and no coach on the bench: the children decide everything, and they decide it fast."
canonical: https://hobbit.football/drills/honda-4v4
language: en
publisher: Hobbit (https://hobbit.football)
---

# Honda's 4v4

> Four a side with keepers, a 20-second shot clock and no coach on the bench: the children decide everything, and they decide it fast.

U9 to U12 · 8 to 10 players · 20 × 25 m · 20 min

Also called 4v4.

![Diagram of Honda's 4v4](https://hobbit.football/api/game-library/diagram/honda-4v4)

## How to play

1. Mark a pitch about 25 metres long and 20 wide with a goal about 3 metres wide at each end.
2. Two teams of four: three outfield players and a goalkeeper. The keeper may leave the goal and join the attack as an outfield player. Substitutions are free if you have extra players.
3. Each attack has 20 seconds to end in a shot. An adult keeps the count; if no shot comes in time, the ball goes to the other team's keeper. The count starts again whenever the ball changes team.
4. Play 10-minute games. No coach on the bench: the adults sit away from the pitch and say nothing during play.
5. With more than ten players, run a second pitch rather than a long bench.

## The decision it trains

The clock turns every possession into a question with a deadline: is there a shot now, or time for one more pass to make a better one? Wait too long and the chance is gone; shoot too early and the ball is gone. Because the keeper may come out and play, the attack can make four against three, and the defending team has to decide who steps out to the extra player and who stays home. With nobody coaching from the side, every call is the children's own.

## Make it harder or easier

- **Too hard:** give each attack 30 seconds, or start the count only when the ball crosses the halfway line.
- **Too easy:** cut the clock to 15 seconds, so the first good chance has to be taken.
- **Younger players:** three a side including the keeper, on about 20 by 15 metres, with 30 seconds on the clock.

## What to ask at the breaks

- "How did you know it was time to shoot?"
- "When your keeper came out to play, what changed for the other team?"
- "With no coach on the bench, how did your team decide what to do?"

## Where it comes from

Keisuke Honda devised the rules. The first national tournament, for under-10s, was held in Japan in 2023, and under-12s were added in 2024; the company Now Do organises it. The rules build on futsal's and include the 20-second shot clock, a keeper who may join the attack, free substitutions and no coach on the bench. Honda has spoken of wanting players who think for themselves on the pitch. In Japan it is simply called 4v4.

## Documented by

- au (KDDI) (Japan): 4v4
- ReseMom (Japan)
- Goal (International)
- Daily Sports (Japan)
- livedoor News (Japan)
- Football Channel (Japan)
- Zaikei (Japan)

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