---
title: "Magic Ball"
description: "The moment the ball goes out, the coach shouts \"magic ball\" and plays in a new one, and whoever reacts first gets it."
canonical: https://hobbit.football/drills/magic-ball
language: en
publisher: Hobbit (https://hobbit.football)
---

# Magic Ball

> The moment the ball goes out, the coach shouts "magic ball" and plays in a new one, and whoever reacts first gets it.

U5 to U7 · 4 to 6 players · 15 × 20 m · 10 min

Also called Boss of the Balls, Ballon magique, Taikapallo.

![Diagram of Magic Ball](https://hobbit.football/api/game-library/diagram/magic-ball)

## How to play

1. Mark a pitch about 15 metres wide and 20 metres long with a small goal at each end. Two or three players a side, one of them in goal.
2. The coach stands at the side with a supply of balls and passes one to a player, who attacks the other team's goal. If the other team wins it, they attack the other way.
3. As soon as the ball leaves the pitch, over a line or into a goal, the coach shouts "magic ball!" and plays a new ball in. Both teams go for it.
4. Each wave lasts 30 to 45 seconds; then the keeper changes. Use one pitch for every two or three teams, so a team rests for one wave at most before it comes on again.

## The decision it trains

This game is about the moment the ball changes hands. When the ball is lost, the player decides at once: chase it back or get back to cover the goal. When the coach shouts, everyone has to see where the new ball is going and decide: race for it, or let a teammate go and get into position for what comes next. The keeper decides when to stay on the line and when to come out for a loose ball.

## Make it harder or easier

- **Too hard:** play 1v1 plus keepers, so every child has the ball more often.
- **Too easy:** the coach plays the magic ball in before the first one is out, so there are two balls in the game at once.
- **Younger players:** no keepers, and goals 3 metres wide, so every attack can end in a goal.

## What to ask at the breaks

- "When the ball went out, what did you do first?"
- "How did you decide whether to go for the new ball?"
- "Who got to the magic ball first, and how did they do it?"

## Where it comes from

Ballon magique is a fixed 10 minute block of the French federation's U6 and U7 plateaux, alongside a challenge game and three 10 minute matches, and it is on the programme of the national beginners' day. It is documented in the sheets of several of the federation's districts, among them Yvelines, Essonne and Landes. No source names who created it.

## Documented by

- French FA (FFF) districts (France): Ballon magique, Ballon Magique U6-U7
- Football Association of Finland (Finland): Taikapallo
- US Youth Soccer (United States): Boss of the Balls
- Royal Belgian FA (Belgium): Ballon magique, Ballon « magique »
- German regional FAs (Bavaria, Hamburg, South Baden) (Germany)
- Ontario Soccer (Canada)

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "Article",
      "headline": "Magic Ball",
      "description": "The moment the ball goes out, the coach shouts \"magic ball\" and plays in a new one, and whoever reacts first gets it.",
      "url": "https://hobbit.football/drills/magic-ball",
      "mainEntityOfPage": "https://hobbit.football/drills/magic-ball",
      "inLanguage": "en",
      "publisher": {
        "@type": "Organization",
        "@id": "https://hobbit.football/#organization",
        "name": "Hobbit",
        "alternateName": "Hobbit AI",
        "url": "https://hobbit.football",
        "logo": {
          "@type": "ImageObject",
          "url": "https://hobbit.football/icon-512.png"
        },
        "sameAs": [
          "https://x.com/pc_hobbit"
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}
```