Soccer Bowling: A Passing Game for U6 to U10

How to set it up

• In a 20 by 20 metre area, mark two or three bowling alleys about 8 metres wide.
• At the top of each alley set six cones as pins in a triangle: three at the back, two in the middle, one at the front, about a metre and a half apart.
• Put a passing spot about 8 metres from the front pin.
• Two or three players per alley, one ball each if you have them.

How to play

• Each player has three rolls per turn. Knocked pins stay down until the three rolls are used.
• All six pins with the first roll is a strike: 100 points. All six with two rolls: 50. With three rolls: 10.
• No strike: one point for every pin knocked down.
• The next player in the alley stands the pins back up, so nobody waits for long: one rolls, one sets, one fetches.
• Highest score across all the alleys wins.

Why it works

Bowling turns the weight of a pass into something a six year old can see. Too soft, and the ball dies before the pins; too hard and wild, and it misses them all.

A strike needs both: aimed at the front pin, hit with enough pace to carry through. Nobody needs to explain "weight of pass".

What to coach

• A short run-up, then plant the standing foot beside the ball.
• Swing the arms for balance; a strong arm swing adds pace.
• Strike the middle of the ball with the inside of the foot.
• Pick the target before the run-up: the front pin, or the gap beside it.

Questions to ask

• "What happened to the ball when you hit it softly?"
• "Where did you aim when you got the strike?"
• "Why did your run-up help?"

Make it easier, make it harder

• Easier: closer pins, pins further apart for U6 (about a metre) so more fall, a bigger ball.
• Harder: longer distance; tall cones that need more pace to knock over; the weaker foot only for the third roll.

How to adapt it by age

• U6 to U7: short distances, pins a metre apart, the stronger foot.
• U8 to U9: pins a metre and a half apart, a longer run-up, outside of the foot for a bonus.
• U10: tall cones, the weaker foot for one roll per turn, alley against alley as a team score.