---
title: "Pirate Ship"
description: "One attacker, one defender, two gates to choose from: read the defender and pick your gate, and if the defender wins the ball, the counter is on."
canonical: https://hobbit.football/drills/pirate-ship
language: en
publisher: Hobbit (https://hobbit.football)
---

# Pirate Ship

> One attacker, one defender, two gates to choose from: read the defender and pick your gate, and if the defender wins the ball, the counter is on.

U5 to U8 · 2 to 3 players · 10 × 12 m · 10 min

Also called Tricky Goal Lines, Shark Attack, Bring it On!.

![Diagram of Pirate Ship](https://hobbit.football/api/game-library/diagram/pirate-ship)

## How to play

1. For each pair, mark an area 10 metres wide and 12 metres long. Put two gates 2 metres wide, A and B, in the two far corners, and a third, gate C, in the middle of the attacker's starting line.
2. The attacker starts on that line with a ball; the defender stands in the middle of the area.
3. On the coach's signal, the attackers in every area go at once and score by dribbling through gate A or gate B.
4. If the defender wins the ball, they score by dribbling through gate C. After every duel the two swap roles.
5. Set up as many areas side by side as you have pairs. With an odd number, one area takes three players, who rotate after each duel.

## The decision it trains

Two gates give the attacker a real choice, and one defender cannot cover both. The attacker watches which gate the defender leans towards, shows one way and goes the other, or runs straight at the defender to freeze them before choosing. The defender has to stay between the two gates as long as possible, read the feint and pick the moment to close. If they win the ball, the decision flips: go for gate C before the attacker recovers.

## Make it harder or easier

- **Too hard:** make gates A and B 3 metres wide.
- **Too easy:** move gates A and B 2 metres closer to the middle, so one defender can almost cover both.
- **Younger players:** build it up as the French under 7 sheets do: first with no ball, the defender stopping the attacker with a touch of the hand; then with the ball carried in the hands; only then with the ball at the feet.

## What to ask at the breaks

- "How did you decide which gate to go for?"
- "What did the defender do that helped you decide?"
- "When you were defending, when did you choose to move towards the attacker?"

## Where it comes from

Le bateau pirate ("the pirate ship") is documented in the French federation's material for children under 7, in the game sheets of two of its districts, Haute-Marne and Loiret. Both start it without a ball and add the ball later. No source names who created it, and it has not been found outside France.

## Documented by

- French FA (FFF) districts (France): Le bateau pirate
- Football Association of Finland (Finland)
- Football Australia (Australia): Tricky Goal Lines
- Canada Soccer (Canada)
- Royal Belgian FA (Belgium)
- German regional FAs (Bavaria, Hamburg, South Baden) (Germany): Dribbel-Spiel Lionel Messi, 1 gegen 2, Sesam öffne dich, Farben-Fangen
- Danish FA (DBU) (Denmark): 1 V 1 - FEJLVENDT, Snyd din modstander
- Sport Australia (Australia): Tricky goal lines
- Ontario Soccer (Canada): Bring it On!, Shark Attack, 1v1 Chaos

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