---
title: "Postmen"
description: "Postmen carry the ball through a guarded middle and deliver it to a teammate at the far end, or back home if the way is blocked."
canonical: https://hobbit.football/drills/postmen
language: en
publisher: Hobbit (https://hobbit.football)
---

# Postmen

> Postmen carry the ball through a guarded middle and deliver it to a teammate at the far end, or back home if the way is blocked.

U6 to U10 · 8 to 10 players · 18 × 22 m · 15 min

Also called Thirds, Waves, Possession Tennis.

![Diagram of Postmen](https://hobbit.football/api/game-library/diagram/postmen)

## How to play

1. Mark an area 18 metres wide and 22 metres long. Split it into three: an end zone about 4 metres deep at each end, and the middle between them.
2. In each end zone, two players with a ball (the postmen) and two without. In the middle, two defenders holding a bib in their hand.
3. A postman dribbles into the middle and passes to one of the free players in the far end zone, then runs to that zone and takes the receiver's place. The receiver is now a postman.
4. Under pressure in the middle, a postman may pass back to a free player in their own end zone instead, and takes that player's place.
5. A defender who wins a ball swaps roles at once: the bib goes on the ground and the player who lost the ball picks it up.

## The decision it trains

The postman decides which line to dribble into the middle on, away from the two defenders, and when to release the pass before a defender closes in. Then comes the choice of receiver: forward to the far end, or back to their own end when the way forward is blocked. The players waiting in the end zones move along it to give the postman a free line, and the defenders decide which postman to go after.

## Make it harder or easier

- **Too hard:** widen the area to 22 metres, so there is more room to dribble round the defenders.
- **Too easy:** add a third defender in the middle.
- **Younger players:** play the first rounds with no defenders, so the job is only to dribble, pass and run to the right end; then add one defender.

## What to ask at the breaks

- "How did you choose which way to dribble into the middle?"
- "When did you pass back instead of forward?"
- "Players in the end zones: what did you do to get free?"

## Where it comes from

I postini is in the same Italian federation manual as the lions' cage, from its youth and school sector's territorial development programme, first version dated December 2018: ten players in 22 by 18 metres, the players with a ball being postmen who must deliver important parcels. An Italian coaching site, Mister Manager, has its own version with the same name, where the "letter" is carried from one post to the other and a couple of defenders are added.

## Documented by

- Italian FA (FIGC) (Italy): I postini
- PA West Soccer (United States): Thirds
- Irish FA (Northern Ireland) (United Kingdom)
- US Youth Soccer (United States): Waves
- German regional FAs (Bavaria, Hamburg, South Baden) (Germany): Vier in der Mitte
- FIFA Training Centre (International)
- CONMEBOL (International)
- Ontario Soccer (Canada): Breaking the Line, Possession Tennis
- Mister Manager (Italy): Il gioco dei postini

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