---
title: "3v3 with a Catch-Up Player"
description: "Three against three on small goals, and a team three goals down puts on a fourth player at once: no game is decided early, and nobody gives up."
canonical: https://hobbit.football/drills/three-v-three-catch-up
language: en
publisher: Hobbit (https://hobbit.football)
---

# 3v3 with a Catch-Up Player

> Three against three on small goals, and a team three goals down puts on a fourth player at once: no game is decided early, and nobody gives up.

U5 to U8 · 6 to 8 players · 12 × 18 m · 20 min

Also called treerfotball, Führungs-Erschwerung, 3 mot 3.

![Diagram of 3v3 with a Catch-Up Player](https://hobbit.football/api/game-library/diagram/three-v-three-catch-up)

## How to play

1. Mark a pitch about 18 metres long and 12 wide with a mini goal at each end. No goalkeepers.
2. Make teams of four: three on the pitch, one beside its own goal. After every goal, each team swaps its outside player in.
3. When the ball goes over a goal line, the team restarting from that line gets a free start: the other team drops back to the halfway line until the ball is played.
4. The catch-up rule: when a team falls three goals behind, its fourth player comes on straight away, and the team plays four against three for as long as it is still three or more goals down.
5. Play games of six minutes, then change opponents. With twelve or more players, run two pitches side by side.

## The decision it trains

In three against three the ball is never far away, so every child is in every attack and every defence, choosing each time between a shot, a pass to one of two teammates, or a dribble. The catch-up rule adds a second problem. The trailing team has an extra player and has to find them, because one of the four is always free. The leading team, a player short, has to choose: drop back and protect the lead, or keep attacking and risk the comeback.

## Make it harder or easier

- **Too hard:** if one team is far stronger, bring the fourth player on at two goals down instead of three.
- **Too easy:** keep the fourth player on until the score is level, so the leading team has to defend a player short for longer.
- **Younger players:** shrink the pitch to about 15 by 10 metres and make every restart a dribble in from the line.

## What to ask at the breaks

- "When your team had four, how did you use the extra player?"
- "When you were a player short, what did your team change?"
- "What happened in the first few seconds after you lost the ball?"

## Where it comes from

No single origin is documented: the rule turns up in the children's 3v3 rules of three federations, each written its own way. In Denmark (3:3) a team may add a player while it is three or more goals behind. In Norway (treerfotball, 3 mot 3) the line is four goals, and in Sweden (3 mot 3) a team four goals down plays with four until the score is level.

## Documented by

- Norwegian FA (Norway): treerfotball, 3 mot 3
- Danish FA (DBU) (Denmark): 3:3
- Swedish FA (Sweden): 3 mot 3
- German FA (DFB) (Germany)
- Italian FA (FIGC) (Italy)
- German regional FAs (Bavaria, Hamburg, South Baden) (Germany): Führungs-Erschwerung
- Ontario Soccer (Canada)
- FIFA Training Centre (International)

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "Article",
      "headline": "3v3 with a Catch-Up Player",
      "description": "Three against three on small goals, and a team three goals down puts on a fourth player at once: no game is decided early, and nobody gives up.",
      "url": "https://hobbit.football/drills/three-v-three-catch-up",
      "mainEntityOfPage": "https://hobbit.football/drills/three-v-three-catch-up",
      "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"
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}
```