Pairs Volley Passing


Field size: 40 yards by 30 yards

Number of players: full team, working in pairs

Age range: 12-14

Description: One player tosses the ball with their hands to their partners’ inside of the foot, but the player must move from one side of a cone to the other before they make the pass.  The two players are facing each other directly but the working player standing to the side of the cone.  This is so the player who is volleying the ball isn’t just standing still but moving from one side to the other. 

The partner throws the ball to the foot closest to the cone and then to the one furthest away, so the player is using both feet to volley the ball back, the foot closest to the body and then the foot furthest from the body.  The player who is volleying the ball back must turn their body to square it to their partner, depending upon which foot they’re making the pass with. 

Players jockey in a way back and forth from one side of the cone to the other to receive the ball and volley it back.  A flag can be used instead of a cone.  In a game situation the ball will come to a player from all sorts of different angles, this drill tries to not only work on the fundamental inside of the foot pass, but get players used to adjusting their bodies to volleying the ball when the ball comes to them in a game.

Equipment needed: Cones and practice vests.