Rondo drill for youth soccer: start with a 4 v 1

A rondo drill for youth soccer is a keep away game in a small square: players on the outside pass the ball around while a defender in the middle tries to win it. The 4 v 1 is the place to start. Four players stand one on each side of a square about 15 yards across, one defender goes in the middle, and when the defender wins the ball or it goes out, the player who lost it swaps in. It teaches passing, first touch and, above all, seeing which pass the defender has taken away.

What the rondo drill teaches youth players

The outside players learn to pass away from pressure. A defender can only block one or two passing lanes at a time, and the open pass is usually to the side they are not covering. Young players often pass to the teammate straight in front of them; the rondo rewards looking up before the ball arrives and choosing the open player.

The players without the ball learn to move. Standing still lets the defender cut off the angle with one step. Sliding a few yards along the line, so there is a clear lane from the ball to you, is the same habit a defender or midfielder needs when the team plays out under a press.

First touch matters more than in a passing drill with no defender. A touch that moves the ball across your body and into the square, onto the foot you will pass with, keeps two options open. A heavy touch toward the defender or out of the square loses it.

The defender learns something too. Pressing from an angle, so one passing lane is closed while running at the ball, is how a single player presses usefully in a game. It is the same run described in how to high press in soccer.

Step by step

The board shows a 15 yard square with O1 to O4 on the sides and D1 in the middle.

O1 has the ball. D1 runs at O1 from the left side, so the pass to O4 is closed as D1 arrives.

With the pass to O4 gone, O1 plays it to O2, on the side D1 is not covering.

D1 has to turn and run again, this time cutting off the pass back to O1. O3 slides along the bottom line toward O2 so there is a clear lane between them.

O2 passes to O3. O3's first touch goes into the square, onto the foot that will make the next pass.

D1 runs at O3, but O3 plays it to O4 on the far side before D1 arrives. Each quick pass makes D1 run farther.

The ball keeps moving around the square. When D1 wins it or it goes out of the square, the player who lost it goes in the middle and D1 takes their place.

Start with the defender at walking pace and the outside players allowed three touches, so they have time to look before passing. Once the ball moves cleanly, let the defender press at full speed and limit everyone to two touches. If one player is stuck in the middle for a long time, swap them out after a minute so they don't tire. A bigger square gives the outside players more time, so make it smaller as they improve. When the 4 v 1 gets easy, add a second defender: one presses the ball and the other cuts off a pass, the same idea as pressure, cover, balance.

The full play

You can take this playbook into your own account and change it for your team, for example adding a second defender or changing the size of the square.

If you coach a youth team, you can also set up your team on Playspedia and use game day to plan who plays when and keep playing time fair.