Advanced Passing Drills for Grassroots Football Coaches (U10–U16)
Your players have the basics. Now let’s push them.
If your team can pass and move, control a ball under pressure and communicate on the pitch — they’re ready for the next level.
These 10 advanced passing drills are designed specifically for U10–U16 grassroots coaches whose players have outgrown the fundamentals and need sessions that genuinely challenge them. Each drill adds complexity — whether that’s opposite rotations, high intensity movement patterns, reactionary decision-making or tight one-touch sequences under pressure.
They’re not beginner drills. They’re the kind of sessions that separate teams who are doing drills from teams who are developing players.
If you’re just starting out or coaching younger age groups, check out our 10 Brilliant Passing Drills for younger players here first — they build the foundation these drills rely on.
Ready to build these into a structured plan?
The biggest mistake coaches make with drills like these is using them once and moving on. Running a focused 6 week block gives your players the repetition they need to actually internalise what you’re coaching. Our Free 6 Week Training Planner makes it easy.
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Advanced Passing Drills #1 – Passing Accuracy : First to 5
Passing Accuracy : First to 5
Passing Drills #1 – Passing Accuracy : First to 5 is a great fun drill that your players will love, but it will really teach them the importance of focusing on Passing Accuracy.
On watching the ball to make sure the contact is clean with the right part of the foot. It will also test control and the set up of the pass.
Passing Accuracy : First to 5 – How it Works
Split your players up into Pairs
Mark out 4 sets of Cones, Flat Circles / Discs as above. The back 2 represent the control area, the front 2 represent the Gate that the ball must be passed through.
The Front 2 gates should be a foot apart for round 1, decreasing for each of the 3 rounds.
Each player takes it in turns to try and pass the ball to the opponent and get it through the Gate at the opposite end. Everytime it goes through the gate, they score a point.
It must go through cleanly. Touching the inside of the cone is ok. Going over the middle of the cone does not count.
Player on the receiving end has 2 touches to control and set up the return pass.
First player to 5 wins the round. However, if it is 4 each and no one has missed, then it must be a 2 point gap to win the round.
At the end of the round, narrow the gap between the Gate cones.
Players who win the most rounds then play against each other, Players who lost play against each other.
Passing Accuracy : First to 5 – Coaching Points
Make sure the players use the instep of their foot to pass for maximum control.
Make sure players are on their toes and ready in the receiving end to control and set up the pass with in their 2 touches.
Advanced Passing Drills #2 – On your Toes Passing Circle
On your Toes Passing Circle
This looks such a simple drill but it is a brilliant way for your players to start a Training session or Pre match warm up.
Its fast paced and fun. It really gets them focused and working together. It improves their touch, their foot speed and communication.
It also helps strengthen team bonds.
For such a simple drill it will really improve your players reactions, control and passing in tight spaces.
On your Toes Passing Circle – How it Works
Split your players into equal groups ( 5 or 6 works best )
Put them into a circle where they can touch hands with their arms spread out.
They have to play 1 touch passes between them until a mistake is made. Counting the passes as they go and trying to get as high a number as possible.
On your Toes Passing Circle – Coaching Points
Players all need to be on their toes.. constantly shifting weight from one foot to the other and being ready for the ball to come to them and pass to another player.
Watch out for any player that is flat footed.
Watch out for players that are just kicking the ball rather than directing a pass.
Advanced Passing Drills #3 – The Punch Pass
The Punch Pass
The “Punch Pass” is a technique where a player uses the inside of their foot to hit the ball, aiming for a flat, controlled pass, often used for short, quick passes.
How to play the Punch Pass :
Players should use the inside of their foot with toes pointing slight outwards
The ball should be struck around the centre of the ball, maybe slightly lower than centre, ensuring a flat trajectory
The player should drive their foot into the ball, but with NO follow through, finishing with their foot on the floor at the point of contact.
Hitting below centre can create backspin which helps keep the ball on the ground.
This game isn’t just about the pass though, its about control also.
The Punch Pass – How it works
Mark out 2 boxes about 4 foot squared, around 5 metres apart.
Split your squad up into pairs. Put one in each square.
Players both start with 5 lives. Players will play a Punch Pass to their opponent. The receiver has ONE TOUCH to control the pass and keep it in the square. If they dont, the lose a life. If they do they get to return the pass.
First player to lose all 5 lives loses. Rotate players around for the next round.
Advanced Passing Drills #4 – 6 v 2 Rondo : 2 Ways
6 v 2 Rondo : 2 Ways
Still the King of Passing Drills. The beloved Rondo. There are so many variations but this one is a cracker.
It combines 2 Circles with and overlap of 2 players from each team.
This looks messy, but once is starts it will all become clear.
As with any Rondo, players need to be on their toes and ready, this one amplifies that even more as it will switch one way or the other.
6 v 2 Rondo : 2 Ways – How it works
Place your players in two overlapping circles.
Players in the top circle start with the ball, the 2 players from the top of the other circle are the defenders.
Their aim is to win the ball. Once the ball is won, the Rondo switches to the other circle.
The two players at the bottom of the first circle now become the defenders.
Play until 1 team reaches 10 passes. That team then gets a point.
Rotate players so 2 new players from each team occupy the defensive spots.
6 v 2 Rondo : 2 Ways – Scale it Up
Want to make it harder ?
Increase the size of the circle to make it harder for the defenders
Decrease the size of the circle to make it harder for the attackers
Add a 2 or 3 touch limit to the players on the outsides of the circles.
Advanced Passing Drills #5 – Triangle Passing : Inside / Outside
Triangle Passing : Inside / Outside
Triangle Passing : Inside / Outside is a brilliant reactionary passing drill where the movement of the receiver of the pass dictates where the next pass is going to go.
This passing drill is all about fast movements, scanning for those movements and reacting to play the right pass
Triangle Passing : Inside / Outside – How it Works
Set up Triangles about 7 or 8 metres apart ( this can be reduced when your players get the hang of it )
Put a player on each cone. One player starts with the ball.
If the receiver is on the outside of the cone, then they will play the next pass back to the same player.
If the receiver is on the inside of the cone, then they will play the next pass back to the next player.
In the example above, Red player passes to Yellow player who is inside the cone.
So Yellow player then controls and passes to Blue Player. Yellow player then changes position again to be inside the cone so when Blue player passes, the next pass from Yellow would go to Red Player.
⚽ Halfway through — these drills getting the reaction you want?
Drills like these only really land when players get enough repetition to stop thinking about the movement and start reading the game. That takes more than one session.
Pick 4 of these drills, drop them into our Free 6 Week Training Planner, and it builds your whole training block automatically — same focus, fresh each week, progressive over time.
Advanced Passing Drills #6 – The Gate Game
The Gate Game
The Gate game is a great way to teach your players about pass and move to receive the ball back
And about Communication.
The Gate Game : How it Works
Split the players into pairs and give them a ball between them.
Set up some gates randomly around the pitch. Using different coloured cones.
Not too close together so they have to travel between them
They can’t go through the same gate twice in a row, and they can’t just go back and forth between to gates ( they will try any trick to win )
Teams need to communicate well together to navigate around the pitch. Encourage them to say the colour of the next gates they want to head to.
Winner is the team with the most points at the end.
The Gate Game : Coaching Points
Pass & Move, soft touches, Communication verbal ( Tell team mates where to go next ) and physical ( point to where to go next ) and Work as a Team
Advanced Passing Drills #7 – Hex Passing Grid
Hex Passing Grid
Hex Passing Grid is all about keeping the balls moving around the grid using different passes and control styles.
Short, medium & Long Passes combined with Front foot and back foot controls give your players plenty to focus on, especially when there are multiple balls in play.
Hex Passing Grid – How it Works
Set out your Cones, Flat Circles / Discs as above.
Place a player on each one, with any spare players queuing behind the first player with a ball.
One the second player ( Orange ) gets to the 3rd location ( Green ) another ball can be brought into play. And so on until the ball works its way back round.
Its not a straight forward Pass & Follow as runs have to take in accout the one twos, so players need to pay attention to where the go after the pass.
Passing movements are in the image above. Player movements after the pass are shown below
The focus has to be on quality of pass.
This drill will fall apart if players are lazy and don’t concentrate.
If they get the passes right, then strong runs will follow. This will allow the drill to flow and players are able to test control and passing.
Hex Passing Grid – Scale it Up.
If you want to introduce more pace to the play ? Shorten the gap between the cones.
Or if you want to test passing accuracy ? Increase the gap between the cones.
Want to change the challenge ? Reverse it and focus on weak foot passing.
Advanced Passing Drills #8 – The Double Triangle
The Double Triangle
The Double Triangle is another pass and move drill with a slight difference.
Although the ball will interchange between the triangles as the move progresses, the players stick to the inner or outer triangle where they started.
Players on the inner triangle are effectively just linking play for the runners around them with just one run that slightly comes out of sync.
The Double Triangle – How it Works
Set out your Cones, Flat Circles / Discs as above.
Nice and simple to set up, nice and simple to execute.
The Drill starts in the bottom left corner with a long pass to the bottom right.
The next 3 moves are all 1-2’s with a bit of a crossover.
As with the previous drill Pass movements & Runner movements are slightly different.
Passing movements are in the image above. Player movements after the pass are shown below
The Double Triangle – Scale it Up.
If you want to increase the intensity, shorten the gap between the cones.
Want to test passing accuracy ? Increase the gap between the cones.
Do you want to change the challenge ? Reverse it and focus on weak foot passing.
Advanced Passing Drills #9 – High Intensity Double Grid
High Intensity Double Grid
High Intensity Double Grid is designed to be a bit of a lung buster. Getting players running without them realising they are running.
Ideally with multiple balls in play at the same time, players need to sprint to the next location, turn and be ready to receive the next pass.
Pace, Fitness, Pass Quality and Control will all be tested.
High Intensity Double Grid – How it works.
Set out your Cones, Flat Circles / Discs as above with a small rectangle inside a larger one.
Passes should be low and driven, with the players sprinting after the ball as soon as they passed it.
As soon as the first player gets to the second location, the next player to go should be firing in the pass.
Players make the same run as the pass that they play.
Advanced Passing Drills #10 – Opposite Rotation Diamond Passing Drill
Opposite Rotation Diamond Passing Drill
Opposite Rotation Diamond Passing Drill looks far more complicated than it actually is, but it will most certainly test your players.
The key part of this drill that will mess with your players head is that the inner diamond rotates in the opposite direction to the outer diamond.
Opposite Rotation Diamond Passing Drill – How it works
Set out your Cones, Flat Circles / Discs as above with a small diamond inside a larger one.
Place 4 players on the inner diamond.
These 4 players are always on the go, and will constantly rotate clockwise, just playing 1-2’s with the players on the outer diamond to keep the move flowing.
Place 4 players on the outer diamond with a queue of spare players at point one.
Player 1 ( Light Blue ) passes to Orange Player who returns the pass. Orange player then moves yellow position and waits.
Light Blue passes to purple who in turn plays a 1-2 with Pink. Pink them moves into Orange position.
Once Pink arrives in Orange Position, Grey player starts the same process
The drill repeats this process all the way around. Once 3 or 4 balls are in player the players on the inside should be constantly linking with the players on the outside and the drill should progress nicely.
Takes a bit of getting used to but a great workout and for players to learn that by just having little movements they can still be involved heavily in play.
Summary
Some great drills here and most can be used for all abilities.
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