Part I

This drill is called by many names (Four Cones, the Triangle Drill, Monkey in the Middle, etc.) but by any name it is a fundamental part of every youth soccer coach's repertoire. This drill explains how the TRIANGLE is the essential building block of soccer providing spacing, penetration and support.

Set-up:
A 10 yard x 10 yard square is formed using 4 flat cones. Three players position themselves at one of the three cones. In the figure below a player is positioned at cone A, B and C. That leaves one cone open (cone D). As you can see those three players form a triangle with two sides that are ten yards wide and a longer hypotenuse. A ball is placed at the apex of the triangle - at the center cone of the three players (cone B in the example below).

The player at cone B has two choices in passing the ball. He can pass the ball to either the player at cone A or the player at cone C. As soon as he passes the ball, the player who is not having the ball passed to him must move quickly to the open cone in order to form a new triangle with the ball at the apex of the new triangle.

For example, if the ball is passed from the player at cone B to the player at cone A you now have a situation as shown below:

The player who just passed the ball is still at cone B. The player at cone A has just received the ball. The player at cone C is the one who must quickly move from cone C to cone D in order to form a new triangle with the ball now at the new apex at cone A.

The player with the ball always has two choices to play the ball. Both choices are always at 90 degree angles - no split passes are allowed.

Note: The player receiving the ball should receive the ball with his "Outside" or "Away" foot so that he is open to the field. In other words, if he is at cone A and receives the ball from the player at cone B he must receive the ball with his right foot - the one closest to cone D. This is a fundamental requirement that the coach must reinforce and correct. It will become much more apparent why this is important when we add defensive pressure.

The easiest way to get players doing the drill properly is to tell them to pass the ball "clockwise" only from A to B to C to D to A, et. al. This allows the player to know where to pass the ball and allows the other players to know when to move to the open cone. Movement and passes become automatic. Once they get the hang of the movement tell them to reverse the passes and only pass the ball counterclockwise.

Passes should be crisp, with pace, and straight along the cone-lines. Passes should be made quickly without waiting for the receiving player to actually get to the cone. This teaches young players about the concept of "Passing to Space".

Part II - Passive Pressure

Once they have the concept of the exercise down pat, it's time to add some passive defensive pressure. It's easier for the coach to perform this duty than a player because the coach will not try to steal the ball.

The coach should step into the center of the 10 yards x 10 yards square box. His job is to take away one of the passing options by stepping into that passing lane. The coach should be obvious (pointing and telling the passers) at the beginning of the exercise as to which passing lane he is going to take away. As the exercise progresses he should be less obvious in order to make the passers think for themselves.

The idea is to have the players automatically pass the ball away from pressure by using the open passing lane. Once the coach has demonstrated the "passive" defense he can put a player in the middle and allow him to gradually increase the pressure as the passers become more proficient at first touch passes to the open player/cone.

• Passes should stay on the line - NO diagonal passes.
• Passes should be to space/cone not to the player - even if the player is not or cannot make it to the cone. The passer's responsibility is to make a good pass to the open cone. The pace of the pass can vary slightly in order to allow a player to receive the ball but the pass should be made automatically without regard to the receiver's position. This relates to game situations where you want players to know automatically where the ball will be played.
• Encourage verbal and non-verbal communication among the passers.
• Allow two touch passes to start out and then restrict the players to one touch passes once they get proficient.

Part III - Active Pressure

This is the part of the drill that more closely relates to game-like situations. The player in the middle can now apply active (intense) pressure and try to steal the ball. But he can't leave the box. Passers should add feints and fake passes as needed.

• If a defender steals the ball he takes the place on a cone as a passer and the player who messed up (bad pass, bad reception, bad touch, etc.) takes his place as the "Monkey in the Middle".
• Note that it's up to the players to decide who messed up - coaches should not become involved in discussion. If players don't decide quickly or get into an argument or who is in the middle then the coach steps in and has EVERYONE in the group perform a punishment (sprint around the field, 25-50 pushups, sit-ups, etc.). This has a dual purpose. It keeps the exercises running properly without coaching supervision. And it teaches them not to argue during a game but to immediately carry on with their game. How many times have you seen a player argue a call with an official while the other team places the ball down and quickly takes an open shot at the net or plays the ball to a player breaking past the defense. Which team would you want to be the coach of?

Part IV - Splitting the Defenders

This part of the drill should only be used by much older, skilled teams AND only after they have the triangle passing ideas down perfectly.

Spread the square size to 15 yards by 15 yards and add a second defender in the center of the square. The passers are no longer restricted from passing only along the cone lines. They can split the defense with diagonal passes. Players are not restricted to receiving the ball only at the cones but can receive the ball anywhere along the lines.

Part V - 5v2 Keep-Away

Remove the cones and allow the players to play 5v2 keep-away in a larger rectangle area - start with a 40 x 20 space and expand or contract it depending upon the success of the passers. Make the players make a 20-yard sprint/run after each pass they make. This is an excellent pre-game warm-up exercise.

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