Passing Key Points & Consideration

Each session within these pages contains individual coaching points relevant to that specific session. The below are general, passing related coaching points, presented in line with the FA's 4 Corner model.

Check out the rondos section for more practices related to passing.

Passing - Key Coaching Points (FA's 4 Corners)

Technical	Psychological
Weight of pass - how hard does the receiving player want the ball played? Direction / accuracy - where does the player receiving the ball want it? Into space in front of them? To feet? Etc... Type of pass - driven, lofted, cushioned, long aerial pass etc. Technique - part of the foot used to strike the ball / follow through and body shape when receiving or passing. Ball control when receiving passes. Take a touch or first time pass? Where does your first touch take the ball to "set" yourself for the pass? Left foot and right foot passing. Movement off the ball to provide a passing option or cover.	Communication (call for the ball / tell the player on the ball what to do with it - can be verbal or involve pointing where you want the ball) Decision making - type of pass, when to pass (and when not to pass), who to pass to. Awareness of what's around you? Where are your team mates / opponents / the space? Proactiveness - do you know what you're going to do with the ball BEFORE it arrives with you? Confidence - try things without fear of failure. Determination - if things don't go right, try to understand why and have the confidence to go again
Physical	Social
Strength and technique to hold off defenders and shield the ball if required. Speed / movement off the ball. Body shape - agility & balance when passing or when receiving the ball. Power - striking the ball hard for longer passes.	Encouraging others and not being negative Working together as a team Have fun!

Considerations for Passing Sessions

A few things to think about for any passing session...

Size and shape of area - sounds obvious, but long range passing is going to require a larger area than if you're working on shorter range passing. What are you trying to achieve? If you're working on lots of short range, intricate passing at speed, make sure the area is tight enough to really challenge the players - too big and it will be too easy, too small and it will be impossible for them to build up any fluidity and have any success. If the exercise involves passing in behind the defence / through balls, you will need a long area with space to play into etc. Think through what you're trying to achieve and set up a space accordingly.
Avoiding queues and lines - this goes for virtually any kind of session, especially anything you're running in the winter when it's cold, but try to avoid too much standing around. Practices that are designed to keep everyone engaged, mentally and physically are generally going to mean more touches, more involvement and more fun.
Make things game realistic - once your players have a good grasp of the basic technique of passing, look to move into more game realistic practices... a moving ball, receiving the ball from another player whilst on the move and eventually opponents and multiple team mates involved will mimic the "chaos" of a match and give your players the tools to deal with what they'll face on the pitch. These things can be layered in slowly for players who are still working on technique and basics, but eventually, if you want them to cope with game situations, they'll need to be practicing this sort of thing in a more realistic way than just passing a static ball or having all the time in the world to pick their pass.
The surface - of course it's preferable to practice on a decent surface the majority of the time, but the reality is that on match days, your players will have to cope with all manner of surfaces. Some pitches are fantastic to play on and others are horrible, bobbly things covered in mole hills. Whilst a 3G surface or nice grass pitch is great for working on passing exercises, building muscle memory and allows a much higher chance of success for less confident or younger players, it won't hurt your team to get used to using different training surfaces when possible. Having to hit harder passes in longer grass or learn to play and control aerial balls for those occasions when the surface doesn't allow for slick "on the floor" football isn't necessary a bad thing and is certainly worth visiting on occasion to at least give the players the skills to realise what sort of surface they're playing on and adapt their game (especially their passing) accordingly.