Footwork drill
Narrowing Channel Evasion
Find the exact width at which your evasion breaks down, and then train there.
- Time
- 15 minutes
- Players
- 2 to 8 players
- Intensity
- High
- Equipment
- Ball, cones
- Space
- Narrowing from 15m to 5m
- Positions
- Wings, fullbacks, centres
Setup
A grid you can narrow, marked with cones. One ball, two players.
How to run it
- Start at a width where the attacker beats the defender comfortably, with the defender passing the ball to the attacker to begin each rep and the attacker scoring over the far line.
- After every five attempts, narrow the grid by 1m, and keep narrowing until the attacker's success rate collapses - that width is your current skill ceiling and it is where the useful work happens.
- Change your foot speed to attack space, change your running line only after the defender has committed, and if they drift, cut back inside them.
- Swap roles and repeat.
Coaching cues
- Change your line after they commit, not before
- Vary foot speed to attack the space
- If they drift, cut back inside
Common mistakes
- Only ever trying to go outside, with no cut-back option
- Widening the grid when it gets hard, which avoids the exact width you need to train at
Related drills
- Evading the PlayerBeat a defender inside a channel that forces you to step rather than run around.
- Reactive Side-Step vs DefenderTrain the reactive cut, which is mechanically a different movement from a pre-planned one.
- The StepGroove the side step - the plant, the lean and the acceleration out of it.
- Cue Cone AgilityPattern the deceleration and lateral cut that a genuine side step is built on.
- Goose Step PatterningLearn the timing-disruption step used to beat cover defence in open field.
- Shadow RunBuild continuous evasive movement with a live shadow behind you.