Footwork drill
Reactive Side-Step vs Defender
Train the reactive cut, which is mechanically a different movement from a pre-planned one.
- Time
- 15 minutes
- Players
- 2 to 8 players
- Intensity
- High
- Equipment
- Ball, cones
- Space
- 10m x 10m
- Positions
- All positions
Setup
A 5m approach with the defender 4-5m ahead. One ball, two players.
How to run it
- The attacker sprints at the defender, who commits left or right at the last possible moment, and the attacker reads it and cuts the opposite way.
- Alternate blocks of 6 pre-planned reps and 6 reactive reps so you can feel the difference - they are different movements, and a good reactive cut has almost no sideways drift before the plant and a wider foot plant.
- Read the defender's hips early so you can side-step early and carry real sideways speed towards the space.
- Three blocks, then swap roles.
Coaching cues
- Read the hips, not the feet or the eyes
- Plant wide and drive off the outside foot
- Commit only when they show
Common mistakes
- Initial lateral movement in the wrong direction, which makes the step slow and easy to read
- Anticipating before the defender has actually shown their hand
Related drills
- 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.
- One-on-One EvasionBeat a live defender in a confined space, which is the real skill cone work only imitates.
- Narrowing Channel EvasionFind the exact width at which your evasion breaks down, and then train there.