Football-adapted gameFun Games
Football Tennis
2v2 over a line of cones on a 12 × 6 m court: one bounce and up to three touches per team. Ball control and volleys at a low intensity.
- Age
- U11–Senior
- Players
- 4–12
- Duration
- 12 min
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Intensity
- Low
- Area
- 12 × 6 m
- Type
- Technical
- Approach
- Intermediate
- Format
- Football-adapted game
- Objectives
- Technical: Receiving / first touch
- Physical: Coordination
- Concepts worked on
- Technical:ReceivingVolleying
- Tactical:Finding free space
- Physical:Coordination
Training diagram
2v2 on a 12 × 6 m court. The net is a line of cones. One bounce and up to three touches per team.
Legend
- Attacker
- Defender
- Pass
- Run without ball
- Ball
- Cone
Football tennis is a technical game that players of every level enjoy. Without an opponent tackling them, they can focus on cushioning the ball with the thigh, chest and foot, setting it up for a teammate and volleying it over the net. The heart rate stays moderate, so it works well as a light technical block, at the end of a hard session or the day after a match.
Objective
Control a dropping ball with any part of the body, set it up for a teammate and play it over the net into space.
Organisation
- Mark a 12 × 6 m court with flat markers (10 × 5 m for U11–U12). A line of five cones across the middle acts as the net.
- Teams of two (or three with bigger groups). Several courts can run side by side.
- Players stay in their own half at all times.
How it works
- Serve from the back line: drop the ball, let it bounce once and volley it over the net.
- The receiving team may let the ball bounce once in its half and may use up to three touches in total, with a maximum of two touches per player.
- Any part of the body except the arms and hands may be used.
- A point is won when the ball bounces twice, lands outside the court or is played into the net.
- Games to 11 points. Winners stay on, losers rotate, or teams change after every game.
Coaching points
- Watch the ball all the way onto the body part you are using.
- Cushion the first touch so the ball goes up, not away: relax the surface on contact.
- Set the ball up for your partner at a comfortable height.
- Aim for the space between the two opponents or behind them.
Progressions
- No bounce allowed: the ball must be played in the air.
- Each player may touch the ball only once.
- Make the court longer or play 1v1.
Regressions
- Allow two bounces per team.
- Serve with the hands.
- Unlimited touches per player.
Variations
- Head tennis: only headers over the net, with one bounce allowed.
- Use a bench or a rope between two poles as the net.
Key principles
- Soft first touch to keep the ball close.
- Communication: call who takes the ball.
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