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Rondo Drills by Age: Sizes and Rules

By Sherif Madkor · Tactico · Last reviewed 4 November 2026 · How this page was made

The short answer: a rondo is a keep-away game in a small area. Players on the outside keep the ball from one or more defenders inside, and a defender who wins it swaps places with the player who lost it.12,17 Two dials do the work, and I found no governing body that sets either: the numbers (4v1, 5v2, 4v2, 6v3) and the size of the grid. Sources use anything from a 6×6-metre square for 5v2 to 10×10 yards for 4v1, 12×12 for 4v2 and 15×15 for 6v3.16,17,18 Start easy and tighten as players improve: more attackers and more space for beginners, then a smaller grid, fewer touches or another defender.18,20,9,10 For the youngest, throw and catch first, use a bigger group and keep it light.8,9,16 Ten to fifteen minutes is plenty,18,20 and a rondo should sit beside real games, not replace them.12,19

  • 4 beats
  • 4 age groups
  • 3 options to read
  • 3 cue words
CUEPair!
01 · See it

Watch the square, then choose

This is a 4v2 rondo in a coned square about 12 yards each way. The four Blues are the outside players, and they stand on the lines. The two Reds are the inside players, and they are teammates taking a turn in the middle. There is no goal and no direction, just the ball. iCoachFootball uses a 12×12-yard square for its 4v2 split rondo,18 and Coaches’ Voice says the most common rondos have “5-8 in-possession players and two defenders”.12 I picked 4v2 because it is the first version where the defenders can work as a pair, which makes the choice below easy to see. The Reds move together: one presses and one takes the lane through the middle.12,15 Freeze at the moment No.3 has the ball with his head up. Pass, hold or force it? What would your players do?

A 4v2 rondo in a coned square about 12 yards each way. Four Blues play on the outside and two Reds work inside. There are no goals and no direction: Blue just keep the ball.

Freeze. What should No.3 do?

Ask your players before you show them. Tap an option to play it out.

  • Pass
  • Run
  • Red moves
  • Cue word
  • Cone
  • Outside (Blue) · Inside (Red)

Open it on your board (Pro): Quick pass to the free neighbour Hold it and draw them Force it through the middle

Read the sequence as text

Setup

A 4v2 rondo in a coned square about 12 yards each way. Four Blues play on the outside and two Reds work inside. There are no goals and no direction: Blue just keep the ball.

The first two passes

  1. No.1 passes along the ground to No.2. The two Reds swing across together, one pressing and one a step behind him.
  2. No.2 plays first time to No.3 at the top. Red’s 1 turns and sprints to close him down, and Red’s 2 slides into the middle. No.4 slides along his line to show for the ball.

The freeze

Freeze. No.3 has the ball with his head up. Red’s 1 is closing from one side, Red’s 2 is guarding the middle, and No.4 is free. What does No.3 do?

A. Quick pass to the free neighbour

Best answer: quick pass to the free neighbour. No.4 is the player the Reds are not facing. A firm, flat pass to his far foot keeps the ball away from the nearest Red, and No.4 can play it on first time. Two or three passes like this and the Reds are always a pass behind.7,18

  1. No.3 plays a firm, flat pass to No.4’s far foot, the one furthest from the nearest Red, then slides along the top line to make a new angle. Both Reds are now a pass behind.
  2. No.4 plays first time to No.1 at the bottom while Red’s 2 is still turning. The Reds have to swing again.
  3. No.1 plays on to No.2 on the left, and No.3 slides back along the top to offer himself again.
  4. No.2 passes up to No.3. The Reds are one pass behind every time. Five passes in a row without a touch would score a point.

B. Hold it and draw them

Sometimes right, but not here. Holding the ball can draw a defender in, and young players need time on the ball. Here, though, Red’s 1 is already a couple of strides away and standing on the lane to No.2, and Red’s 2 is free to slide across, so neither pass is free. It keeps the ball for a moment but gives the Reds time.7,10

  1. No.3 takes a touch along the line and holds the ball. Red’s 1 closes on him and stands on the lane to No.2, and Red’s 2 slides across to half-shut the lane to No.4.
  2. He plays it late back toward No.2, but Red’s 1 is already standing in the lane and gets a toe to it. The ball is lost.
  3. The Red who wins it swaps places with the player who lost it. No.3 goes inside as the new defender, and the Red takes his spot on the line.

C. Force it through the middle

Avoid: it is the lane the Reds are guarding. The Reds are built to stop the pass through the middle, so that is where Red’s 2 is standing. The ball is lost, and No.3 swaps into the middle. The lane they guard is the lane they want you to use.12,18

  1. No.3 drives the ball across the middle toward No.1. That is the lane Red’s 2 is guarding, and he steps onto it.
  2. Red’s 2 has won it, so he swaps places with No.3. No.3 steps inside as the new defender and the Red takes his spot on the line.
02 · Say it

Three shouts for the square

Keep the language short, because nobody in a rondo has time to listen. Three words are enough, and two of them are for the outside players and one for the Reds. They are my own wording, not a formal youth standard, and each one packs an idea from a named source. Hover or tap a card to see when to shout it.

CUE 01
“Angle!”
when to say it
SHOUT IT WHEN

A teammate stands in a straight line behind a Red, or you need to make the angle yourself: shift along your side so there is a clear lane to you. FIFA’s 3v1 rondo wants players off the ball to “constantly move to create clear and varied angles of support for the ball-carrier”,7 and its 12–15 session asks “Can you create an angle to receive a pass?”10 iCoachFootball’s version is “Never stand in a straight line with the ball and a defender.”18 In the pattern No.4 slides up his line to make the angle. It is mostly a coach and teammate cue.

CUE 02
“Far foot!”
when to say it
SHOUT IT WHEN

The pass leaves: put it to the foot furthest from the nearest Red, firm and flat. It is the kids’ version of passing to the back foot. iCoachFootball’s coaching point is “Play to the back foot”: passing to the receiver’s back foot opens their hips to the field, and passing to the front foot closes them down.18 Its summary rule is “Always receive on the back foot (open hips).”18 In the pattern it is No.3’s pass to No.4. The idea is close to the back-foot cue on the switching page, but here it is about the defender’s side.

CUE 03
“Pair!”
when to say it
SHOUT IT WHEN

You are inside: work as a pair, with one Red pressing and the other taking the lane. FIFA’s 4–8 session asks defenders “If you are defending, can you try to close the ball down as a pair?”8 Soccer Coach Weekly lists defending in pairs among a rondo’s coaching points,15 and Coaches’ Voice has the second defender “Close off passing lanes through the middle of the playing area”.12 In the pattern Red’s 1 and 2 do it in the first two beats.

03 · Play it

Games that grow with the group

A rondo has two dials, the numbers and the size of the square, and you turn them one at a time. Each rung changes one thing. Move up when the group handles a rung without your help, and stay put if you are reminding them every time. The grid sizes, the swap and scoring rules and the “ready when” signs are my own choices, and each rung says which source it was adapted from.7,9,11,18 Check your league’s rules first.

Rules to check first

  • Formats. A rondo is not a match format. I found nothing in US Soccer’s format rules that sets a rondo’s size or touches, so the grids on this page are conventions from coaching sources. US Soccer’s maximum formats are 4v4 for U7–U8, 7v7 for U9–U10, 9v9 for U11–U12 and 11v11 from U13, and “smaller-sized formats can also be played at each of these age groups”.2 Its field sizes are 30×20 yards for 4v4, 47×30 for 7v7 and 75×47 for 9v9.1
  • US Soccer’s age guides. Small-sided games run from 1v1 to 4v4 at U7–U8, 1v1 to 7v7 at U9–U10 and 1v1 to 9v9 at U11–U12.3,4,5 The U7–U8 guide says “Introduce short passing and receiving”, and the U11–U12 guide says “Combination play in small groups under moderate pressure”.3,5 The U9–U10 guide doesn’t mention rondos or possession games (checked 4 November 2026).4
  • Time and rotation. There is no official guidance. Sources give 10–15 minutes right after the warm-up,18 5–10 minute blocks repeated three or four times,20 and 90-second rounds at U12.11 FIFA’s 12–15 session says “After 2-3 minutes, rotate the defending players”,10 and its 8–12 session says “Make sure you rotate the defenders regularly”.9 The 12–15 session also says to “Create a safe space to play”.10
  • England. Formats from 2026–27 are 3v3 at U7, 5v5 at U8–U9, 7v7 at U10–U11, 9v9 at U12–U13 and 11v11 from U14.6 I found no England Football Learning or FA Boot Room rondo session.
  • Your league. Rules vary by league and state. Check your rulebook before you change the game.

How big is a rondo?

There is no standard, and the sources disagree. Treat these as starting points and adjust.

  • 3v1 triangle. 10 m on each side.7
  • 4v1. 10×10 yards.16,18
  • 4v2. 12×12 yards.18
  • 5v2. 6×6 metres, or a 10-yard circle or pentagon.17,18
  • 5v3. “make sure it’s a big area”, with no size given.9
  • 6v3. 15×15 yards.18
  • Whole squad. A circle “roughly 10-12m in diameter”.12
  • Four-quadrant (U12). 20×20 m, split into four 10×10 m quadrants.11
  • Beginners and advanced. 10×10 yards for beginners, 20×20 for advanced players.20

If it is too easy, make the grid smaller. If it is too hard, make it bigger.18 FIFA’s 12–15 session says the same for a 3v1: easier with a larger area, harder with a smaller one.10

What each rondo teaches

  • 3v1 (triangle). Angles of support, and one-touch against holding the ball.7,10
  • 4v1. Open body shape, receiving on the back foot, first touch.16,18
  • 5v2 and 6v2. Tempo, scanning, pass and move.17
  • 4v2 split. Splitting the defenders when they are flat.18
  • 5v2 with a pivot. A pivot and a lay-off, which is a small version of the third-man run.18
  • 5v3 and 6v3 transition. Winning the ball and breaking, and hunting in packs.9,18
  • Four-quadrant. Scanning, and deciding when to play or reject a pass.11

What age? No source gives a hard age, and they disagree. iCoachFootball suggests the 4v1 for U8 to U11, the split and positional rondos from U11 to U15 and the transition and switching rondos from U15, and says the 4v1 is essential for players “as young as U8”.18 Cupello says its rondos suit U8 to U18, adapted to the group.20 FIFA’s 4–8 session ends in a 6v2 rondo,8 and We Make Footballers says its club uses rondos “from early learning with 4-year-olds”.17 The counter-view is that “With younger players, I’d probably prioritize other things”.19 My synthesis, not a source claim: a rondo is a game with a ball at U8, a decision game at U10 and a tactical tool from U12. Keep it easy first and shrink it later.

7v7 · keepers · 47×30 yards.1 Theme: quick feet, open body.

  1. RUNG 1

    Classic 5v2

    Setup. Five attackers and two defenders in a 12×12-yard square. That is my starting size, because the sources run from 6×6 metres to 10×10 yards.17,18

    Rule · Two touches at most. A defender who wins the ball swaps with the player who lost it.17,18 Shrink the square a yard whenever the group passes ten in a row.

    Ready when the group passes ten in a row once every two turns, and players move after they pass instead of standing still.17

  2. RUNG 2

    Ten-Pass 4v2

    Setup. Four attackers and two defenders in a 12×12-yard square. Adapted from FIFA’s 5v3 rondo, where “The five attackers try to retain possession and complete ten passes to score a point”.9

    Rule · Ten passes in a row score a point. The defenders swap on a win.

    Ready when the group reaches ten with the ball on the ground and two touches or fewer.

  3. RUNG 3

    Win It, Break

    Setup. 5v3 in a big rectangle, because FIFA’s 5v3 session asks for a big area.9

    Rule · The attackers score by completing ten passes. If the defenders win the ball, they score by stopping it on any touchline.9

    Ready when the attackers react to a loss at once and the winners break within two touches. Then move to the U12 ladder.

U10 session in Tactico Pro: Print touchline cards Download session PDF Open in the planner

04 · Spot it

What to watch for

Four things to look at from the touchline, and the three mistakes you’ll see first.

Watch for

  • Does the ball keep moving, and do the passers move after they pass? iCoachFootball: “The ball must never stop moving.” After passing, you must move along your line to offer a new angle.18 We Make Footballers lists “Players stand still after passing” among the common mistakes.17
  • Is the body open, and is the ball taken on the back foot? “Always receive on the back foot (open hips).”18 Look for hips turned to the field, not square to the passer.
  • Do they scan before the ball arrives? We Make Footballers: “We encourage scanning before and after each touch”.17 FIFA’s four-quadrant session asks players to scan frequently before they receive.11
  • Do the defenders work as a pair, and do they rotate fast? Coaches’ Voice has defenders “Press with intensity”,12 and FIFA says to rotate them regularly.9,10

Mistakes and the fix

Standing still after the passThe passer admires the pass, and the next one is blocked because nobody has moved into an angle. Fix: Angle, the move-along-your-line rule, and iCoachFootball’s “You cannot stand behind a mannequin”.18
Soft passes to the near foot, or through the middleThe near foot closes the receiver down, and the middle is the lane the Reds are guarding. Fix: Far foot, and the Red option above. Cupello also lists risky passes or dribbles instead of playing simply as a common mistake.20
A rondo that is too hard, too long, or used as a punishmentIf every turn ends with a swap, the grid is too small or there are too few outsiders. If no one ever loses it, it is too easy. iCoachFootball says treating a rondo as “a simple warm-up or ‘pig in the middle’” is a mistake,18 and one writer describes players who “seemed conditioned to fear being in the middle”.13 Fix: adjust the dials, swap quickly, and treat the middle as a job. Too long in a rondo, the Player Development Project warns, “might limit your players’ technical ability to pass the ball further”.19

Touchline rule. Praise the defender’s win as loudly as the tenth pass, and ask “Which side was free?” after a swap.

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Take it to training

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Everything on this page, ready to print and use at training:

  • Lay out your players on the Tactico board and draw each option, free
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  • Open every option on your Tactico board, watch it play, then make it your own
  • A ready-made session for every age group in the session planner: the ladder as play, practice, play, timed
  • Touchline cards for every rung, ready to print and laminate
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Questions

Coaches ask

What is a rondo in soccer?

A keep-away game in which “a group of players aim to keep possession against a smaller number of defenders in a tight area”.17 Coaches’ Voice says the most common versions have “5-8 in-possession players and two defenders”.12

Why is it called a rondo?

None of the sources I used explains the word. These Football Times credits Johan Cruyff with instituting the rondo at Barcelona, and quotes him: “Everything that goes on in a match, except shooting, you can do in a rondo.”13

How big should a 4v2 or 5v2 rondo be?

There is no standard; the list above has the sizes sources use. A fair start is 12×12 yards for 4v2,18 and 10×10 to 12×12 for 5v2 (my range, from three sources).16,17,18 If it is too easy, make the grid smaller, and if it is too hard, make it bigger.18 Tightening it a yard each time the group passes ten in a row is my rule of thumb.

What age should kids start doing rondos?

No source gives a hard age, and they disagree (see the age note above). FIFA’s own 4–8 session finishes in a 6v2 rondo,8 but a Player Development Project piece warns that for 7-year-olds other ball time may be a better use of the minutes: “Telling a 7-year-old to pass might be robbing them of opportunities on the ball.”19 My ladder: games with the hands first at U8, small decisions at U10, tactical versions from U12.

Are rondos a good warm-up?

Dave Clarke of Soccer Coach Weekly likes them as one: “It gives players the necessary work out to prepare them for training.” He adds that “sometimes the traditional warm ups work better on match days”.14 A rondo can also replace the warm-up passing line without adding minutes.

Do rondos transfer to the match?

There is little youth evidence. Coaches’ Voice says “the rondo lacks many of the components of a full-sized match”, and that defenders practise only pressing, not “when to press and when to drop off their opponents”.12 A randomized trial of 24 U-13 players found that eight weekly sessions of rondo possession games, with changing shapes, sizes and rules, improved their scores on problem-solving and creative-thinking tests (12 players per group). It measured tests, not match results.21 The Player Development Project puts the trade-off this way: “We may sacrifice some realism, but the players get lots of repetition of receiving and releasing the ball.”19 Use rondos with games, not instead of them.

Is it different in England?

England’s formats from 2026–27 are 7v7 at U10–U11, 9v9 at U12–U13 and 11v11 at U14 and up,6 about a year older than the US bands. Most of the UK-friendly rondo material on this page is from FIFA7–11 and Soccer Coach Weekly, because I couldn’t find an FA rondo session.

Keep going

What next

Related playcodeSpacing: Stop the BunchThe match version: how to stand on lines and keep your angles when the game is not in a square. Related playcodeThird-Man RunsThe pivot rung in open play: how a lay-off turns into a run behind the defence. Free tactics boardDraw it with your own playersSet up this shape on the board, draw the runs, and see it before you take it to training.
About

How this page was made

Written by Sherif Madkor for Tactico from published federation and coaching sources, which are listed below. The rules come from US Soccer’s public pages. The diagrams are drawn on the Tactico board. The pattern, the three options, the cue words and the practice ladders are my own teaching design, built on the principles in those sources. Where the Reds stand and which Blue is free is my teaching model, and no source gives these exact positions. No governing body publishes rondo sizes or ages: the sizes in the list come from coaching websites and FIFA session notes and disagree with each other, and the ladders pick one sensible starting size per rung. The 12×12 starting size, the ten-passes-in-a-row shrink rule and every “ready when” sign are coaching judgement, not research thresholds. Coaches’ Voice, These Football Times and the FIFA grassroots pages are editorial or unsigned. We Make Footballers is a coaching academy’s blog, iCoachFootball’s credential is self-described, and SoccerXpert, Cupello and Soccer Coach Weekly are coaching publications and session libraries. The Player Development Project piece is attributed to Dan Wright (the page also names a Dave Wright) and is undated. The one randomized trial has 24 players and tests thinking and creativity, not match outcomes, and I read only its abstract. I found no youth statistics on how often to use rondos or how well they transfer to matches, so the page claims none. Where I couldn’t confirm something, the page says so. Last reviewed 4 November 2026.

Sources

  1. U.S. Soccer, Player Development Initiatives presentation (2015), mirror copy. https://media.hometeamsonline.com/photos/soccer/SSFUNITED/2015_Player_Development_Initiatives.pdf
  2. U.S. Soccer, “Game formats”. https://www.ussoccer.com/us-way/player-development/game/game-formats
  3. U.S. Soccer, age-group guide U7–U8. https://www.ussoccer.com/us-way/player-development/environment/age-group-guide/u7-u8
  4. U.S. Soccer, age-group guide U9–U10. https://www.ussoccer.com/us-way/player-development/environment/age-group-guide/u9-u10
  5. U.S. Soccer, age-group guide U11–U12. https://www.ussoccer.com/us-way/player-development/environment/age-group-guide/u11-u12
  6. England Football Learning, “What is a format in football”. https://learn.englandfootball.com/articles-and-resources/coaching/resources/2022/What-is-a-format-in-football
  7. FIFA Training Centre, Talent Coach Programme, “3v1 rondo: Fast readjustments” (13 May 2025). https://www.fifatrainingcentre.com/en/practice/talent-coach-programme/secure-possession/3v1-rondo-fast-readjustments.php
  8. FIFA Training Centre, grassroots 4 to 8, “Controlled possession” (11 October 2022). https://www.fifatrainingcentre.com/en/practice/grassroots/4-to-8/controlled-possession.php
  9. FIFA Training Centre, grassroots 8 to 12, “Recognise and make use of the advantage” (1 February 2022). https://www.fifatrainingcentre.com/en/practice/grassroots/8-to-12/recognise-and-make-use-of-the-advantage.php
  10. FIFA Training Centre, grassroots 12 to 15, “Dynamic rondos and numerical advantages” (28 March 2023). https://www.fifatrainingcentre.com/en/practice/grassroots/12-to-15/dynamicrondos-and-numerical-advantages.php
  11. FIFA Training Centre, Global Grassroots Insights, Christchurch United U-12 (Paul Holocher), four-quadrant rondo (31 March 2026). https://www.fifatrainingcentre.com/en/practice/grassroots/global-grassroots-insights/christchurch-united.php
  12. Coaches’ Voice, “Rondo explained” (14 March 2023). https://learning.coachesvoice.com/cv/rondo-explained-cruyff-guardiola-ancelotti/
  13. These Football Times, Jon Townsend, “The allure of the rondo” (1 September 2014). https://thesefootballtimes.co/2014/09/01/the-allure-of-the-rondo/
  14. Soccer Coach Weekly, Dave Clarke, “Why rondos work well at the start of training” (undated). https://soccercoachweekly.net/coaching-advice/why-rondos-work-well-at-the-start-of-training
  15. Soccer Coach Weekly, Rob Porter, “Rondo, rondo, rondo” (warm-up, tagged U9–U15). https://soccercoachweekly.net/drills-and-games/warm-ups/rondo-rondo-rondo
  16. SoccerXpert, “4v1 Rondo soccer” (age 8+). https://soccerxpert.com/drills/details/4v1-rondo-soccer
  17. We Make Footballers, WMF Coaching Team, “What is a Rondo in Football?” (7 August 2025). https://wemakefootballers.com/uk/news/what-is-a-rondo-in-football
  18. iCoachFootball, “The Rondo Blueprint: 5 Advanced Soccer Rondos for Positional Play” (undated; the author’s credentials are self-described). https://www.icoachfootball.net/the-rondo-blueprint-5-advanced-soccer-rondos-for-positional-play/
  19. Player Development Project, “Should I Use Rondos With Youth Players?” (attributed to Dan Wright, undated). https://playerdevelopmentproject.com/?p=16919
  20. Cupello, Dave Clarke, “Benefits of using rondos in youth soccer training sessions” (undated). https://my.cupello.com/coaching/advice/benefits-using-rondos-youth-soccer-training-sessions
  21. Bouzouraa, Dhahbi, Ghouili and colleagues, “Enhancing problem-solving skills and creative thinking abilities in U-13 soccer players: the impact of rondo possession games’ training”, Biology of Sport (2025), doi 10.5114/biolsport.2025.146782 (abstract only). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12244377/