Clearing pass off the floor
A handling and passing drill for U11 and up, with where the cones go, how it runs and what to say when it is not working.
Free to read with no account. It works at a pitch with no signal too.
- Age grades
- U11, U12
- Time
- 9 minutes
- Players
- 4 to 16
- Space
- 20 x 15 m
- Kit
- 4 cones, 2 balls
- Pitch
- Fine on hard ground
- Indoors
- Fits a small space
Setting it up
A ball on the ground. A passer beside it, a receiver eight metres away.
How it runs
Pick the ball up off the floor and pass it in one movement. No standing up first. Ten each side, then swap. Every child in the squad does this, not just whoever fancies themselves at nine, because on a Sunday somebody else will be doing it.
What to watch for
- Get your feet to the ball before your hands
- Sweep it away in one movement, do not lift then pass
- Point your back foot at the target
Make it easier
- Shorter pass
- Two movements allowed to start with
Make it harder
- Ball is rolled to them so they arrive at it moving
- Pass off both sides
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Standing up with the ball first, then passing
- One movement. Sweep it away from where it is
- Feet planted too far from the ball so they have to stretch
- Get your feet to it. Step, then sweep
More like this
The grades that can do it
What U11 rugby allows is the rule this sits under. Regulation 15 is reissued every summer, so the RFU's own rules of play are the ones to read for this season rather than a copy on somebody else's website. Ours included. Read against the RFU's 2026/27 appendices in August 2026.