Side step slalom
An evasion and footwork drill for U7 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
- U7, U8, U9, U10, U11, U12
- Time
- 7 minutes
- Players
- 4 or more
- Space
- 20 m channel
- Kit
- 8 cones, 1 ball
- Pitch
- Fine on hard ground
- Indoors
- Fits a small space
Setting it up
Eight cones in a line, two metres apart, up a channel.
How it runs
Run the line and step off the outside foot at every cone. Walk it once, jog it twice, then run it. Four goes each. It teaches the mechanics with nobody chasing them, so when somebody is chasing them the feet already know what to do.
What to watch for
- Push off the outside foot, do not just lean over
- Short choppy steps as you get near the cone
- Head and eyes stay up the pitch
Make it easier
- Wider spacing
- Walk it all the way through
Make it harder
- Carry a ball
- A defender stands at the last cone
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Leaning over at the cone with the feet carrying straight on
- Push off the outside foot. Feel it in your leg
- Long strides into the cone so there is no time to change direction
- Little steps as you get close. Chop them up
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The grades that can do it
What U7 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.