Switch
A handling and passing drill for U9 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
- U9, U10, U11, U12
- Time
- 9 minutes
- Players
- 6 to 18
- Space
- 20 x 15 m
- Kit
- 6 cones, 1 ball
- Pitch
- Fine on hard ground
- Indoors
- Fits a small space
Setting it up
Pairs running up a channel with one defender halfway who may walk forward only.
How it runs
The carrier runs one way. The support runner cuts back behind them the other way and the ball changes hands as they cross. Six goes each. It only works if the carrier takes the defender wide first, so if it keeps failing that is why.
What to watch for
- Carrier goes wide first to drag the defender across
- Support cuts behind, close enough to take it easily
- Hide the ball from the defender as it changes hands
Make it easier
- No defender
- Walk the pattern through first
Make it harder
- Two defenders
- Threes so there is a dummy switch option
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- The two runners crossing too far apart for the handover
- Nearly touching as you pass each other
- The ball held out in front where the defender can see it
- Hide it. Keep it on the far hip until they have gone past
More like this
The grades that can do it
What U9 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.