It is a soccer drill used to teach a technique of passing. The set up includes having one very huge field and with the help of cones making a 15 yard channel through the centre of the field. This area is referred to as the no man’s zone. As the name of the drill suggests, the players in the game are not allowed in this particular area.
The players need to use the penalty area and mark out a specific area in the same size opposite with a no man’s land of about 10 yards in between these two areas. The game has a 5v5 with a goalkeeper, two attackers on each team and two defenders on each team. The coach can also put two defenders and two attackers from one team to the other in each half. It is necessary for the players to stay in the half from which they start in. With a toss of a coin, which team starts with the kick off is decided. The goalkeeper starts with the play. If the ball ends up going over the end lines, then the restarts are also carried out by the goalkeeper. In the drill, the play is continuous. This means that when one of the team wins the ball, the aim to pass and attack the goal. It is required by the attackers to create space for the defenders to make their passes. It is the defenders task to try and win the ball back from the attackers.
Here are a few ways in which this game can be advanced:
The passing player could be allowed to follow the ball into the attacking half. No man’s land can be widened to almost 20 yards in order to make passing harder as well as the timing of runs. By doing this, the players would have to make the passes longer, providing the defenders with more time to see the ball and close the attackers down. Furthermore, it also entails that it will be more difficult for players to make their passes accurate as they will need to think about power.