Keep Away for Developing Players
Keep Away games, also known as Rondo games, teach players almost all aspects of playing soccer, except for shooting and game restarts.
Rondo is a "piggy in the middle" Keep Away game. Rondo can be played in almost any shape and usually has more attacking players with the ball on the outside and fewer defending players in the middle who try to win the ball. Usually when a defender wins the ball they trade places with the attacker who lost possession of the ball.
As a game for developing skills and decision making a Rondo is played in a larger area for less experienced players and a smaller area for more experienced players. As a game for developing game intelligence the game is played in a progression of variations that teach game concepts.
As a game for teaching cohesive team play there are 3 team variations of Rondo in which all players on the team losing the ball become defenders and all players on the team winning the ball become attackers.
Keep Away game concepts are introduced to players using a progression of online drawings, online animations, videos and practice games.
Training Progression for Keep Away Games
The training progression sequence for all Keep Away games is the same. What is taught for each game varies slightly based on the shape used for the Keep Away game and the number of players. See page for each Keep Away game for training notes for that variation of Keep Away.
The training progression for each Keep Away game is:
Introducing Keep Away Games to Players
The movements of the attacker in possession and their supporting teammates are taught playing simple symmetrical Keep Away games in squares, circles and equilateral triangles with sides and angles that are the same size.
Progression to Invasion Keep Away Games
The movements of the attacker in possession and their supporting teammates are taught when playing in asymmetrical Keep Away games which are used to teach attacking from one end of a long field to the other (in long and narrow shapes like rectangles, diamonds, ovals, kites and triangles which present the game like conditions seen when attacking from one end of a soccer field to the other), in steps 1, 2 and 3 below. Then the roles of the 1st defender and supporting defenders and taught in steps 4 and 5 below.
Progression to Target Player Keep Away
The movements of the attacker in possession and their supporting teammates are taught by playing 3 team asymmetrical Keep Away games (in long and narrow shapes like rectangles and ovals which present the game like conditions seen when attacking from one end of a field to the other). In this variation there are 2 attacking teams and a defending team between them.
The roles of the attacking players are taught in steps 1, 2 and 3 below; the roles of the defending defending players are taught in steps 4 and 5 below.
Progression to Free Play Keep Away
Free play Keep Away is played in tactical areas of a full size field and is used to introduce game concepts and movement. Start with more attackers in possession and gradually increase the number of defenders. For example, to teach tactical movement through the Midfield play Keep Away in the Midfield and set goals and teach movement patterns for different actions:
The movements of the attacker in possession and their supporting teammates are taught in steps 1, 2 and 3 below. Then the roles of the 1st and supporting defenders are taught in steps 4 and 5 below.
Roles of Players in Keep Away
Keep away games teach attacking players that the:
Keep Away games teach defending players that the 1st Defender is the defending player closest to the attacker with the ball and that their role is to instantly apply pressure to:
Keep Away games teach other defending players to instantly support their 1st defender teammate by moving to:
Static Versus Dynamic Keep Away
Static Keep Away Games are played in shapes defined by cones, with each attacker playing on the line between two cones. Static cones also define the minimum and maximum distances between attacking players. Static games are used to teach players the roles of:
Dynamic Keep Away Games are played without cones for the attacking players to play between. Dynamic games can be played in a limited area or over the entire field. Without cones attacking players learn:
One of the best training progressions in soccer is Keep Away games, which are widely know as Rondo games in much of the world. Even Barcelona, one of the best technical teams in the world, plays Rondo in practices year round. Google "Rondo Barcelona YouTube" to see for yourself.
A Rondo training progression teaches an understanding of all aspects of the game except shooting, scoring and game restarts. Rondo isn't just one game played one way, it's a progression of games in different shapes and sizes with constantly evolving rules and coaching points. See
Keep Away Menu
Free Content for All Visitors
★ Recreational Member Content
★ Travel Member Content
★ Elite Member Content
Coaching Keep Away
Setup for Keep Away Games
Movements of Attacking Players
★ Attackers vs 1 Defender
★ Attackers vs 2 or more Defenders
★ Role of the 1st Defender
★ Role of Supporting Defenders
Symmetrical Keep Away
★ 3 Player Game - Triangle
★ 4 Player Game - Square
★ 5 Player Game - Pentagon
★ 6 Player Game - Circle
★ 8 Player Game - Circle
Simple shapes that teach game concepts
Asymmetrical Keep Away
★ 3 Player Game - Triangles
★ 4 Player Game - Rectangles
★ 5 Player Game - Pentagons
★ 6 Player Game - Ovals
★ 8 Player Game - Ovals
★ 4 Player Game - Diamonds
★ 4 Player Game - Kites
Long shapes common in goal to goal play
3 Team Keep Away
★ 2 v 2 v 2 - 6 Player Game
★ 4 v 4 v 4 - 12 Player Game
★ 6 v 6 v 6 - 18 Player Game
★ 8 v 8 v 8 - 24 Player Game
Other Variations for players available
★ 3 v 4 v 3 - 10 Player Game
★ 4 v 6 v 4 - 14 Player Game
★ 5 v 8 v 5 - 18 Player Game
★ 6 v 8 v 6 - 20 Player Game
3 team game trains near far vision in attack
Free Style Keep Away
★ Attackers versus 2 to 4 Defenders
Teaches keeping possession in games
Edited and Published 2 January 2018