Bounce-Pass Escape 7v5

Teach an outnumbered unit to use 'bounce' players — wall passes played and returned first time — to escape pressure they cannot beat alone. The decision: bounce to relieve, or escape to the free third.

Mark a 48x30 yard area in three 16-yard thirds. The possession team has three in the middle third and two bounce players in each end third (7 total). Four defenders press inside the middle third, a fifth screens between middle and the far third. Spare balls around the outside.

1. The ball lives in the middle third, where the three attackers face four defenders.
2. Bounce players are limited to one touch and may not leave their end third.
3. The middle three relieve pressure by playing into a bounce player and moving for the return — the wall pass beats the man.
4. A point is scored each time the ball escapes from one end's bounce players across to the other end's, through or around the press.
5. The fifth defender may intercept escapes but not enter the middle. Rotate the middle three every 2 minutes — it's the hardest job on the pitch.

• Play the bounce firm and flat — a one-touch player can't rescue a bad ball.
• Pass and MOVE: the return goes where you're going, not where you were.
• Middle three: stay on different lines, triangles never flatten.
• Look over the press first — if the escape lane is open, skip the bounce.

• The middle three hide behind defenders after passing — the bounce only works if the passer sprints into the return lane immediately.
• Balls into the bounce players are soft and the press swallows the return — demand match-weight passes into the end thirds.
• Players force the escape through a screened lane out of impatience — bounce once more and move the screen before releasing.

• Limit the middle three to two touches.
• Add a sixth defender as a second screen so escapes need disguise.
• Award double for an escape completed within three passes of winning the previous point.

• Allow bounce players two touches.
• Drop to three pressing defenders.
• Let one middle player drift into an end third to combine.

• Bounce players play one touch and stay in their end thirds.
• Points only score when the ball travels end third to end third.