How a centre back should train

Barbell back squat

The foundational lower-body strength lift — carries over to every sport.

Box jumps

Trains vertical power and a controlled, knee-safe landing.

Standing broad jump

Horizontal power that transfers to acceleration and contact.

Nordic hamstring curl

The gold-standard exercise for cutting hamstring-strain risk.

Setup: A wall and a ball. 5–8m back.

1. 1. Pass firmly against the wall with the inside of the foot.
2. 2. Take the return with your far foot, away from where a defender would be.
3. 3. Play it back first time, alternating feet every rep.

Volume: 5 × 60 seconds, alternating feet

Coaching point: Your first touch decides the pass — set the ball outside your body, not under it.

Make it harder: Move closer to speed it up, or restrict yourself to two touches, then one.

Setup: A server, a ball, a goal or target area.

1. 1. Attack the ball from a short run-up — meet it at the highest point.
2. 2. Defensive reps: head for height, distance and width.
3. 3. Attacking reps: head down, back across the keeper.

Volume: 4 × 10 (alternate attacking/defensive)

Coaching point: Attack the ball, don't wait for it. Eyes open, contact on the forehead.

Make it harder: Add a passive jumper to compete against.

Setup: A 10×15m channel, an attacker with a ball.

1. 1. Close the ground quickly, then slow into a side-on stance.
2. 2. Show them onto their weaker foot and toward the touchline.
3. 3. Tackle only when the ball is away from their body.

Volume: 8 × 30 seconds, alternating roles

Coaching point: Get there fast, arrive slow. Diving in is how you get beaten.

Make it harder: Shrink the channel; give the attacker a two-touch limit.

Setup: 30–40m of space, a partner or a target zone.

1. 1. Take a positive first touch across your body, then drive it 30m.
2. 2. Strike through the bottom third with the laces for a driven ball.
3. 3. Alternate driven and lofted — different jobs, different techniques.

Volume: 5 × 10 switches

Coaching point: Open your body before the touch, not after. You can't switch play facing your own goal.

Make it harder: Hit a moving target, or switch off one touch.

Setup: Four cones in a 5m square.

1. 1. Get into a side-on stance, knees bent, weight on the balls of your feet.
2. 2. Shuffle between the cones without crossing your feet, staying side-on throughout.
3. 3. On the last cone, turn and sprint 5m as if the attacker has knocked it past you.

Volume: 8 × 20 seconds, 40 seconds rest

Coaching point: Side-on and patient. A defender who squares up has already committed, and the first touch past you decides the duel.

Make it harder: Have someone point the direction late, or add a ball to shepherd rather than a cone to touch.

Setup: A ball and a wall, or a ball you can throw high.

1. 1. Throw the ball up above head height and attack it — meet the ball, do not wait for it.
2. 2. Contact with the forehead, eyes open, neck firm, and head THROUGH the line of the ball.
3. 3. Defensive reps: head it high and long. Attacking reps: head it down.

Volume: 4 × 10 headers, alternating defensive and attacking contact

Coaching point: You attack the ball; it never attacks you. Meeting it a foot earlier is the whole difference in a duel.

Make it harder: Jump off one foot from a short run-up, or have a partner serve from an angle.

Setup: A ball and 40m of space, with a target — a goal, a tree, a cone.

1. 1. Take a settling touch across your body, then strike through the bottom of the ball with your laces.
2. 2. Aim to land it in a 5m target zone, not just to hit it far.
3. 3. Alternate feet every five, and half of them off one touch.

Volume: 5 × 10 passes

Coaching point: The settling touch decides the pass. If it is under your feet you will scoop it; set it half a metre across yourself.

Make it harder: Reduce to one touch entirely, or aim for a partner's chest rather than a zone.

Setup: A ball, a wall to rebound off, and space in front of you.

1. 1. Play the ball against the wall so it returns at an awkward height.
2. 2. Clear it first time — high, long and wide, never straight back down the middle.
3. 3. Reset your feet between every rep rather than standing still.

Volume: 4 × 12 clearances, both feet

Coaching point: Height, distance, width — in that order. A clearance that stays in the box is a second chance for them.

Make it harder: Take them under pressure from a closing partner, or off a bouncing ball rather than a rolling one.

Setup: A wall, a ball, and four numbered cones around you.

1. 1. Before every pass into the wall, look over both shoulders — a real turn of the head, not a glance.
2. 2. Take the return with the foot furthest from the cone you last looked at.
3. 3. Move the ball to that cone in two touches.

Volume: 6 × 45 seconds

Coaching point: Scan BEFORE the ball arrives, not while it does. Midfielders who look late take a touch that solves nothing.

Make it harder: Have someone call a cone number as the ball leaves the wall.