Setup: A grid split into three vertical zones by cones, one defender living in each zone, two or three attackers who run and pass through. The single rule teaches the core of zonal defending.

How it works: This is the drill that breaks the man-marking habit. An attacker carries or passes through the grid, and the defender in each zone picks them up only while they are in that zone, then hands them on with a shout as they cross into the next — the near defender never follows a runner out of his patch. The call is everything: 'he's yours', 'with you', 'passing him on'. Attackers deliberately try to drag a defender out of his zone to open a gap; the defenders resist, trusting the man in the next zone to take over. Run it slowly first so the hand-offs are clean, then at pace. The lesson is that a zone defends space and trusts the next man, where a man-marker gets dragged all over the pitch.

Setup: Half pitch with a goal. Set eight defenders in a zonal block — a bank of five across the 20m line and three screening the D. An attacking unit of ten probes it with a coach feeding switches of play. Bibs on.

How it works: Now build the full defensive wall and teach it to slide and stay compact. The attack moves the ball across the top and through the middle; the whole block shifts together toward the ball, always denser near the goal and never leaving the middle open. Nobody presses out until the nominated trigger — when the ball is under real pressure or played backward — and then only the nearest one steps while the rest hold and cover behind. The attack will try to switch the play fast to catch the block still shifting; the defenders must slide the full width in time and re-compact. Walk it, jog it, then let the attack genuinely probe for five minutes. The zone is not passive — it is a patient trap that shepherds the ball to where you want it.