1v1 Defend the Gate

Obj: The defending curriculum's entry session: approach, angle, patience, and the tackle decision. Field: 15×12yd; central 3yd cone gate the attacker must dribble through. Equip: Cones, balls, bibs. Org: Defender starts goal-side of the gate, passes in to the attacker, and closes. Attacker scores by dribbling through the gate; defender by winning the ball or holding him off for 8 seconds (counted aloud by the queue — delay is victory made audible). CP: (1) Close fast while the ball travels, slow the last two steps ("fly in, land soft"); (2) sideways-on, showing one side, gate protected; (3) tackle triggers only: heavy touch, bad body shape, or the 8-count expiring. Prog: Two gates (defender must steer to protect the dangerous one — show-them-wide seed, E-08); attacker gets a bounce-wall option. Reg: Attacker at 70% speed; wider grid, longer count. Mist: P: square hips and lunging (the matador's disease); C: praising only wins — praise the 8-second delays equally, that's the curriculum. Time: 14 min. Out: Approach-and-angle pattern visible in every rep; delay valued as success. Var: Defender starts recovering from a corner (recovery angle version). Diag: Grid with central gate, defender goal-side, serve arrow, curved close-down path with braking marks.