Mid-Block Machine

Obj: The 4-1-4-1 mid-block installed — when we don't press, we're THIS: shape, shifts, jump triggers, and the block's patience. Field: 60×44yd. Equip: Cones, balls, bibs, full goals. Org: Defending 10 set the 4-1-4-1 (the 6 as the block's anchor); attacking 10 circulate to move it. Phase 1: shift patterns (ball wide = block slides, weak-side winger tucks; ball central = compress). Phase 2 live: attackers score normally; defenders score by trigger-jumps — winning the ball within 6s of a legal jump moment (bad touch, back-pass, wide trap) = 3 pts. The block learns it isn't passive: it's a trap with patience. CP: (1) The block breathes: slide-compress-slide, never statues; (2) the 6 anchors the machine — his zone is sacred, everyone protects it (10.4); (3) jumps are collective or cancelled: one player's press without the block's step is a hole, not a hunt. Prog: Attackers use overload-to-isolate (the block vs. our own attack's best pattern — iron sharpening); block-to-press full releases (E-26). Reg: Walkthrough shifts; 10v8. Mist: P: the ball-side winger pressing alone out of boredom; C: installing the block without the jump triggers (patience without teeth becomes retreat). Time: 18 min. Out: Block shape sliding as one; jump timing collective. Var: 9v9 version as 3-1-3-1 for U12s covering up. Diag: 4-1-4-1 block with slide arrows toward ball-side, weak-side winger tucked, jump-trigger arrow releasing the near unit.