All Activities
Physical Education

Formation and Shape

Overview

Students explore how spreading out and maintaining a team shape improves both attack and defence.

Learning Objective
Students understand how team positioning and formation affect performance in invasion games.

Resources needed

  • Ball
  • Marked playing area
  • Small goals

Lesson stages

0 / 7 done
  1. 1 Play a 5v5 game with no tactical instruction for 5 minutes.
  2. 2 Stop and show the problem: players cluster together.
  3. 3 Demonstrate a simple 2-1-2 formation — two defenders, one midfielder, two attackers.
  4. 4 Assign positions and play for 5 minutes maintaining the shape.
  5. 5 Stop: did the formation help? What was difficult?
  6. 6 Discuss transitions: what happens when you lose the ball?
  7. 7 Final 10-minute game — teams choose and maintain their own formation.

Tap a step to mark it as done.

Variations

  • No player can enter the opponent's half — focus on passing.
  • Attackers and defenders swap on possession change only.
  • Draw the formation on the ground before playing.
More information

Teach: formation, shape, position, transition, defend, attack, hold. Drawing the formation in soil before playing makes it concrete.

Assign a student the role of calling out positions during the game to help the team maintain shape.

Are players maintaining their formation or reverting to clustering? Can they explain why their formation is effective?

Stones and sticks mark the pitch. A tied cloth ball works. Draw formations in the ground before the game.

Students think everyone should chase the ball. The core tactical lesson is that staying in position creates more space and better options than all chasing.

Formation and shape are the foundation of team sport tactics. The principles apply equally to football, basketball, hockey, and netball.

Activity details
Secondary Challenging 30 minutes 5 minutes prep Small Group, Whole Class Outdoor
Topics
Tactics Team Sports Positioning