Gold Mining by Elevate Ultimate
A fun game that will help you to keep kids engaged in a race to the finish!
Setup:
Depending on the age and skill of the kids you are coaching, place 5 – 10 cones at each “level” of distance ie. 1 metre, 3 metres, 5 metres. You want the first level to be easy and the last level to be challenging.
Split the players into teams of equal numbers, then for each team place a number of cones in their “gold mine”, plus a start cone for the thrower and a cone for the cutter.
Each team is trying to collect all their “Gold” first. Teams can only collect gold from their own line-up, and can get gold from any level at any time.
You can watch a description of this drill here: Gold Mining
Buy Elevate Ultimate’s book “The Art of Coaching Youth Ultimate” here
Rotation:
Each player takes a turn to throw, then run, then play defence, then rejoins the queue
Step 1
- Teammates pass the disc to each other as they cut to cones, trying to collect all their cones first by completing the passes to each one.
- Each team sends one representative to start at any cone. The player in line has the disc. If the throw is completed and the receiver can catch it with one foot still beside the cone, they get to collect one piece of gold and bring it back to their team.
- Once a player throws, they now run out to a cone and try to receive a pass.
- To make things harder, each team can send one defender over to mark another team to try and block their passes. Every minute or so, blow the whistle so each team has to send a new defender.
Pre-Requisite Drills:
Tips:
Elevate Ultimate says:
Adaptations to increase or decrease difficulty include changing the distance of the throw, specifying types of throw (forehand, backhand, hammer, curves, etc), adding a stall count, or asking the receiver to make an out and under cut towards the cone before the catch