The Full Back Soccer Position: What to Do and How to Train It

A full back is the right-back or left-back in a soccer team’s back four. The job is to defend the wide areas, protect the space beside the centre-backs and help the team move forward with the ball. Full backs are not tied to the touchline: their position changes with the ball, teammates and the team’s attacking plan. Coaches’ Voice explains the position and its variations.

For training, prioritise three decisions: when to engage the winger, when to tuck inside, and when to join the attack. Practise them against opponents, not only through unopposed overlapping runs.

What does a full back do?

Defend the ball—and the space behind you

When the ball reaches the opposing winger, close down under control. Aim to restrict their route towards goal without arriving so quickly that one touch takes them past you. Protect against the inside dribble, but also get into a position to prevent or block the cross.

“Always show them outside” is too rigid. Guiding play towards the touchline can help, but the direction of pressure must fit the team’s cover and pressing plan. Blocking crosses, tracking runs and preventing entry into the penalty area are central full-back responsibilities. Coaches’ Voice’s wide-defending guidance describes these principles.

Use these coaching cues:

• Approach quickly, arrive balanced: shorten your steps as you reach the attacker.
• Check your cover: know whether the centre-back or midfielder can support you.
• Track the runner: do not watch the ball while an opponent moves behind you.
• Delay when isolated: avoid committing to a tackle simply because the winger is within reach.

Tuck in when the ball is on the other side

The far-side full back should not automatically stay beside the opposite touchline. Move inside with the defensive unit to help protect central space, while keeping the far-side attacker in view.

When the near-side full back engages a winger, the other defenders need to shift across and provide cover. FIFA’s defending-principles session specifically coaches this movement, including the far-side full back narrowing without losing sight of the opposite winger.

A useful cue is: “Narrow enough to help; aware enough to react to the switch.” There is no universal distance from the centre-back that works in every situation.

Support possession without running forward automatically

In possession, offer a passing angle and receive ready to see forward options. The next action might be a pass into midfield, a carry into space or support behind the winger—not necessarily a cross.

Three attacking movements are worth distinguishing:

Movement	What it means	Coaching question
Overlap	Run outside the teammate on the ball	Is there space outside, and can someone cover behind?
Underlap	Run inside the wide teammate	Is the inside channel available without crowding a teammate?
Invert	Move into a central position during possession	Can you receive under pressure, and who supplies the width?

FIFA’s final-third combination session emphasises coordinated runs, open receiving posture and progressing from rehearsed patterns to opposed play. Inverting is a different tactical responsibility: it requires central passing options and awareness, rather than simply being a full back who dribbles inside. Coaches’ Voice’s tactical explanation outlines that distinction.

Before joining an attack, ask: Who protects the space I leave? Agree what happens after a turnover, too: whether you can help delay the counter-attack immediately or need to recover into the defensive line depends on your position and the team’s plan.

Full back versus wing-back

A full back normally defends outside two centre-backs in a back four. A wing-back normally operates outside three centre-backs, forming a back five when the team drops deeper. Wing-backs often have more responsibility for supplying width because there may be no winger ahead of them. Both still need to defend wide duels and stop crosses. Coaches’ Voice explains these responsibilities.

These labels describe starting structures, not fixed running routes. Agree the actual responsibilities before assigning extra conditioning.

What the research changes about training

Do not assume every full back needs the same running programme—or that ordinary squad training automatically covers the role’s demands.

A season-long study of 30 professional male players from one Spanish first-division team, using data from 2015–16, found that positional patterns in training did not consistently correspond to those in matches. The authors suggested that the external defenders’ running profile could reflect the team’s playing style. That supports checking the player’s actual role rather than prescribing work from the position name alone; it does not establish a universal full-back fitness target for youth, women’s or amateur squads. Read the original study.

The practical coaching inference: include wide defending, forward support and recovery into shape, but adjust space, repetitions and rest to the player’s existing workload. Do not add exhausting runs as a penalty for conceding a cross.

A 20-minute full-back defending block

Use this after a progressive warm-up. It is a coaching template, not a research-tested protocol. The second exercise adapts the structure of FIFA’s defending session above.

1. Wide 1v1: eight minutes

Setup: Mark channels approximately 15 × 8 metres. Put two 2-metre exit gates at the defending end: one towards the inside edge and one towards the outside edge. Players work in pairs; duplicate channels for the squad. Start the attacker with the ball at the opposite end and the defender roughly 3 metres ahead of them, towards the gates.

Task: The attacker tries to dribble through either gate. The defender closes down, delays and attempts to win possession. If the defender wins it, they counter-dribble over the attacker’s starting line.

Timing: Four rounds of 90 seconds, each followed by 30 seconds for recovery and feedback, including after the final round. Alternate roles after each attack and use breaks for one brief cue.

Observe: Does the defender arrive balanced? Can they protect the inside route without being beaten outside? Lower the attacking speed if the contest becomes uncontrolled. This exercise tests dribble containment, not cross prevention.

2. Back-four defending: 12 minutes

Setup: Use half a pitch, one full-size goal and two mini-goals near halfway. With 12 players, organise six attackers against a back four, one defensive midfielder and a goalkeeper.

Task: Attackers start near halfway and seek to score, using wide players to challenge the full backs. Defenders counter into either mini-goal after winning possession. Allow switches of play so the far-side full back must adjust.

Timing: Three three-minute bouts, each followed by one minute for feedback and reset.

Coach: When the full back presses, who covers? When the ball switches, does the opposite full back react? If the winger runs into the box, is the defender tracking the run or watching the ball?

For a larger squad session, build this into the 60-minute defending practice.

Measure decisions, not just tackles

Across a fixed number of wide attacks in the back-four exercise, record:

• Whether the attacker beat the full back with an inside dribble.
• Whether the attacker delivered an uncontested cross.
• Whether cover was available when the full back engaged.
• Whether the full back tracked the runner when play entered the box.
• Whether the far-side full back narrowed while checking the opposite winger.

Record the outcome alongside the decision: a defender can make a sensible choice and still lose a duel. Use the training-session reflection template to select one behaviour to revisit next session.