Soccer Drills – Page 25

Go for goal

Objective: To practice individual tackling and defensive skills.

Experience: Beginners and upwards.

Set-up: Create a 20-yard square with a normal-sized goal at one end.

Three or defenders stand next to the goal and three or four attackers stand at the end of the playing area opposite the goal.

How to Play: On your signal, a defender passes a ball to one of the attackers. As soon as the attacker touches the ball, the defender runs out quickly and tries to stop the attacker shooting at goal.

The defender is awarded a point if she successfully tackles the attacker or manages to keep the attacker from shooting for 15 seconds.

The attacker gets a point for a shot at goal.

Attackers and defenders change places every three or four plays.

Coaching points:

You can either play this as team game and play first team to 10 points wins or set individual targets.

Emphasise the need for defenders to close down attackers quickly and for attackers to shoot as soon as they can.

Progression:

1. Award two points to defenders who can keep an attacker away from goal for 15 seconds without tackling.

2. If a defender wins the ball, he can shoot at goal.

3. Play two attackers against one defender.

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Rob the bank!

Objective: To practice dribbling and passing skills.

Age range: U5s to U8s.

Number of players: Whole squad.

Equipment required: Some flat cones, one ball for every two players plus some spares.

Set-up: Create a playing area that is big enough for all your players to dribble in comfortably. For 10 five-year-olds, I would use a 20-yard square.

Create two three-yard squares as “jails”, using flat cones or corner flags just outside the playing area.

Place all the spare balls on one side of the playing area. This is the bank.

Pair up your players and give each pair a ball except for one pair of players who are the policemen.

The policemen stand in the middle of the playing area, facing the rest of the players who wait on the end line opposite the bank.

How to play:

Begin with a story “It’s midnight – we are going to rob a bank… ”

Tell your players that the balls in the bank are worth £1,000 each!

On your command, one player from each pair tries to run to the bank, capture a ball and take it back to their starting position.
If they get tagged by a policeman, they have to run back to their partner to tag them and let them try to get to the bank.
If they get the ball back to their partner without being caught “red handed” by a policeman, they have won £1,000 and their partner tries to get another ball.
If they are caught in possession of the ball, they put it back in the bank and go to one of the jails at the side of the grid and perform two or three star jumps before going back to their partner.
As soon as all the balls are captured, the pair with the most “money” is the winner.
Change the policemen and play again.

Coaching notes

When a player captures a ball, he or she has a decision to make: Do I dribble or pass it back to my partner? Ask your players how they come to their decision.

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Possession v pressure

Objective: To improve your players’ ability to keep possession, take possession and score goals.

Age group: U8s to U12s.

Set up: Set up a 30×20 yards pitch with a goal at each end.

Divide your players into two teams four plus goalkeepers.

How to play:

One team starts on the pitch and players pass the ball to each other.
On your command, the second team enters the pitch and try to win possession of the ball and score a goal.
The passing team try to keep the ball.
The second team has 30 seconds to win the ball and score.
If it fails, the passing team earns a “goal”.
After every 30 seconds, team roles are rotated.
Play for 15 to 20 minutes. The team with the most goals is the winner.

Variations

If the passing team can keep the ball for 30 seconds, it can shoot and score.
Instead of a time limit, the passing team has to make X number of passes to score.
Vary the number of players on each team. For example, play 5v3 instead of 4v4.
The second team must win possession then make X number of passes before it can shoot.
If one of the teams kicks the ball out of play, it loses a point.

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All up!

Objective: To improve players’ peripheral vision, fitness and speed of transition.

Age group: U8s to U14s.

Set-up: Mark out a 30×20 yards playing area with a goal at each end and a centre line.

Divide your players into two teams, wearing bibs.

How to play: Play normal rules with the condition that for a goal to count, all the attacking team’s players must be over the halfway line.

If they are not, the goal does not count and a goal kick is awarded.

First team to five goals wins.

Progression: When your players are comfortable add a second condition: When a goal is scored, the defending team must have all their players in their own half. If not, the goal counts double.

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In the zone

This game is called “In the Zone”, it is great for improving passing and receiving skills, finding space to receive a pass, team-working and supporting off the ball.

Age range: U8s and upwards.

Set-up: Create a 30×20 yards playing area with a five-yard wide channel at each end marked out with flat cones. These are the end zones.

Divide your players into teams of five or six.

How to play:

Each team scores a point by dribbling or passing the ball into one end zone and back to the opposite end zone without losing possession.

Tip: You will need to tell your players which end to attack first and explain that tackling is not allowed in the end zones. The first team to score five points wins the game.

Progression: Put a neutral player or players in the end zones. Now the ball cannot be dribbled into an end zone, it must be passed to a neutral player who has to control the pass.

The neutral player returns the ball to the team that passed to them so it they can attack the other end zone.

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coach Weekly.

Pass, move, pass, move

This is a great warm-up to use before a training session or a match.

It gets your players into the habit of moving immediately after they pass, works on their ball control and is a good physical workout too.

Age group: U8s to U13s.

Set up: Create a circular playing area about 25 yards across. Divide your squad in two.

Place one half of your players inside the playing area and the other half around the outside of the playing area.

The players on the outside have a ball each.

How to play: The players on the inside run to an outside player, receive a pass, return the ball and move quickly to another outside player and repeat the process.

Switch the inside and outside players after a few minutes.

Progressions:

Receive the ball and return it with one touch.
Receive the ball with the left foot, return it with the right and vice versa.
Receive with ball with one surface of the foot (inside, outside, sole, etc.) and return it with a different surface.

Coaching points

Discourage your players from watching their passes, they should turn and run to the next player as soon as the ball leaves their foot.

This exercise should be done at speed. Do not allow players to walk around.

Encourage players to call for the ball as they approach a player on the outside.

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coach Weekly.

Keep ball

Objective: To improve aggressiveness and the ability to shield the ball.

Age group: U6s and upwards.

Number of players: Whole team.

Equipment: Cones to mark out the playing area, bibs and a ball.

Set up: Mark out a 30-yard square. Divide your players into four teams (it doesn’t matter if one has an extra player).

How to play: Each team stands at a corner of the square. Play a ball into the centre of the area and shout “Go!”.

The first player in each team runs out from their corner and tries to get to the ball first. Whoever gets the ball must try to keep possession for five seconds to earn a point for his team before passing the ball to you.

If the ball is stolen or the pass is intercepted, the player stealing the ball should keep it for five seconds before passing to you.

The first team to reach five points wins.

Tip: Very young players will find it difficult to hold onto the ball against three opponents so allow them to either pass to you straight away or play with two teams instead of four.

The older and more skilled the players, the longer they should be able to hold the ball before passing.

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coach Weekly.

Pass to me!

Objective: To improve passing and receiving skills.

Age range: U9s to U12s.

Set up: Create a 20-yard square, split into squares as shown below.

Divide your players into groups of six: Two defenders (the diamonds in the picture above) and four attackers (the circles).

How to play:

Attackers try to put as many passes together as possible.

Defenders try to stop them and can move anywhere in the playing area but attackers must stay in their square.

Attackers get one point for a certain number of passes (this figure depends on the age and skill of your players).

Defenders get a point every time they touch the ball.

The first team to reach five points wins.

Coaching points

Accuracy and weight of pass.
Good first touch.
Movement off the ball.
Meet the pass if possible, don’t wait for the ball to arrive.

Progressions

Reduce the size of the playing area.
Restrict passers to two or three touches of the ball.
Make the game 5v2 or 4v3 by introducing another defender or passer.

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coach Weekly.