Category: Soccer practice plans

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Keep the ball!

This is a practice drill designed to improve your players’ ability to keep possession. It is suitable for players with good ball skills.

Warm up

Split your players into two groups wearing two different coloured bibs, e.g. red and blue. The players jog around in half a small soccer pitch, passing the ball from red to blue to red etc.

Progressions:

  • Add a second ball.
  • Introduce a defender who tries to block the passes.
  • Introduce a second defender and, if your players are still finding it easy to keep the ball from the defenders, add a third.
  • Place a goal at one end of the playing area. The team in possession can shoot once they have put five passes together.

Small-sided game 1

Play a small-sided game with the condition that players can only have three touches before they pass the ball. All restarts are by the goalkeeper who has to roll the ball out.

Progression: move to two touch.

Small-sided game 2

In this small-sided game, use uneven teams. For example, 5v2 or 6v3. The team with the most players has to complete five passes before they can score. The team with fewer players can shoot as soon as they get the ball.

Progression: increase the number of passes required and/or make the playing area smaller to increase the pressure.

Coaching points

  • Stress the need for constant movement – no standing still admiring your pass!
  • Encourage players to find good angles of support– get out of the defenders’ shadows.
  • Key messages: Keep the ball! Relax, get your head up and support your team mates.
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Soccer ‘vision’

This practice is designed to improve each player’s field vision through a variety of techniques.

Consider the following points:

Vision With The Ball

Many coaches instruct players to “trap the ball” before passing it. The word “trap” suggests stopping the ball. Young players get into a bad habit of trapping the ball using the sole of the foot every time the ball comes to them. Trapping or stopping the ball with the sole of the foot can cause many bad habits for the player and limit the techniques he can use immediately after his first touch on the ball.

The following are bad habits as a result of “trapping the ball” with the sole of the foot:

– As the ball travels towards the foot the head will drop and eyes will be fixed on the ball. The player at this point cannot see his passing options.

– In the attacking third, the player will not be able to see the position of the goalkeeper if his head is down, thus limiting his shooting options.

– If the ball is controlled with the sole of the foot on the first touch, the position of the ball will be too close to the players body for the player to pass over a long distance. There needs to be a distance between the player and the ball for the player to strike the ball over a long distance.

– In the attacking third, the player cannot afford to stop the ball with the sole of the foot. The player needs to set up shooting opportunities as soon as possible. If the ball is controlled with the sole of the foot, it will limit the players’ ability to shoot over a long distance.

– Trapping the ball with the sole of the foot will also affect the time in which a player makes decisions. The player will take one second to trap the ball, another second to push the ball out from the body and yet a third second before the player considers the option of whether to pass, dribble, shoot or run with the ball. During this period the nearest opponent will be closing down the ball and looking to dispossess the player.

Coaches should encourage players to use their first touch on the ball economically and effectively. As opposed to trapping the ball with the sole of the foot, players should look to play their first touch out of their body and into a position that will allow them to perform a variety of techniques on their second touch.

In general, right-footed players should look to play their first touch approximately one and a half yards in front and to the right side at a 45-degree angle (left footed players to the left side). By playing the ball out and in front of the body on the first touch, the player will improve in the following:

– Better all round vision as eyes follow ball out and up and not focused down at the feet.

– Can immediately see and evaluate passing and shooting options.

– Can pass the ball over a long range.

– Can shoot the ball over a long range.

– Less chance of being caught in possession of the ball due to improved vision.

During the course of a game it is not always possible to play the ball in the perfect position. However, it is surprising to note that on numerous occasions when players control the ball, they neglect to consider what they are controlling for, to pass, to shoot, to dribble or to run with the ball.

Vision Without The Ball

Consideration must also be given to the player’s body position when supporting the man on the ball. Whenever possible players should adopt a “side-on” position to see as much of the playing field as possible.

Remember, “You can only pass as quick as you can see.”

Warm Up

– Divide players into 2 groups; identify each team with different colored bibs.

– Have players jog around area 30 x 40 yards. Players alternate stretching and jogging every 60 seconds.

– While the players jog, heads must be up scanning the whole field, glancing behind them, looking far and near. On coaches command players must shout out the colour of “John’s socks”, make of Tom’s cleats etc. (forces players to scan all players quickly) Players heads should be like that of a “bird on a fence” always glancing and checking behind.
Fundamental Phase

– Introduce a ball into the area. Players move around grid passing the ball “2 touch”. The passes must always be in the sequence of “Red Player – Yellow Player” red can only pass to blue and blue to red). This forces players to scan the area before receiving the pass

– Progress to “1 touch” play.

– Encourage players on the ball to pass over a variety of distances, not always a short pass.

– Encourage players off the ball to get into a position in line of the players vision (don’t hide).

– Condition the players “Not to talk or Clap” for the ball. All communication is visual. Then take off this condition.

Fundamental Progression #1

Continue sequence from previous practice and develop to:

– Still ” 1 touch”. On the coaches command the player in possession must pass to the player named by the coach. When the coach shout’s “Johnny” the player in possession must quickly scan the field, locate the player, and pass quickly to the player’s feet.

– The receiving player “Johnny” is encouraged to receive the ball “side-on” if possible, turn quickly and pass to the most distant player on the opposite colour

– The play is continued with the “Red-Blue” sequence until the coach calls another players name.
Match Related

Finish with small side game with goalkeepers

– Reinforce all the main points in your small-sided game.

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How to teach individual defending skills

General principles

It’s important to emphasise to your players, no matter how young they are, that when the other team has the ball everyone on your team is a defender.

It follows that all your players (not just the “defenders”) need to be taught the principles of individual defence:

The player nearest the ball is called the “first defender”.

If possession is lost in your team’s attacking third (the third of the pitch closest to your opponent’s goal) the first defender – who will probably be one of your attackers or midfield players – has to try and win the ball back immediately and start another attack.

If your opponent has possession of the ball in midfield or in your defensive third (the third of the pitch nearest your goal) the first defender does NOT have to try to win the ball. Her job is to delay the attack, put pressure on the player with the ball and try to guide her into a safe area of the pitch, i.e. towards the touchline or back towards her own goal.

The first defender puts pressure on the ball carrier by approaching her quickly and getting close – but not so close that the attacker can simply push the ball past the defender and run onto it. About 4ft away is a good distance. Getting close quickly will force the attacker to keep her head down so she can concentrate on keeping control of the ball and will stop her looking for a pass.

The first defender’s stance is important. Her feet should be about a shoulder width apart, her legs should be slightly bent and she should stay on her toes so she can react to any sudden changes of direction by the attacker.

  • Her eyes should be on the ball but she should also watch the spaces around the attacker with her peripheral vision.
  • If the ball gets away from the attacker’s feet, the first defender can win the ball by quickly stepping between the attacker and the ball carrier.
  • If the ball gets stuck between the attacker’s feet, the first defender should make a determined effort to win the ball or kick it into touch.

How to practise individual defending skills

The best way to practise individual defending skills is to play 1v1 games.

Warm up by pairing up your players and get them to stand a good defensive distance (three or four feet) apart.

On your command, they try to touch each other’s knees. The first player to make 10 touches is the winner. Players can use their hands to deflect their partners attempts.

Use this game to practise the defensive stance. Say: “knees bent”, “eye on the target”, “lean forward slightly”, “stay on your toes”.

Game 1

Create some areas 20 yards long by five yards wide and divide them into three sections.

One player (the defender) stands at one end of a channel and passes a ball to a player at the other end (the attacker).

The attacker tries to dribble past the defender. The defender gets three points if she can hold up the attacker for 10 seconds in the first third of the channel, win the ball or kick the ball out.

If she can do it in the second section she gets two points and she gets one point for succeeding in the final third.

Play three or four rounds then switch roles.

Game 2

Use the same set-up as above.

Place a small cone goal at one end of the channel.

The attacker’s job is now to score a goal by hitting the cone.

The defender gets a point if she can stop the attacker from scoring for 30 seconds.

Game 3

Set up a number of 10-yard square areas with a small cone goal in the middle.

The defender starts the game by standing in the goal and passing the ball to the attacker who has 30 seconds to score. Again, award a point to defenders who can stop the attacker from scoring by stealing the ball, kicking it out or (ideally) holding up the attacker for the required time.

What to say to the defender:

  • “Close the attacker down quickly”
  • “Watch the ball”
  • “Knees bent”
  • “The touchline is your friend”
  • “If you’re going for a tackle, you must be determined to win the ball”

For more soccer coaching tips and products visit Soccer Coaching Club.

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Attack with pace and width

It doesn’t matter if your team plays six, seven, eight, nine or 11-a-side… you want them to attack with pace.

It’s also important that your players use the whole width of the pitch.

Spreading out when you’re attacking is a basic tactic. It pulls opposition defenders out of position, creates gaps that your players can exploit and gives them time to shoot.

Principles of play: How to attack

The session plan below was designed to improve an U11s team’s speed of play and use of width in attack.

It won’t turn your team into Barcelona overnight but it should help them attack faster and penetrate defences more easily. And they’ll score more goals too!

Session objective: Attacking with width and pace.

Number of players: 12

Age group: U10s and upwards

Equipment needed: Flat cones to mark the playing areas, two small goals, training vests to differentiate teams and several balls.

Warm-up

Divide your players into groups of four and give them numbers: 1 to 4.

Create a 20-yard square playing area for each group and place them adjacent to each other.

Players jog around the playing area passing in sequence, 1 to 2 to 3 etc.

After a minute or two, change the sequence so that players are passing in reverse numerical order: 4 to 3 to 2 to 1.

Coaching point

Emphasise the need to move immediately after passing. No standing around admiring your pass!

Activity 1: Keepaway

One player in each group becomes a defender. The other three attempt to keep the ball away from her.

Challenge each group to make as many passes as possible before the ball is intercepted (in which case the player who last touched the ball becomes the defender) or the ball goes out of the playing area.

Make the activity competitive. Challenge each group to make five, 10, then 20 passes before making a mistake.

Coaching point

Ask your players to tell you the best way to keep the ball away from the defender. The answer is to pass and move quickly into a place where you can receive a return pass.

Progression 1

Add another defender.

Add a second ball.

Specify the number of touches each player is allowed to take before passing.

Progression 2

After five minutes, take away the dividing lines between the playing areas so that you end up with all 12 players in one, big playing area.

Now play keepaway with three defenders.

Coaching points

If your players find it easy to keep the ball, add more defenders.

If they are finding it difficult to keep the ball away from the defenders, make the playing area bigger or play with fewer defenders.

Remember to set your players a target number of passes to complete.

Emphasise the need to move immediately after passing but also ask the question: Where do you need to move to? Aimless movement should be discouraged.

Activity 2: Attacking in threes

Move all your players to a 50 yards long by 30 yards wide playing area with a goal at one end and divide them into groups of three.

If you have a spare player, put her in goal. If not, you or a parent can be the goalkeeper for this game.

The groups of three go to the end of the playing area opposite the goal. Players in each group are assigned positions on the field: Centre, left and right.

The ball is kicked out by the goalkeeper to one of the players in the first group.

Each group attacks the goal at match pace, passing the ball at least four times before a shot is taken. Players must maintain their positions relative to each other and each player must touch the ball.

Note: If you have an assistant, use two playing areas with two groups of three in each.

Coaching points

Your players will probably begin by passing the ball to feet and moving very slowly up the field.

Ask them why passing to feet slows the attack – because the player receiving the ball has to slow down or stop to control the ball – and if there is a better, quicker way of passing. The solution is to pass in front of the player so they can run on to the pass and control it in their stride.

Once they start to pass in front of the running player you should see a big improvement.

Progression

Add a defender who tries to disrupt the attacks.

Add a “no-go” line five yards in front of the goal. Attacking players now have to complete the move and shoot before they get to the line.

Finally…

Put a second goal in the playing area. Two of the teams now play a 3v3 game.

To further encourage wide attacking play, the two waiting teams should act as side supports.

The first goal wins the game.

Play winner stays on and see which team can win most games in a 10-minute period.

Coaching points

Congratulate players who pass in front of running team mates and applaud attacking moves that use all three players.

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Dribbling for 5 to 15 year olds

This is a practice plan that can be used with children from four or five years of age up to about 15. It includes activities that will improve your players’ ball skills, speed and balance.

Warm up

1. Inside to insides

All your players have a ball between their feet. Encourage them to tap the ball from their left foot to their right, using the inside of their feet. Start at a slow pace and gradually increase the speed.

Progression: allow your players to look at the ball to begin with but it’s important they can do this exercise with their heads up. It’s not as easy as it looks!

2. Hat dance

Your players tap the top of the ball with the sole of their left foot then their right. Again, start slowly and increase the speed of the taps as your players gain confidence.

Coaching note: both the previous two exercises should be done without moving off the spot.

3. Every step touch the ball.

Ask your players to walk with the ball, touching it with various parts of their feet as they go. The objective is to take a touch on the ball with every step and not to move quickly.

Inject a bit of fun by telling your players to leave their ball (shout “leave it!”) and find another one. You can also instruct your players to stop the ball with different parts of their body – call “head” or “elbow” or “knee” etc.

Progression: Heads up, don’t look at the ball. Try to feel it with your feet.

Games

Don’t ask your players to dribble round cones. It just isn’t realistic (when did you last see a line of cones on the pitch during a match?) and there are much better ways to work on their ball control.

1. Crossover dribbling

Use a small, square playing area. Half of your players line up on one side, each with a ball, and half on the opposite side also with a ball each.

On your command, both sets of players dribble their ball across the square, turn and dribble back. Make it competitive by seeing which player can cross the playing area 10 times in the quickest time.

Coaching notes:

This is a great way to encourage young players to keep close control of the ball in traffic and keep their heads up.

Encourage your players to take lots of small touches and pause (stop/go) if a collision looks likely.

Progression: Demonstrate a number of different turns and ask your players to complete a different one each time they cross the playing area.

Tip: small, low bounce balls (futsals are ideal) are slightly heavier and seem to “stick” to the foot better than normal footballs. This helps build young players’ confidence quickly.

2. End Lines

Play 4v4 or 3v3 in 20 yards by 30 yards area. Players score by dribbling over the end line with the ball.

Coaching note: you can encourage your players to use the full width of the playing area by dividing the end lines into thirds and awarding one point for a “goal” scored in the centre section and two points for a goal scored in one of the outside sections.

Finish the session with at least ten minutes of free play. No coaching!

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Dribbling for U9s

Equipment: 1 ball per player, cones, pennies

Warm up

Running Bases – Players try to dribble their ball without being tagged. If they get tagged, they exchange places with the tagger. Have taggers carry a pinnie to distinguish themselves. Hand pinnies over to the player that is tagged and use their ball to dribble. Players are save in any one of the 4 bases. Only one player allowed in a base at one time. If a new players enters a base, the old player must leave.

Body

Conquer the Pyramid – Dribblers (in Red) try to dribble through the three zones occupied by the blue defenders. 3 defenders in first zone, two in the next zone, and one in the last zone. Defenders must stay in their zones and try to kick any ball they intercept out of bounds. Dribblers go three at a time. If the dribbler ahead of you in your line gets their ball knocked out, you may start right away. As soon as the dribbler in front of you moves to the next zone, you can also go.

After beating the last defender, the dribbler must shoot the ball into the goal to get a point for their team.

Coaching Points: Good dribbling technique. Look for an opening.

Team Knockout – 15 minutes, 20×30 yards, half the players with balls, the other half need to be around the outside of the grid, the players outside the grid will come into the grid and work together to steal balls away from the dribblers and dribble the outside of the grid, once a player loses their ball they can help their team mates out by passing with them, time the team that started with out with the ball on how long it takes to get the ball out of the grid

Application

4 v. 4 Line Soccer – Each team has a line to defend and attack. Score a goal by dribbling the ball over any portion of the line that your team is attacking. The size of the field is the same as a standard 4 v. 4 game, but it is turned sideways. The wider, shorter field creates many good 1 v. 1 situations which challenges the player’s dribbling skills. Players need to evaluate and identify when to dribble and pass. This variation highlights: The correct attitude (when to take a risk aggressively) and the technical development and execution of dribbling.

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Dribbling for U8s

Equipment: 1 football per player, cones, practice pennies

Warm up

Ball Gymnastics – Balls skills in small area, Roll ball with bottom of foot forwards and backwards with right then left. Repeat from side to side. Tick-Tock. Pass the ball from inside of left to inside of right. Hat Dance. Lightly touch ball with bottom of right foot then with left. Ball should remain still. Increase speed for both. Movement. Tick-Tock but move ball slightly forwards each touch. Take it width of field then turn and return. Same with Hat dance. Sideways stance. Roll right foot over ball and stop with inside of left. On return use other feet.

Body

Around the World – Set out four or five cones in a large area. Have in mind either local cities or countries of the world. Name each cone and then have the players dribbling inside the area. On command they must dribble around the country/city that you name. Also name several countries/cities at one time.

Running Bases – Players try to dribble their ball without being tagged. If they get tagged, they exchange places with the tagger. Have taggers carry a pinnie to distinguish themselves. Hand pinnies over to the player that is tagged and use their ball to dribble. Players are safe in any one of the 4 bases. Only one player allowed in a base at one time. If a new players enters a base, the old player must leave.

Relay Races – Set up 3 or 4 courses so that each team only has 3 or 4 players in it. Initially have the players run the coarses without a ball. Then add in a ball and add restrictions. Dribbling with left foot, right foot, rolling the ball.

Application

4v4 dribbling – setup a 4v4 game, allow players to score either by dribbling across endline or by shooting the ball through a single small goal. Give double points for dribbling across the endline.

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Dribbling and stopping the ball

Ages: 8+; Equipment: Cones, balls; Players: 4+

Warmup

Start with some basic ball-control movements. Do your stretches.

Individual Work

The first step in learning to dribble is learning how to “carry” the ball by dribbling it straight ahead. The technique is very important to get down correctly. Done properly, this technique allows a player to propel the ball forward by “feel”, without needing to look down to see where the ball is. This technique should be practiced constantly.

The key coaching points are as follows:

The knee of the dribbling leg is bent and the toes are pointed downwards and slightly inwards, so that the front of the foot comes into contact with the ball.

Contact with the ball is made with the laces of the shoe, with the big bone of the arch slightly below the top of the ball at about the centre of the ball.

The knee must be over the ball when contact is made, so that the gait itself is very similar to prancing.

As contact is made with the ball, the ball is dragged/pulled along by the dribbling foot, so that it comes to rest beside the dribbling foot when you step down again. Short steps are used, and the ball stays in front of the torso at all times

After illustrating this move, allow the players to have some time to experiment by moving around in free space. When most have learned the correct foot position and are successfully dragging their balls around with them, distribute them on a line (like they were lined up for a race) and get them to dribble to the “finish” line and check the ball (checking should be taught in the practice before this one).

Start using a walking pace, then progress to a slow jog, then to a faster jog. It is doubtful that your players will be able to progress to full running speed using this technique until they have practices for several sessions. So, for your warm-ups for the next few practices, do a jog around the complex or your field to work on straight-ahead dribbling.

Once they have learned to dribble with their dominant foot, switch to the other foot. It is fine to drop back to walking speed (dribbling is tiring) to work on the technique. Your main objective is to get them to learn to dribble with the dominant foot – and at least occasionally be able to take some dribbling steps with the non-dominant foot when they need to do this to shield the ball. Some players will be naturally left-footed and others will have no strong foot preference. However, all players can learn to use both feet, if encouraged and prodded to do so.

How do you encourage them to do so? Ask them to guess whether a race is going to be won by a guy with 1 foot or 2 feet. They know that answer. So, if I am a defender, and I know that you can only turn in one direction, you have made it at least 50% easier to guard you – because you voluntarily have turned yourself into a 1-footed player.

Small Group Work

Divide the group into pairs, based upon size/speed (i.e., put bigger/faster players together). Set up 2 cones per pair, about 8 feet apart and widely spaced. Put one player between the cones, as a defender. Have the other player come directly at him (can come thru in either direction). If the defender put his hand up in a “Stop” gesture, the dribbler must check the ball and stop before the gate. If the defender signals “thumbs up”, then the dribbler can go thru the gate unharmed as long as he keeps the ball in contact with his foot as he goes thru the gate. If dribbler tries to kick it thru, then he loses a point. After 10 attempts, the players switch places.

A contest should be held after both sides have had a turn. Possibilities include: pair with the greatest success wins; player with the most success wins; all players with X put in one group for a contest and all of the ones below X put in another group for their own contest.

Learning to stop the ball

Of course, if you are going to go forward at speed, you are going to need to learn to be able to stop the ball. This is a good time, after some experimentation with speedy straight-ahead dribbling, to introduce the basic check.

This is a very useful move to be able to do in order to keep the ball in bounds, or to do a quick turn when you are in a footrace with another player. In order to be able to learn this move, your players must be developmentally able to skip. Players who are younger than age 8 may not be able to skip – and, if so, will be too young to learn this move yet.

The key coaching points in teaching the check are as follows:

  • With the ball moving forward at a slow roll, put the plant foot (usually the non-dominant foot) beside the ball and do a quick hop on the plant foot as soon as it comes down.
  • While you are airborne with the hop, lightly tap the top of the ball with the opposite foot (which will naturally be coming over the ball in the normal stride). DO NOT put any weight on the tapping foot – a very slight tap on the ball will cause it to stop.
  • Continue forward to land on the tapping foot, then turn back to get the ball. Older players will be able to turn in the air and do a “rooster-tail” type of hockey stop (landing with the foot already turned sideways so that they can immediately push off in the opposite direction).

Teaching the Check

Put each player with a ball, and simply let them dribble around and work on stopping the ball with a check move. This move is not as hard as it sounds – and most players U8 and above can master it without real difficulty. Now, go back over a bit of your small group work – and let them incorporate the check into their work.

Large Group Work

Divide the group into 2-4 teams. Set up a series of cone “gates”, complete with gatekeepers (note: make the number of gates equal to the number of players on a team). Have the players dribble thru the various gates. The gatekeeper is allowed to kick their ball away if it is not in contact with their foot as they come thru the gate. Switch out gatekeepers periodically. Once everyone has run the gates, you can have a race if you like – or a contest to see how many gates can be run successfully. Of course, if your ball is knocked away, you have to re-run the gate, and this slows you down.

Progression: Players may be required to look up to see the number of fingers which the gatekeeper is holding up, and call this number out correctly, as they go through the gate.
Small sided game

Play 2v1 in a mid-sized grid, which is divided into two parts, with a small cone goal at one end. Put 1 defender and 1 attacker in part near goal. Have other attacker at opposite end of the grid. Ball is passed to attacker at end of the grid, who dribbles towards goal end. Defender cannot come out of the defending end. Defender scores if he can kick ball back into no-man’s land. Attackers score by making goal. Ball which goes over end line is a restart. Play to 5 points, and then switch roles. After playing 2v1 for awhile, you might try 4v2 and watch what happens.

Do not interfere or try to teach support decisions. Your team will not work on support roles until much later. For now, let the kids experiment with 2v1 decisions. The main idea at this point is just to get them used to carrying the ball in unopposed, and looking up to find a target player.