Drill 1 – Juggling – 5 minutes

• Juggle the ball for 5 minutes
  • The objective is to keep the ball from falling to the ground using your feet, thighs, shoulders, or head. Give the players 5 minutes to see how many touches they can get without the ball falling to the ground.
    • Players should remember their high score
    • Keep the high score to themselves. In future practices they will try to improve on this high score
  • Coach sets up the next set of drills while the players juggle

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Drill 1 – Juggling – 5 minutes

• Juggle for 5 minutes
  • The objective is to keep the ball from falling to the ground using your feet, thighs, shoulders, or head.
  • Give the players 5 minutes to see how many touches they can get without the ball falling to the ground.
    • Players should remember their high score
    • Keep the high score to themselves. In future practices they will try to improve on this high score

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Game 1 – “Spiderman” Coach – 5 minutes

Setup

• Each player has a ball
• The coach holds a training vest

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Drill 1 – Juggling – 5 minutes

• Juggle the ball for 5 minutes
  • The objective is to keep the ball from falling to the ground using your feet, thighs, shoulders, or head. Give the players 5 minutes to see how many touches they can get without the ball falling to the ground.
    • Players should remember their high score
    • Keep the high score to themselves. In future practices they will try to improve on this high score
  • Coach sets up the next set of drills while the players juggle

Continue reading →

Setup

• Each player has a ball
• Set down cones to make a 50×40 steps field for 12 players – larger if more players
  • Anything can be a cone (an article of clothing, a water bottle, any marker)
  • Set cones every ten steps
• Do not set up any goals
  • If there are goals, players will shoot on them and not listen to you
• Demonstrate each drill / game before starting it

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Game 1 – Ball Retriever – 5 minutes

Objective: Dribble a ball back to your base without running out of bounds

Setup

• Create 2 small bases in 2 opposing corners of your field
  • You can just put a cone in front of the corner of your field to create a base
• Put 2 balls in the center of the field
• Split players into 2 teams
  • Each team lines up in the opposing corners, off of the field
  • 1st player in each line steps into the base

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Drill 1 – Dribble and Juggle Boxes – 10 minutes

Setup

• Split the players into 2 teams
• Setup two 20×20 steps boxes
  • The boxes should be about 15 steps away from one another, if space allows for that
• Every player has a ball

Instruction

• Keep your head up when dribbling to switch between the boxes

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Drill 1 – Beginner Juggling – 5 minutes

Players stand in a big circle, holding the soccer balls in their hands

• From chest-high
  • Drop the ball and hit it back up into your hands using your thigh
    • Keep an eye on the ball and watch as your thigh hits it
      • HINT: Your thigh hits the ball, not the other way around. You control where the ball goes
    • Repeat several times, then,
  • Drop the ball and hit it with one thigh, then the other thigh, and then catch it with your hands
    • Keep an eye on the ball and watch your one thigh, and then the other thigh, hits the ball
    • Repeat several times, then,
  • Drop the ball and see how many times a player can hit the ball with the thighs without the ball hitting the ground, then,
  • Drop the ball and kick it with your foot back up into your hands
    • Again, keep an eye on the ball and watch as your foot kicks the ball back up
      • Do not drop the ball and try to kick at the same time (many players do this), but wait for it to drop close to your foot before kicking it back up
    • Repeat several times, then
  • Drop the ball and kick it with one foot, then the other foot, and then catch it with your hands
    • Watch the ball get kicked with one foot and then the other foot, then,
  • Drop the ball and see how many times a player can hit the ball with the feet without the ball hitting the ground, then,
  • Drop the ball and see how many times a player can hit the ball with either the thighs or the feet without the ball hitting the ground
• Give the players several tries and ask them to remember their high score
  • This is the score they will try to beat when they juggle from now on

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Setup

• Each player has a ball
• Set down cones to make a 40×30 steps field for 10 players – larger if more players
  • Anything can be a cone (an article of clothing, a water bottle, any marker)
  • Set cones every ten steps
• Do not set up any goals
  • If there are goals, players will shoot on them and not listen to you
• Demonstrate each drill / game before starting it

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Drill 1 – Dribbling – 5 minutes

• Dribble the ball anywhere within the field of play
• Use the entire space
  • Do not let players bunch up
• Keep the ball close to you while running
  • Can the players run and keep the ball under control
  • Players who are walking should be urged to run
  • Players who are running too fast should be urged to slow down in order to stay under control
• Have the players perform some moves on your command
  • Stepover, Inside-out, Outside-in, Stop-and-go, Cruyff, Inside-inside (go here to find videos showing these moves)
• Make sure the players are using both feet equally
• Make sure the players keep their head up while dribbling
  • Safety – to see where they are going
  • Technique – to see where they could pass the ball to

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