Dribbling And Control

Week 4 Soccer Practice Drills for U10, U11 & U12 Teams

Setup

Individual Boxes Setup

  • Each player has a ball
  • Set down cones to make 5×5 steps boxes for each players
    • Setting down 4 lines (5 steps apart from each other) of 5 cones (5 steps apart from each other) = 12 boxes
  • Demonstrate each drill / game before starting it

Drill 1 – Dribbling – 10 minutes

Drill 1 consists of 5 2-minute mini drills

  • Split players into 4 lines
  • For each mini drill, the next player in line goes when the player in front reaches the 3rd cone
  • When players finish go through the cones, they run back (on the outside of the cones) to rejoin the back of their own line

MINI DRILL 1 – Slalom through the cones – 2 minutes

Slalom Through Cones Straight Lines

MINI DRILL 2 – Beat each cone using the stop-and-go move – 2 minutes

MINI DRILL 3 – Beat each cone using the step over move – 2 minutes

MINI DRILL 4 – Beat each cone using the inside-out move – 2 minutes

MINI DRILL 5 – Beat each cone using the inside-inside move – 2 minutes

Drill 2 – Dribbling with heads up, then explosive move – 5 minutes

Dribble Into Box

  • Players dribble inside their individual 5×5 boxes
    • Players should keep their head up while dribbling
  • Coach calls out one of the learned moves every 30 seconds and players perform that move inside of their box and then accelerate into another box
    • HINT: It is very important the players have their head up before making their move and accelerating to avoid collisions
  • If two players accelerate into the same box, have the one who arrived later quickly find the box that is left unattended and go there so the drill can continue
    • The last player to find a box has to do 2 push-ups

Drill 3 – Defense, closing down – 2 minutes

REMIND PLAYERS OF BASIC DEFENSIVE TECHNIQUE – 1 minute

  • Bend at the knees and lean forward to find a low center of gravity
  • Keep moving your feet
  • Don’t “dive-in”
    • Don’t run straight towards the ball because the opponent will just run around you
      • Approach the attacker at a slight bend to show the shepherd the attacker to one side
        • Usually this would be overplaying the attacker’s strong foot (so if the attacker is right-footed, the defender approaches from the right side and forces the attacker to the weaker left foot)
    • Don’t stick your foot out
      • Get the whole body behind the tackle
  • Stay between the attacker and the goal
  • Go for the ball once the attacker takes too heavy of a touch

DRILL – 1 minute

Show Left Show Right

1. Show Left; 2. Show Right

  • Players line up behind a cone (an attacker)
    • No balls needed for this one
  • Every 5 seconds, coach calls out either “Show Right!” or “Show Left!”
    • If “Show Left,” the players approach the cone, in a slight bend, from their left side to show the attackers their left side
    • If “Show Right,” the players approach the cone, in a slight bend, from their right side to show the attackers their right side
  • Players defend the cone that is ahead of them and roll forward with each call by the coach
    • Players who reache the end of the line quickly run to the beginning cone in their line to defend the next call
  • Players are constantly on the tips of their toes and moving their feet to make adjustments and ready to close down the next attacker when the coach instructs them to
    • They are not standing flat-footed

Drill 4 – Juggling – 3 minutes

  • Juggle the ball for 3 minutes
    • The objective is to keep the ball from falling to the ground using your feet, thighs, shoulders, or head.
      • Players should remember their high score
      • Keep the high score to themselves. In future practices they will try to improve on this high score
  • While the players are juggling the coach sets up the next drill

Drill 5 – Sets of 3, Switch the field – 20 minutes with demonstrations (turn and throw-in)

Setup

5 lines to 3 lines

  • Remove the 2nd and 4th line of cones (out of 5)
    • This leaves you with 4 lines of 3 cones that are 10 steps apart from each other
  • Each of the 4 lines uses one ball for the following mini drills

Drill 5 consists of 3 mini drills of 6 minutes each teaching players to turn the ball and pass it to the other side

  • Each of the 3 players is in the middle to perform the drill for a minute
    • If the numbers do not work out, recruit parent volunteers to help pass the ball to players in the middle
  • After all 3 players have been in the middle, each of them goes again for a minute
  • So each player is in the middle for a total of 1+1 minutes during the 6-minute mini-drill

TAKE A MINUTE TO DEMONSTRATE TURNING WITH A BALL

  • As you receive a pass, instead of trapping the ball a step or two in front of you, cradle it under you with the inside of your foot
  • Turn your body to the direction you want to take the ball in
  • Push the ball in that same direction as your body turns

MINI DRILL 1 – Pass on the ground, turn and switch the field

3 set Turn With Ball Step 1

  • The player with the ball passes it to the player in the middle

3 Set Turn With Ball

  • The player in the middle turns with the ball
3 set Turn With Ball and Pass It Off

1. Player in the middle passes the ball to the outside player; 2. Outside player traps the ball; 3. Outside player passes it back to the inside player, who then turns with it and goes to the other side

  • The player in the middle passes the ball to the player on the other line
  • The player in the middle gets the ball back from the outside, turns with it, and passes it to the other side
  • Keep going for a minute and then switch players
    • The player in the middle switches with one of his teammates on an outside line
  • Go for a minute and switch again
    • The player who has not been in the middle yet goes
  • Go for a minute again
  • Repeat each player being in the middle for a second time for another minute

MINI DRILL 2 – Toss, trap and turn, and switch the field

Same as Mini Drill 1, except:

  • Outside player tosses (underhand toss, both hands) the ball to the inside player
  • Inside player traps the ball on the ground
  • Inside player turns with the ball and passes it to the other outside player
  • Other outside player picks it up and tosses (underhand toss, both hands) to the inside player…

MINI DRIL 3 – Throw-in, trap and turn, switch the field

REMIND PLAYERS OF PROPER THROW-IN TECHNIQUE

  • Both feet on the ground
  • Stay behind the line (the cone for the purposes of the drill)
  • Both hands on the ball
  • Ball starts behind the head
  • In one motion throw the ball over the head and in front of you
    • Do not stop that motion above your head, it has to be one continuous motion

Same as Mini Drill 2, except:

  • Outside player throws the ball in towards the inside player
  • Inside player traps the ball, turns with it and passes it to the other outside player
  • Other outside player picks the ball up and throws it in towards the inside player…

Game 1 – Scrimmage – 20 minutes

The scrimmage consists of two 10-minute parts

  • The first 10 minutes play the “Matchup Game”
  • The last 10 minutes remove restrictions and just play a regular game

Setup

  • Remove all of the cones and place two goals on your endlines
  • Remind players of proper closing down technique and to mark their assigned player “goalside”
    • Goalside means positioning self between the goal being defended and the player being marked
  • Split players into two teams
    • Hand out training vests to one team
    • Assign matchups for the players

MATCHUP GAME – 10 minutes

  • When a player scores a goal, the player on the opposite team that was supposed to be marking the scorer has to sit out 30 seconds before joining the game again
  • If the same player scores a goal while the matched player is sitting out, the 30-second timeout restarts
  • Other teammates can help by marking that player, but they may expose themselves to having to sit out should the player they are supposed to be marking score

REGULAR SCRIMMAGE – 10 minutes

  • Remove restrictions

End Practice

  • Team cheer
    • 1,2,3 Go “team name”!

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