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

Drill 2 – Juggling – 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 scoreJuggle the ball for 5 minutes
• While the players are juggling, the coach sets up for the next drill

 

Game 1 – 1-0n-1 – 10 minutes

Setup

• Set up 3 10×10 step boxes
  • A box for every 4 to 6 players
• In each box, send half of the players to one line of the box and the other half to an opposing line
  • One of the lines is the defending line, the other is the attacking line
• Balls are with the defenders

Instruction

REITERATE PROPER INDIVIDUAL DEFENDING TECHNIQUE

• Knees are bent
• Chest is leaning slightly forward
• Feet are about shoulder-width apart and staggered
  • Do not let the feet cross (as if running), but instead always keep one foot ahead of the other (as if fencing)
• Always be on the balls of your feet, lively moving the feet in order to make small adjustments
  • Do not be flat-footed

• Approach the attacker with a slightly bended run
  • To avoid the attacker blowing by the defender
  • Do not go straight for the ball at full speed as this allows the attacker to just push the ball by the defender

Objective

• The attacker wants to stop the ball on the defender’s end line
• The defender wants to either stop the ball on the attacker’s end line once it is stolen, or force the attacker out of bounds
  • Even if the attacker goes over the end line, and does not stop the ball on the defender’s end line under control, it is the defender who wins the round

• The defender passes the ball to the attacker
  • Make sure it is a well-weighted pass so the ball travels quickly, but not out of control
• The defender follows the pass with a run to close down the attacker as soon as possible
• The attacker traps the ball

• The moment the attacker takes a heavy touch, the defender uses the better position (2 to 3 steps advantage) and sprinter’s stance (bent knees, chest forward, on the balls of the feet) to get in the attacker’s path, beat the attacker to the ball, and win possession
• At the end of the play, the defender joins the back of the attacking line, and the attacker joins the back of the defending line

Drill 3 – Team Defending (2-person Support and Pressure) – 5 minutes

Setup

• Expand your 3 boxes to the 15×15 step dimensions
• Teams are still split into attackers and defenders
• The attacking line has the balls

Drill

• Attacker with the ball (being closed down by a defender) passes the ball to the other attacker
• The two defenders simultaneously switch, so that the one that was providing support is now pressuring the other attacker, while the one that was pressuring is now providing support

The result of the switch should look like this

• Have the attackers pass the ball back and forth so the defenders can get used to the “pressure/support” switch
• Switch attackers and defenders every 2 or so minutes and go again

Game 2 – 2-0n-2 – 10 minutes

Same as Game 1, except:

• There are two attackers and two defenders
• The attackers try to stop the ball on the defenders’ end line
• The defenders try to either stop the ball on the attackers’ end line or force the attackers out of bounds
  • Even if the attacker goes over the end line, and does not stop the ball on the defender’s end line under control, it is the defender who wins the round

Game 3 – Scrimmage + Matchups – 10 minutes

Setup

• Remove the boxes used in previous drills/games and set up a small goal on each of the end lines of your field
  • Either use Pugg goals, or place two cones/bags/shirts about 3 steps apart from each other
• Split the players into 2 teams
  • Assign partners from opposing teams who will be responsible for marking each other

Game

• 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

 

Game 4 – Regular Scrimmage – 5 minutes

Same as Game 3 above, except:

• Remove the “matchup” limitation and just play

Drill 4 – 3-on-2 and Shoot – 10 minutes

Setup 

• Put a goalkeeper in the big goal
  • If you don’t have a goal to work with, place two cones/bags/shirts about 8 big steps apart
  • Give the goalkeeper the same instructions as if you would for a game
• Put down 2 lines of cones
  • The 1st line is about 25 steps away from the goal line
  • The 2nd line is about another 10 steps away from the goal line
• Assign 2 defenders
  • The defenders’ starting position is between the 1st line of cones and the goal
• Split the rest of the team into groups of 3 attackers
  • One ball is needed per group of 3
  • The attackers’ starting position is on the other side of the 2nd line

Instruction

• For the attackers
  • Move before the pass to open up clear lanes between you and the passer
  • HINT: Getting wide early makes this easier
• For the defenders
  • One pressures, the other one supports

Drill

• The groups of 3 pass the ball between them, just moving it side to side
  • All attacker groups do this, regardless of whether it is their turn to go or not

• When the coach says “Go!” the next group of 3 starts an attack towards the goal
• The defenders are allowed to engage the attackers (cross from behind the 1st line of cones) as soon as the attackers cross the 2nd line of cones

• The attackers seek an open shot on goal by using either dribbling moves, or passing and moving
• The defenders seek to clear the ball, either out of bounds or behind the 2nd line of cones
• Switch the assigned defenders every 2 or so minutes to make sure everyone gets a turn there too

End Practice

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