Soccer Practice Drills for Youth, or Adult Players
Soccer practice drills are a great way for players to learn how to get
creative with the ball, dribble it, pass and move, shield and build the
attack.
The point of this soccer practice drill is to get
the players to think creatively, communicate with each other, move and show for the
ball, and be patient with building the attack.
Putting players
into 2 vs
2, or 3 vs 3 situations, will allow players to practice different options in
developing the attack, while developing every other
aspect of the game by simply playing soccer in a small sided game style of training.
Players will need to be creative, with unlimited touches on the ball, and 100% effort.
Limiting touches on the ball is an option to modify this soccer drill, but should be applied to players who are already familiar with the soccer ball, and have good control on the ball.
If you watch, or play soccer, pay attention on the development of every attack started by passing the soccer ball around, and trying to exploit the opponents defense, with a through pass, or a cross that will allow the attacking players to score.
Professional soccer players practice every day, developing different soccer skills like passing, heading, crossing, shooting, defending, attacking, movement with, or without the ball, dribbling etc...
Constant repetition in practice provides magic on the field, for all of the top players in the world.
All of these soccer drills can be used with youth or adult players by simply changing the size, and the intensity of any soccer training drills listed bellow.
Soccer Practice Drills to Attack the Goal
The objective for this soccer practice drill is to put players into 2 vs 2 situations, so that they can train on attacking through different options, and creativity.
U12 SOCCER DRILL SET UP
- Place all the soccer balls 30 m/yd away from the goal.
- Split up players into two groups, attacking and defending.
- Players will position themselves 10 - 15 m/yd in front of the goal, to the left, and right side of the field.
SOCCER PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS
- 2 attacking and 2 defending players will enter the field of play on the Coaches whistle, or signal.
- Attacking players will get to the ball first, while the defenders position themselves on the field to stop, and contain the attack.
- Players will start off playing with unlimited touches, with attempt to score a goal, under the pressure from defenders.
- This soccer attacking drill needs to be done with high intensity, and game like pace.
SOCCER TRAINING VARIATIONS
- Allow defenders to take the role of attackers when they steal the ball away.
- Change the numbers to 2 attackers against 1 defender, or 2 defenders against 1 attacker.
- Few other rules coaches can use to make the game more challenging are:
- Limit number of touches on the soccer ball to 2 - 3 touches.
- Set a 5 - 10 number of passes completed before taking a shot on goal.
- Playing with offside rule, or add more players to make it a 3 vs 3 or 4 vs 4 game.
Soccer Training with Numbers Game
SOCCER PRACTICE DRILL SET UP & INSTRUCTIONS
- Mark and area 20 m/yd X 15 m/yd.
- Make 2 goals on each side of the field 1 m/yd wide.
- Split the players into even groups, and give each group player a number. For example, 8 players total split into half is 4 players, so they will each have numbers 1, 2, 3 or 4.
- Coach will take a position on the sideline center, with each group of players on each side.
- Coach will start this soccer drill by yelling out a number, and kicking the ball into play.
- Players from both groups, who have been assigned that number, will sprint on the field to win the ball.
- Whoever gets to the ball first will be able to attack the defending player and score on his/her goal.
- The game is played until one player scores a goal, or the ball goes out of bounds. If the game is taking too long, Coach will count down 5 seconds until the next player goes.
- Encourage players to take on opponents, and shoot whenever there is a chance to get the shot off.
- Play up to 5, or 10 goals, than the loosing team can get punished with sprints, pushups or situps.
Soccer Practice Drills to Split the Defense
This soccer training drill can be applied to different age groups, U10, U12, or older players.
Objective of this u12 soccer drill is to create a habit of splitting defenders when attacking.
This soccer drill is great for the midfield players, as they train on learning how to split the defense for creating goal scoring opportunities.
Splitting the defense is an easy way to take 2 defenders out of the game for a short period of time.
SOCCER TRAINING DRILL SET UP
- Make a grid 20 m/yd X 15 m/yd.
- Split up players into 3 teams, with 2 players on each team, for each grid.
- Every player will take a position outside of the grid, with 2 players on the same team starting inside the grid.
SOCCER TRAINING DRILL INSTRUCTIONS
- Two teams on the outside of the grid will work together by attempting to pass the ball through the 2 defenders inside the grid.
- Defenders will try to intercept the pass to get out of the grid, and switch with 2 players that had their pass intercepted.
- For every successful pass that splits the defense, one point is awarded to that team.
TRAINING VARIATIONS
- Add a rule for every pass that splits the defenders, they will have to stay and defend one extra turn. This will make them work harder, and closer together, to avoid being split with a pass.
- Limit touches for the outside players, or have all the players inside the grid, using the same rules.
- Encourage players to move and open up into empty space, communicating with each other, and making sure that the passes are accurate, and with pace on the ball.
- Add punishment to the teams with least points in the form of sprints, push ups, or situps.
Soccer Practice Drills to Attack Wide
Objective of this soccer training drill is creating a habit to bring the ball wide, and attack from wide positions.
SOCCER DRILL SET UP
- This drill can be done on a full field, half field, or by making a grid 40 m/yd X 25 m/yd.
- Depending on the field size, split the players into 2 groups of 4, 8, or 10 players.
- Set up 2 cones on the left, and 2 cones on the right, from the center of the field. This should create 2 wide channels on left and right side of the field.
- Set up goals, or play on big goals if using the full size field.
SOCCER DRILL INSTRUCTIONS
- Two teams will play each other a game of soccer.
- In order to shoot and score a goal, players have to pass, or dribble the ball through the wide channels on the field.
- Each team has its own goal to defend as well.
- When possession changes, teams will switch roles from attackers to defenders, and vice versa.
- Every time possession is won, two players on the field will sprint wide to create more space, and relieve the pressure from the midfield.
VARIATIONS
- Limit touches on the ball to 1 - 5 touches.
- Add a second ball.
- Add a rule that the ball must be PASSED through one of the channels, before attempting to score. No Dribbling.
Soccer Practice Drills to Attack Wide
Objective of this youth soccer drill is to improve the players confidence and skill for taking players 1 on 1.
Players will use the wing to attack, and dribble past the full back, before passing, or crossing the soccer ball.
SOCCER TRAINING DRILL SET UP
- Set up 2 channels 15 m/yd wide, on both sides of the field.
- Split up players into 2 groups, attackers and defenders.
- Take all the soccer balls and place them at the end of cones, on both sides.
- 1 attacking player, and 1 defending player will step inside the channels on both sides, to create 1 v 1 situation.
SOCCER TRAINING DRILL INSTRUCTIONS
- Start this drill with left, or right attacker, taking one soccer ball and coming down the wide channel.
- Player will take on the defender in a 1 vs 1 situation, dribbling past him/her, before crossing, passing or shooting on goal.
- Attacking player cannot involve his/her teammates inside the field, until successfully beating the defender.
- If the defender takes the ball away from the attacking player with the ball, he/she can cross the soccer ball in the box for an attempt on goal by the defenders.
- Start again on the opposite side.
TRAINING VARIATIONS
- Attacking players are only allowed to cross the soccer ball after successfully beating the defender. This will work on crossing and finishing in the box.
Get creative with all soccer practice drills and add or change things to make the training more fast paced. Waiting in line is the worst, especially for young players.
