The soccer drills presented in this article can be adapted for all ages.
They are easy to set up and you will only need cones, balls and colored vests to involve them successfully in the practice of your team.
6 vs. 3 on a Small Field
Purpose
The main purpose with this drill is to improve your players’ ability to seek out free space and make them playable.
Drill Set Up
Separate your players into small teams by using colored vest’s (three players per team). Create a small field and use cones or similar to mark the lines.
Execution of the Drill
You should start the drill by having 3 different colored teams facing each other.
One team should be the chasing one which means that the rest of the players would play in the same team (despite that they are wearing different colors).
For example: at the image above the gray team is the chasing one, while blue and the red team is playing as one unit.
Once the grey team conquers the ball, the other team becomes the chasing one. For example; if a red player loses the ball, his team would become the chasing one and vice versa.
Equipment Needed
Balls, cones, marking vests.
Variants
You can vary this drill by restricting the amount of touches on the ball or increase the amount of players.
Summary
This drill is ideal for warming up and will be highly appreciated among your players. I would recommend you to use it every second practice or so.
Three vs. Rest of The Team
Purpose
Improving your players’ defense and ability to control the ball under pressure.
Drill Set Up
Create a rectangle shaped area and put one cone at the each corner (see image). Select three players and place them inside the rectangle.
The rest of your players should form a line with one ball per player. Make sure to separate the 3 players from the rest of your team with colored vests.
Execution of the Drill
The execution of this drill is pretty simple. At your signal, the players with the ball should start to run towards the 3 players inside the rectangle.
Once they have dribbled past them they should return to their starting position and wait for the others.
When all players with the ball are back on their starting position, the drill should start over again. The player that manages to get around the 3 players the most times is the winner.
Equipment Needed
Balls, vests, cones.
Variants
Another variant on this drill is to increase the amount of players inside the rectangle while decreasing the size of the field.
Summary
This drill is ideal for improving your players dribbling and defense abilities. It is also a great way for introducing more competition in your practice sessions.
4 vs. 4 with 4 Goals
Purpose
To increase your players’ defensive and offensive abilities.
Drill Set Up
Create a small field and separate your players into small teams (4 players per team). Place 2 goals at each side of the long line.
Execution of the Drill
This drill doesn’t require any advanced directions. Just throw in a ball and let your players start competing against each other. The team that scores mot goals is the winner.
Equipment Needed
Balls, Goal
Variants
You may vary this soccer drill by restricting the amount of touches on the ball or increasing the number of players in each team.
Summary
This drill is a great way for improving your soccer player’s skills and ability to take quick and right decisions.
