JP Youth Soccer
33 Approved Practice Activities
WARMUPS
Start slowly at first – nothing strenuous. Relaxed and slow, then faster, working up to fast and explosive. Dynamic stretching interspersed when the players have warmed up their muscles.
1. Free dribbling
* Get all the kids moving right away with a ball – so that they can touch it, feel it, know that they are at soccer. (Change direction all the time!)
* “Look around – look ahead – try not to look at the ball all the time.”
* Ask the players to use all surfaces of both right and left feet.
2. Quick feet
* Players need to develop balance and fast feet.
* “Use the insides and outsides and bottoms of both feet.”
* “Slow your body down – but speed up your feet.”
3. Quick feet and passing – with a partner.
* “Up on the balls of your feet, knees bent, body relaxed as you knock the ball back and forth between your feet – and as you wait for the ball.”
* “’Catch’ the top half of the ball with one foot and play it to the other foot without stopping the ball: then, after several touches on the ball, knock it back to your partner by kicking the top half of the ball.”
* “Make that pass to your partner as fast as she can handle!”
4. Gates
* More gates than players or more players than gates; gates are close to one another or spread out.
* First to dribble through five gates; how many gates in 20 seconds; push your ball through the gate but run around the gate to catch up to your ball; go through the gate, turn 180 degrees and come back through; etc.
* Partners make three passes and go to another gate. First pair to 10, how many gates in 30 seconds, etc.
5. Passing in four directions
* “Careful – lots of balls and bodies in the middle! Control your ball and your body!”
* “Always be moving when you receive the ball – don’t be standing still.”
* “As your foot strikes the ball, keep moving forward – so that your passing motion is the first stride of your running.”
6. 3 v 1
* “Passers – use the entire space!”
* “Defender – be quick, hassle them, press!”
* “Relax but play quickly – do everything early.”
7. Wrongfooting game
* This is the key to just about every sport.
* Our players need quickness, foot skills, imagination, subtlety, unpredictability.
* “Keep the ball moving – make big, convincing movements, not small ones.”
8. Big number (7,8,9,10) v 3
* Passers should spread out, make the field big, keep the ball moving.
* Great place to teach “first, second, and third defenders” – that is, pressing, covering, and balancing. Real easy for the players to see that.
* For the attackers: five consecutive passes is a point. For the defenders, an interception and a pass to one of the other two ‘teammates’ is a point. Play to three.
9. Knockout
* Players with a ball: shielding is not an end in itself – it’s just a way to protect the ball until you get away from pressure.
* Sideways on, low, feet wide, on the balls of the feet, use legs and shoulders to keep the defender away from the ball. Keep yourself between ball and defender – use your arm as an ‘antenna’, imagine a line between the ball, your two feet and the defender If the defender comes around you to get the ball, spin or roll the other way.
* Defender: come in with one foot in front of the other, like a boxer or a fencer, to prod at the ball OR to try to get your shoulder in to ‘pry’ the ball away.
10. Relays
* Think about play to rest ratios.
* Right foot, left foot.
* Monitor distances and reps.
11. Tag
* Primitive fun!
* Agility – quickness.
* Tactics: keep looking around, don’t get trapped in the corners.
ISOLATED TECHNIQUES
1. Passing in triangles
* Inside of foot passing: heel down, toes up, kicking knee slightly bent. Aim to kick the top half of the ball with the back part of your foot – by your ankle, not up by your toes.
* Every ball should be played one yard from the cone.
* “Be on the move when you receive the ball – so that you’re attacking right away.”
2. Juggling alone or with a partner
* Good activity during a transition or to refocus after a water break.
* Patience!
* Make some challenges.
3. Heading with a partner
* Stress the importance of good service to the partner: two hands , underhanded – “Make it easy for your teammate to practice!”
* “Eyes open, mouth closed, hit the ball with the top of the forehead.”
* Attacking headers go down, defending headers go up, passes are soft.
4. 2 v 2 heading game
* “Relax! Keep your body as still as possible: concentrate on the ball.”
* “For passing here, aim for the lower half of the side of the ball near you. For scoring, aim for the top half of the side of the ball that faces the goal that you’re defending.”
* “Use your arms to keep your body steady and to shift your weight.”
5. Driving the ball
* Approach the ball at a slight angle; take a long, fast, last step; pull your thigh forward; and straighten your kicking knee fast; drive your foot through the bottom half of the ball with a sweeping motion and with your ankle ‘stretched’. Follow through.
* “Don’t over-kick: keep your body steady as you whip your foot through the bottom of the ball.”
* Kick through the ball.
6. Winger and striker
* Mark out with discs an area that the winger and striker can not come into - for the safety of the goalkeeper here.
* “Winger, maybe you can catch the keeper out of position. Always look at the near post first: if the keeper doesn’t protect it, shoot the ball there. If she’s, on the other hand, too close to the near post or too deep in the moth of the goal, shoot the ball into the far side netting. If she’s well positioned to stop you, pull the ball back for the striker.”
* “Striker, stay relaxed and composed; keep your body steady. If you meet the winger’s pass in the front half of the goal (towards the near post), deflect the ball into the back half of the goal. If you meet the ball in the back half, block it into the side netting by the near post.”
7. Turn and shoot
Maybe make a contest of this: first player to get to five. A goal is one point, hitting a post or the crossbar is two points, and scoring off a post or the crossbar is three points.
· “Put your first touch toward the goal and then accelerate into the ball.”
· “Look at where the keeper is – and then only at the ball.”
· “Experiment! Can you lob the keeper?”
8. 2 v 1 to a line
* Show 1 – 2 combinations; wall passes, overlaps, through balls, take-overs.
* “Ball possessor: don’t be afraid of the defender! Hunt him, confront him, force the issue!”
* “Second attacker, be dynamic! Set up a wall or sprint into an overlap or run diagonally, asking for a through ball.”
9. 4 v 1
* To the four – it’s better to be in the middle of those lines than in the corners. Support the ball, closely, to the right and left.
* Pass to the receiver’s ‘front foot’ so that she can “open” the game, with one touch if possible.
* “If the defender gets behind the ball, keep it moving away from him; if he gets ahead of the ball, pass it back behind him and farthest away from him.”
10. Duels in front of the goal (passer – striker – defender – keeper)
* “Passer – suggest an action to the striker by playing the ball to one side or the other as she comes back to ask for the ball.”
* “Striker – observe where the defender is and try to roll or spin or sprint into the space that he gives you.”
* “Defender – get as tight as you can to the striker and then don’t let go. If the striker exposes the ball, you can take it or knock it away.”
11. 4 v 4 keepaway with neutral passers
* Passers, always try to ‘open’ the game.
* To the four inside and the four neutral passers: keep adjusting your positions so that the ball possessor has as many targets available as possible.
* Keep it simple: keep the ball rolling.
SMALL GAMES
1. 1 v 1 in a rectangle
* “Dribbler, run right at the defender, make one simple feint to unbalance her, and go by!”
* “Defender, get out fast to confront the dribbler. Get close, jam on the brakes, and move backwards, trying to push her one way or the other – toward her weaker foot, if possible. Watch the ball carefully: when it gets away from her a little, drive in and take it.”
* You may have to change the width here.
2. 1 + goalkeeper v 1 + goalkeeper
* Intense game!
* The attacker should not hesitate to play the ball back to the supporting keeper.
* Shoot as often as you can!
3. 2 v 1 + goalkeeper
* The two attackers should be patient – but relentless.
* The defender should try to turn the 2 v 1 into a 1 v 1 by separating the two attackers.
* As soon as the defender and goalkeeper win the ball, they should push the attack, speed up the game, score if possible.
4. 2 v 2 + goalkeepers
* A good environment to teach pressure and cover.
* Also good for showing the second attacker how to think: if the ball possessor is under pressure, the second attacker should move back, at an angle, to offer a relief from that pressure; if she’s not under pressure, the second attacker should move forward, offering a target ‘up the field’.
* Neutral passers can be added at both sidelines.
5. 3 v 3 + goalkeepers
* Do you want to shape up 1 – 1 – 2 or 1 – 2 – 1?
* Not a point or a line: a triangle!
* The keepers should be good attackers here.
6. 3 v 1 + 2 keepers
* Think Xavi (diagonal pass wide) to Dani Alves (hard-hit ball across the goal mouth) to Messi (burst of acceleration and a tap-in).
* Attackers: width, depth, and patience!
* Defender: don’t stray too far from the goal: be patient! (This is a good way to introduce the notion of low pressure defending.) See if you can shepherd the attack to one side – or even isolate one of their players on the ball.
7. 3 v 2 + goalkeeper
* The two defenders, flat, in the center to defend the most dangerous ground, then pressing and covering as the ball goes wide.
* The three should be thinking: “Around or through?”
* Keeper, be vocal – organize your two friends.
8. 5 v 2
* A great game for helping players to see the ‘around or through?’ choice.
* Support to the right and the left to maintain possession; the other two passers stay away and offer penetration or the ‘long ball’.
* Defenders: press and cover! Try to turn this 5 v 2 into a 2 v 2 – then take the ball.
9. 5 v 3 (3 + 2 keepers v 3)
* The ball possessor should have four targets; there are only three defenders! Find the free player! The four teammates of the ball possessor, the ‘receivers’ or ‘targets’ should not position themselves on the same line to the ball as another teammates’ line.
* Three defenders: press, cover, and balance.
* Keepers must be dynamic, active, loud!
10. 4 v 2 (2 keepers plus two wingers v 2 ‘defenders / shooters’
* If the four lose the ball, they’ve really got to hustle to get the ball back. If the two win the ball, they’ve got to create a shooting opportunity right away.
* This game is great for talking about transitions: all six players must change from attack to defense or defense to attack very fast!
* The four players on the ball should ‘slide’ sideways to support the ball and always try to “open’’ the game.
This is a great game to play for a long stretch of a practice – making the field smaller and the goals bigger with every new game. That is, every time the attackers win the game by making five consecutive passes three times or every time the defenders steal the ball and score into either goal three times, switch the roles of the players and shrink the field – putting more pressure on the keepers and wingers.
11. 4 v 4
The indispensable game!
* Tactically, this is a fantastic microcosm of the big game. You can talk about functions, roles, tasks, etc.
* Fine to play with keepers, too.
* Length and width in attacking – press, cover, balance in defending.
Scrimmages: conditioned by _
· One team tries to score, one team tries to make five passes in a row; at half time (after five minutes), change the roles.
· If one team scores, it can’t score again: it just tries to run the clock out (to the five minute mark). If the other team scores, the game is back to zero.