Soccer Drills

Below you’ll find a small number of soccer exercises that may be used to train players in both techniques and tactics. Be sure to check back often as this area continues to grow.

Finishing

Short Field Penalty Box Game
This drill is a shooting game that will help finishing.

Attacking

Penalty Box Exercises
8v8 Phase Play
One of the best ways to develop the "predatory" skills in strikers is to create game-like situations in training exercises. This series will help coaches to develop the proper mentality in their team for scoring goals.

One-Touch Soccer
Some of the great teams are able to play one-touch soccer for extended periods, helping to break down defenses by moving the ball around quicker than the defenders can adjust or regroup. Here are a pair of activities that can be utilized to help improve your team's ability to play one-touch soccer.

Shaping Midfielders and Forwards in the 4-4-2
One of the focuses in the NSCAA Premier Diploma is systems of play.  These exercises help coaches to guide the forward and midfield unit into a proper shape in the attacking third of the field, working on good timing of check runs, entry passes and combination play.

Brazilian Four Whistle Drill
When the NSCAA was in Brazil in 2006, we witnessed a practice in which the players performed choreographed movements over the length of the field in response to the blowing of a whistle by the coach.  The different patterns were regulated by the number of times the coach blew on the whistle.  Hence there was a one whistle pattern, two whistle pattern, three and four whistle patterns.  This was very unusual and we thought it might be of interest for coaches trying to instill good movement into their teams. 

Shadow Play
Some of the shadow play sequences which we teach in our Advanced National Diploma are shown in this series of exercises.  Here we display shadow play for the individual player, group shadow play, team shadow play, and shadow play against partial opposition.  This is a very popular form of functional training but we recommend that the coach does it for no more than fifteen minutes in any one practice as the players prefer a competitive environment.  

Transition

2v2 to Targets
2v2 to Target Players
4v4 Dual Game
One of the most important moments in soccer is the transition from defense to attack. Teams can exploit over-extended defenses and score goals quickly. This series of exercises will help you condition your players to look immediately for the counter-attacking option.

The Goalkeeper in Transition
Goalkeepers as well as field players will benefit from developing a transition mentality. They must look to start the attack as soon as they control the shot or cross, knowing where they plan to play the ball before receiving it.  The exercises linked below will aid coaches in developing the transition mentality in their keepers.

Windows
One of the most useful parts of this exercise is that a coach can use the same space and take players through a progression of activities from fundamental to game-related and right up to game condition, with increasing levels of challenges and difficulty for technical execution.  Another useful part of the exercise is that coaches can always add “wrinkles,” or modifications, to make the exercise different each time players use it.  Click on the link above to look at one such progression through the exercise “Windows.”

Defending

Teaching High Press
This drill will help players understand the need to press as a block and not have partial pressing by only portions of the team when high pressure is appropriate.

High Pressure Defending
The University of North Carolina women's soccer team has captured many NCAA Division I titles playing a high-pressure style of defense, often pushing the line of confrontation more than 10 yards into the opponent's defensive half. Here is an exercise that you can use with your teams to train high-pressure defending.

Training the Holding Midfielder
The holding midfield player has numerous responsibilities. Physical speed is not considered a major factor for players in this position (although it never hurts) as this is, really, a sweeper in front of the back players with little need to make long searching runs.  Defensive midfielders vary in size from the diminutive Deschamps of the 1998 French World Cup Champions to his fellow countryman Viera who, at 6’4” is a giant of a player.  A low center of gravity helps as this player generally does a lot of tackling.

Ball Control

Receiving Exercises for a Good First Touch
Dimitar Berbatov is a player described as having "soft feet," referring to his great technical ability to control the ball with his first touch.  Here are a series of exercises to help players work on the ability to control the ball with their first touch in a fun atmosphere.

Receiving Exercises
One of the hallmarks of a great player is the ability to read the game and know - before receiving the ball - where the next play needs to go.  Whether in the Premiership, La Liga or the World Cup, players at the top level are capable of receiving the ball with a touch that goes into the right space to set up their next play.  Here are three exercises to help you improve the ability of your players to make the proper first touch.