Soccer Practice Drills -- U6
Dan Flowers,
August 2000
Warmup (5 minutes):
Inside circle of cones (do about 4 or
5 items below)
10 jumping jacks, 10 toe touches
balance on one leg (flamingo style),
then kick leg up high
ball dance (tap top of ball with foot
-- exchanging feet as fast as possible).
Bunny hop. Ball between feet and hop.
Raise ball over head, then drop it and
stop it.
Simon says...
Juggling -- start with bouncing ball
on thighs (then feet). Show
rainbow. Ask players to show their
fancy moves.
Punting
Heading
Side ball taps, with inside of feet...
progresses to dribbling
Dribble inside circle -- keep head up
to not crash into anyone else.
Dribbling inside circle, coach chases
players and tries to put foot on ball to stop it. Mention shadowing ball -- ie, keep your body between ball and
opponent.
Red light, green light. Dribble width of field, coach yells 'red
light' and players must stop and put foot on top of ball. Players must keep ball close to stop
it. Green light, means go. Stop at other side of field.
Dribble in and out of cones. (slalom style.) Make more interesting with two or three teams.
Race around cones. Team relay races.
Snake-line dribbling. Follow the leader dribbling around field,
following field lines. Faster dribbling
if lion approaches. Change leaders.
Alligator game. Players dribble width of field, but one
player in middle (the alligator) gives chase and tries to stop players by
stopping ball (with foot on top and a count of 1, 2). Caught players put ball aside and join the alligator. Repeat until last player caught. Give players instructions about dribbling to
open space, going around alligators, and shadowing ball. Fun when coaches join.
Reverse alligator. Everyone alligator, except coaches. Once caught, see if a player or two wants to
try. If caught, 5 jumping jacks or 10
ball taps.
Dribble tag. In pairs, one ball. One player dribbles ball, and other play
tries to tag partner on shoulder. 5
tags and switch chaser.
Kicking hard and far with instep (top
of shoelaces -- keep toes pointed down).
Have distance contests, or try to reach coaches.
Target practice. Suspend a hoola-hoop (or some other target)
in the net, to encourage getting ball in air.
Kick from atop small cone. Also, toss ball into air and volley kick into
hoop -- practices timing.
Coach puts foot on ball and player
kicks hard repeatedly. Then on 5th
kick, coach removes foot at last second and allows a hard kick into net.
Line up at penalty line. Coach in net, and rolls out ball. Player
runs to ball and kicks on the roll.
Setup 3 or more buckets in pyramid,
and kick ball into to knock over.
3 buckets laying on side. Player gets 3 balls.. time how long to
dribble balls into 3 buckets.
Push pass -- with inside of foot. Pass to partner. Or push pass into can laying on ground on side.
Volley kick. Toss ball in air and time kick.
Or place ball atop tall cone and side kick.
Coach rolls ball out from net to
players net (cones). Player, from aside
net, must chase and stop ball before it enters his net. Turn and dribble down for scoring chance.
1-1 race to ball. Two lines, one on
each side of net. One player from front
of each line goes. Coach inside net,
and rolls out a ball (fast). Front two
players race to ball. First to touch
ball is on offense and must turn ball around to score on net where coach
is. Other player is on defense. Must knock ball away. Use cones to mark a 'corridor' to keep the
play within bounds. Scorer gets point,
or else defenseman gets point.
All players dribble around inside
circle of cones. One player without
ball ('monkey') gets 30 seconds to kick out as many balls as possible. Count down last 10 seconds for increased
aggression.
Two-on-two. Two teams (one with pinneys).
All players outside large square.
Numbers 1 and 2 from each team enter square for 2-on-2 scrimmage. Toss ball up in middle to start play.
1-1 push passing.
Give-n-Go. Two-on-one scoring chance.
Must pass to open player at least once.
Monkey in the middle. Groups of 3 or 4 players play 'keep-away'
from person (monkey) in the middle. Start of with coach as monkey. If extra coaches, have two or 3 groups going
at once.
U8.
Players in positions -- monkey in middle passing.
Triangle passing and moving ball up
field.
Throw-ins. Try to throw over coaches head (who is seated, facing other way).
Always throw ball to the other teams
net (or down the line). Never out to
middle.
Misc:
1-1 throw-in, trap, goalie. One line on side of net, one line outside
penalty box. Player behind net throws
in ball to player outside penalty area.
Thrower then runs into net for defense.
Receiving player must stop (trap) ball, and then proceed to net for
scoring chance.
Crab soccer.
Goalie scoop. Down on one knee, with body in front of
ball, and bring ball into body.
Pick up ball, and run out to line of
outer box. Throw ball out (to side), or punt.