How to coach, teach and use the basic youth soccer drills

• Bow-Tie Drill - Teaches footwork for receiving and passing. Set up the players in couples. Put out 4 cones in a straight line with a normal passing distance between the middle two, and place the other two on either side of the others about 10 feet away. The players stand on the two inside cones and pass the ball to each other. In receiving a pass, the player uses the outside of one foot to direct the ball behind them and they dribble the ball around the outside cone and back to the inside cone, where they pass the ball.
   
• Horse in the Middle Drill - Teaches players to read the defender when making a pass. Put together groups of three. Set-up a rectangle with cones, 10-20 feet long and 5-10 feet wide, depending on age group. Position two players at each end of the rectangle giving each one a ball. Position a player in the middle and try to have the two end players pass the ball back and forth to each other without the defender getting the ball.
   
• Three-Play Drill - Teaches passing on the move. Line-up players in groups of three. Set-up a rectangle 10-20 feet long and 5-10 feet wide. Place a player with a ball at each end of the rectangle. Station on player in the middle. Begin by have player on end A pass the ball to the player in the center. The player in the center must return the ball immediately and then turn to receive a pass from the player on end B. Continue until the group has completed 5-10 passes to each side. You can set-up a competition where the group to that completes five passes from each end to the middle wins.

First Touch Drill - One soccer ball for every two players and four cones to develop accuracy from a moving passer to a moving target without defensive pressure. Do the following:

• Scatter players in pairs in a 20 by 20 yd. grid
• Each set of partners has a ball.
• On signal, players begin to move through the grid.
• Players with the balls pass to their partner, who must pass back on the first touch.
• Partners continue moving using only one-touch passing.
   
• Sidewinder Drill - To determine how well players are able to change directions and speeds. Place two cones ten feet apart. On coaches signal, players move laterally to touch one marker and then move in the opposite direction to touch the other marker. To make it competitive count the number of times each player touches both cones.
   
• Herkey-Jerkey Drill - Demonstrate how changing speed can be used to create space. Set up a 10 x 10 grid with cones. Place 3 or 4 players in a single file line. Have the first player start and tell each follower to stay as close to the person in front of them as they can. Have the lead player jog at a constant speed the first time around the grid. The second time around tell the front runner to change speeds fast, slow, fast. After they finish talk to the group about how much harder it was to stay close to the person in front of them when the speed was changing.
   
• Shooting Gallery Drill - Develop instep shooting technique, practice attacking and defending with small groups. Two teams of four players. Evenly distribute 12 cones in a 10 x 10 circle. Goals are scored by knocking down cones, players are not allowed into the circle but must shoot from anywhere outside of the circle. Start off with two balls (one for each team), Each team can score points by knocking down a cone. Balls that stop in the circle are dead and cannot be retrieved. If a ball goes completely through the circle it can be played by the team retrieving. The player that doesn’t have a ball can either defend or try to get open for a chance to shoot at a cone.
   
• Red Light, Green Light Drill - Develop fundamental foot skills for dribbling, helps teach young children to keep the ball close and under control. Just like the game we played in our youth, the coach or one of the players is "IT". He or she stands at one end of the field with his or her back to the others and calls out red light, green light one two three and then turns around. The players meanwhile have been dribbling toward him or her and must stop, with their foot on top of the ball, when the player turns around anyone moving must go back to the beginning and try again. If a player reaches the person who is "IT" they are the winner.
   
• Position Drill - Teach possession and passing skills. Moving without the ball, looking for open areas, etc. Set-up a small field (30 x 30) with cones. Play 7 versus 4, where the team of seven tries to keep possession of the ball under pressure of the team of 4. The team of seven can score by passing the ball ten times to each other. The team of 4 can score by dribbling the ball outside of the cones.
   
• Cone Race Drill - Teach players to kick hard and follow all the way to the goal. All players have a ball and start in a line at one end of the field. At the other end of the field (30 or 40 yards away) set up 10 cones in a small circle. At the whistle have all players kick their ball as hard as they can and run after it. The players need to keep kick the ball and running until they get to the other end of the field. Once they get to the cones they need to kick the balls through the cones until all cones are knocked over. Once all of the cones are knocked over they need to race back to the other end. (Variation - set up two or three defenders between the player and the cones.)
   
• Gotcha Drill - Good for conditioning, dribbling, passing, and building aggressiveness. Each player will need a ball. Player "1" is "It" and is the only player to start with a ball. All the other players are around the outside of the gridded space. Player "1" dribbles and tries to hit the other players below the waist with the ball. When hit, that player gets a ball and joins player "1". The game is over when all of the players have been caught. The last player caught starts with the ball for the next game. If the task is to difficult for one player at the beginning of the game, start with two players. Encourage deceptive passing of the ball; look one-way and pass the other, use the outside of the foot. Players not caught should run, jump, and use zigzag movements.
   
• Three on One Finishing Drill - Help develop finishing techniques and instinct when in position to score a goal. Teaches the player to take a shot as quickly as possible. In the penalty box, three forwards play against one defender and one goalie. The ball is played in from outside the box (mix up the services from each side of the box and from behind) to one of the forwards. The forwards are limited to two touch passing and one touch shooting and they are limited to three or less passes. Emphasize getting a shot off quickly and having the forwards that don't shot attack the goal.
   
• Give & Go Drill - Work on passing, moving without the ball and combination play. Set up three cones. Place four players behind cone A. Set cone B up about 10-15 yards down field, and line up two players at cone B. Set cone C up about 20-25 yards down field, and line up 2 players at cone C. The first player in line at cone A passes the ball to the first player in line at cone B and continues up the field, the player at cone B receives the ball, turns and returns the ball to the player from cone A. This player controls the pass and then makes a long pass to the player at cone C. The player at cone C then dribbles with the ball to Cone A. The player from cone A goes to the end of the line at cone B, the player from cone B goes to the end of the line at cone C and the player from cone C stays in line at cone A.
   
• Receive & Turn Drill - Work on passing, moving without the ball and combination play. Set up three cones. Place four players behind cone A. Set cone B up about 10-15 yards down field, and line up two players at cone B. Set cone C up about 20-25 yards down field, and line up 2 players at cone C. The first player in line at cone A passes the ball to the first player in line at cone B. The player from cone B who received the ball turns with the ball and passes to the player at cone C. The player at cone C then dribbles with the ball to Cone A. The player from cone A goes to the end of the line at cone B, the player from cone B goes to the end of the line at cone C and the player from cone C stays in line at cone A.

• Pressure Drill - Teaches defenders to close on the ball quickly and keep pressure on the ball. Divide players into groups of three. Player 1 is standing by the coach who rolls the ball or tosses the ball to Player 2. Player 2 must control the ball and make a pass to Player 3. After the coach gets the ball to Player 2, Player 1 immediately tries to close on Player 2 to prevent Player 2 from controlling the ball and making the pass to Player 3.
   

• Head Over Drill - Help improve heading skills with subtle defensive pressure. Position three players in a line. With Player 1 and 3 approximately 10 yards apart, and player 2 positioned in the middle of them. Player 1 tosses the ball over player 2 to player 3, who will return the ball by heading it. Repeat several times and them change roles. 
   
• Wall Shot Drill - Develop the ability to create space for shooting. Line-up two offensive players (players 1 and 2) about 10 feet in front and on each side of the goal. Place a defender (player A) in the center of the two offensive players. Place a fourth player (player B) 20 feet from the goal. Player B must pass to player 1 or 2 and then move to an open space for a return pass. Once player B receives the return pass he should take a shot on goal.
   
• Three on One Shooting Drill -Help players learn to see the field and the open teammate. Position players about 30 yards from the goal. Player A lines up on defense and try's to steal the ball and protect the goal. Players 1, 2, and 3 are on offense and try to spread the field and make a series of passes until someone has an open shot. The person with the open shot takes the shot and the other two attack the goal for a possible put-back.
   
• Star Drill - Develop passing and receiving skills with subtle defensive pressure. Position five players to form a five point star. Place one defender in the middle of the star. Challenge your players to make as many consecutive passes as possible without losing the ball or allowing the defender to touch the ball. Players are not allowed to pass the ball to the player next to them. Explain to your players that this is because they need to have spacing in a game when making a pass or they will not clear the defense.
   
• Challenge Drill - Develop dribbling skill with speed and work on the defender getting back in front of the ball on a breakaway. Set up a Player A, 20-30 yards in front of the goal. Place Player B,   five yards behind Player A. The coach stands even with Player A and passes the ball towards the goal. Player A must collect the ball, sprint towards the goal, and shoot before Player B can catch him. This drill can be done with or without a goalkeeper.
   
• Pass-Dribble-Pass Drill - Develop passing accuracy and receiving skills from a moving passer to a moving target. Position two players in a 15 X 15 yard area. Player A will pass to Player B who will dribble into open space and then turn and pass back to Player A, who has moved to a new space.