Soccer Drills that are Games
for U4, U6, U8, U10 and U12 Soccer Players

It isn't better to play different Practice Games at every practice. Play the games that are most effective and use the additional time to play games that teach skills you need to work on (such as "Chipping the Ball", Throw-Ins or "Winning the Ball") or to teach defense or positions.

Here are the games you should start with (Remember, it's VERY important to have at least one ball per player):

-- For U-4 and U-6: "Hit The Coach", "Monster Invasion", "Soccer Bees", "Follow The Leader", and "Animal Soccer". These games are easy to set up, fun and teach dribbling and kicking the ball. Your players will want to come to practice, the parents will get involved, your players will learn quickly and everyone will have fun, including you. You will be a very popular coach.

-- For U-8 and older: As a Warm-Up, start every practice by playing "Dribble Across A Square Game" and if you have time, "Tick Tock" and "Tap-On-Top Race" (see the 3 Practice Plans below for examples). Then play "Dribble Around Cone & Pass Relay Race" a LOT (use it to teach passing and Aggressive Receiving), "Shoulder Tackle & Strength On The Ball Game" (for as many practices as needed), and either "Win the 50/50 Ball Practice Game", Defend The Goal & Clear Game", "Chips/Lofted Passes Game", or "Throw-Ins Teaching Game", depending on which skills you need to work on. Scrimmaging is NOT a good way to practice -- it's inefficient, the best players get most of the touches, and it reinforces bad habits. However, if you scrimmage, ONLY scrimmage at your first practice so you can evaluate your players (play the "Small Sided Scrimmage Without a Goalie" game) AND at subsequent practices ONLY scrimmage for 10 minutes at the end of practice by playing the "Small Sided Scrimmage Without a Goalie" game.

After your first few practices, choose the Practice Games that you think your team will enjoy OR that teach things your team needs to practice. Let me repeat: It isn't better to play different Practice Games at every practice. Use the same games to warm up and play the games that are most effective (such as "Hit The Coach" if your team is U-4 or U-6 and "Dribble Around Cone & Pass Relay Race" if your team is U-8 or older. Use the additional time to play games that teach skills you need to work on (such as Throw-Ins by playing the "Throw-Ins Teaching Game") or to teach defense or positions.

David at SoccerHelp