New Soccer Drill to Teach Dribbling
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Hi, This is David at SoccerHelp. I get a lot of great ideas from customers. Recently Don in TN, a great coach who is a Premium member, sent an email about a Premium game named �Dribble Through Gates Race�. As you know, our soccer drills are practice games that teach players to play fast while under pressure.

Don had some great ideas for using the game. What he wrote is below:

"I just discovered this game for the first time!! I did it like a moto-cross, with four boys at a time. Then the next four boys. The first and second place boys in each heat advanced to the championship and the 3rd and 4th place boys advanced to the second place runoff. They wanted to do it over and over again, dribbling like crazy! I had about 5-6 gates. The first gate was a sharp turn to make sure that it did not turn into a mere footrace where the fastest boys always win. I kept the entire course pretty tight for the same reason except for a straightaway at the end. Thanks for a great idea!" Don, TN

I have pasted the game below. Please let me know if it helps your team. Note that it is for ages 8 and older:

SoccerHelp Practice Games


"Dribble Through Gates Race" * * * *
(Dribbling, U-8 & older)

Summary:

Use cones to create "gates" through which players dribble. Place the gates about 5 steps apart and in an obvious sequence (like a circle). This is another game that helps players learn to control the ball with their feet.

Set-up:

  • Use cones to make "gates" that are about 3 yards wide and 5 steps apart. Place them in an obvious sequence so players can easily go from one to the next (e.g., a circle).
  • Each player has a ball.

The Game:

  • One "gate" is the starting line
  • Have 3 or 4 players start at a time, and others 10 seconds later
  • Each group competes against each other to see who can finish the course first
  • In the second race, re-group the players so the fastest compete against each other

Variations:

  1. One group starts at the "Start" and another at the "Finish" so they dribble toward each other. (Only do this if you believe they won't collide).
  2. Create 2 teams. One starts as "Attackers" and try to dribble through the gates while the other team defends the gates (one "Defender" per gate). Then switch. The winner is the team that has the most Attackers to cross the finish line with the ball. The Defender must stay between the cones he is defending.

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