Around the World: for goalkeepers
The keeper stands in the goal. Cones are placed at each corner of the Penalty Area and one on the top center of the 18. Players are positioned one each at the 5 cones each having several balls except for the center player.
These players are each given a number. (i.e., 1 through 4.) When the coach calls a number the player on the corner with the number called passes the ball to the player in the middle who then shoots the ball. After shooting the ball, the center player must run back around the middle cone to receive the next pass and shoot again.
The keeper must come from the goal line each time the shooter receives the ball to try and stop the shot. Once the shot is taken the keeper must go back and touch the goal line to reset for attack and again come out of goal to try and stop the next shot.
Continue drill until all balls have been shot. I would suggest after all balls have been shot to change the keeper as this can be a very physical drill.
(*Variation – Instead of shooting from the center, give all the balls to the center person and when you call a number the center person passes to that player who shoots from their position. Rotate out your center person to avoid boredom or call center occasionally. Bev
Surprise!!: for goalkeepers
The keeper turns and faces the goal. The coach or other player stands at about the 18 with a ball. The person with the ball then says “now,” or some other type of call, right before they kick or throw the ball at the goal. Upon hearing the call, the keeper turns around and attempts to stop the shot not knowing where it is coming from.
If a keeper does well with this then have them listen for the sound of the shot; with this version, it’s usually best to shoot closer to the keeper.
(*Variation – instead of a single person in the center arrange players randomly around at varying distances and positions. Yell surprise and pass ball to someone who shoots without settling. Increases the randomness of play, Bev)
Courtesy of www.eteamz.com
Online Sources for Drills:
http://www.weplay.com/youth-soccer/drills This is one of my favorite websites. It offers video along with the text. Most videos show the high overview then a second run through with close-ups of the players interacting. Drills are divided by activity such as attacking or ball control, then subdivided by beginner, intermediate, advanced.
http://www.soccerxpert.com/ This site has it’s drills and games cross referenced by either age bracket or skill you are trying teach. Nicely laid out, drill pages have diagrams.
http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/ is a fun site based in the UK so don’t be surprised by all the “football” references. It also tells about a unique patch system they use to encourage their players in a variety of ways. I am seriously considering it for my boys next season. Think stars for chores…but more fun!
http://www.soccer-training-guide.com/soccer-drills.html The number of free games and drills here is rather limited but you may find the other articles very helpful. Especially the new coach who may need a glossary of terms, i.e. wall pass or push pass…nice descriptions and usually a photo of a player doing it.
http://www.freeyouthsoccerdrills.com Very nice site with easy access to the drills by age and tips on various aspects of the game.
http://www.soccer-for-parents.com/free-soccer-drills.html This kind of a one stop shopping place with drills, history, fundraising and for newbies a terminology page. Also a great source is on the left menu, click on coaching soccer, scroll down the page until you get to the link for how to organize a soccer practice. It has a number of links with free practices ready for you to print out and take to practice with you.
http://www.soccerhelp.com/Soccer_Drills.shtml Scroll all the way down to the bottom to get past the ad for premium content and you’ll find the freebies. Some of them are pretty good and I love the “cheapskate” ideas for running a practice on a budget. Some great ideas are at the bottom of the page.
http://football.isport.com/football-guides/ These pages offers 18 guides on everything from the moral ethics of diving to how to buy soccer cleats, learning to dribble, shooting, and passing among others.
http://www.ehow.com/way_5120185_tips-youth-soccer-coaching-drills.html I was very surprised to discover that eHow had a section on coaching soccer. The ideas here are simple but truly valuable to keeping your teams interest.
http://www.responsiblesports.com/resource_center.aspx Very nice website sponsored by Liberty Mutual. You will find an eclectic set of coaching tools available here. Some sample sections include, Responsible Coaching, Youth Sports Advice, Community Grants, Season Evaluation, and pdf files you can download immediately. The pages are spattered with youTube videos on a variety of sports. Remember the ‘art’ of coaching can be learned from coaches across the spectrum of coaching.
http://www.coaching-youth-soccer-for-success.com/free-soccer-drills.html This page has a free sign up for a 250 page manual coaching tips, drills, and games. The site itself also offers articles on a number of subjects you may find of interest. There is a link to the DVD’s of the Coever Method of Coaching. I’m told these are great DVD’s but honestly a little out of my price range. In addition to the emailed free guide if you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page there are pdf versions of 16 drills in 6 core areas.
http://www.bettersoccercoaching.com Would you like free drills and games delivered to your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday? From Tony Carr and Michael Beale? Then this is the spot for you.
http://www.soccerdrills.net/ This site has some fun free drills however they are trying to sell you access to their premium section. Use what works for you and unless you really love a site’s style there are enough free places that it’s not really necessary to “buy”drills.
http://www.soccerpracticebooks.com These are eBooks with print and go soccer practice plans, “Each book has 10 completely worked out soccer practice plans, each with 80 soccer drills, following the sequence of warm-up, technical (skill) drill, fitness drill, tactical drill and scrimmage. Each drill and practice plan is on a single page that fits on your clipboard. And, we show you how you can develop 100’s more practices with our drill matrix.” They are $14.95 each or 3 for about $40. Compared to some of the other books for purchase I’ve seen, these seem very reasonable especially since no photo copying is needed. By scrolling all the way to the bottom you can find links that show you samples of the material in the eBooks. I am not a big advocate of spending a ton of money, I’d rather you went to a class on me J , but these are perfect for the new coach who needs help getting their practices organized.