Soccer Drills for Kids

In order to develop and build excellent soccer players, a proper training structure needs to be set in place. Setting the right kind of drills for minors would not only make the activity enjoyable, the whole exercise awakens the zest to know more about the game.

In order to facilitate this process, a parent or a coach needs to undertake and invoke basic drills for kids for the development of the game.

The advantages of conducting soccer drills for players at a young age is that they develop a real love for the game, they get to grow up following the right techniques, and most importantly, they learn to have fun and play the game the right way. Here are some simple drills that will benefit kids in the long run.

This is a drill that is aimed at improving the agility, speed, and finesse of a player. A circular area is created, and the coach and a few other players stand in the middle in a designated area. The aim is to have all the other players run within the bigger circle, while the people in the inner circle kick soccer balls at their feet. Players who get hit must come within the smaller circle. The last player left in the outer circle will be the winner.

This is a simple drill that is useful for helping the kids exercise a bit, and make their bodies flexible. The coach stands in front of everyone, and performs a certain action, and says 'Replicate this'. The action can be a form of stretching, it can be a motion of kicking the ball or any other similar movement. All the kids have to then proceed and carry out the same action.

For this dribbling drill, a square grid must be made and a flag must be planted at each corner. Each player inside the grid must have a ball at his feet, and the aim is to move around inside the grid with the ball at the feet.

The coach will then call out a player's name randomly, and that player has to then dribble the ball around any of the corner flags of his choice. All the other players have to follow that pattern. This is one of the best drills for improving their dribbling skills.

This is a drill that builds up the passing skills and coordination between players. The coach needs to divide the team into groups of 4, and one of the players is the designated defender.

A tall cone with a ball balanced on it is the castle, and the 3 other players have to knock this cone down with their ball, by passing it between themselves. They can only take one touch each, and if the defender gets the ball before them, the next person becomes the defender.

A large circle is drawn on the ground, and the players stand in the circle with a ball each, at equal distances. Now, they must all start moving in the same direction (clockwise or anti-clockwise) and listen to the coach's instructions.

If he says jog, they must move slowly, if he says sprint, they must run as fast as they can with the ball, if he says change direction, they must start moving in the opposite direction, and if he says cut across, they must run through the circle and take up positions on the opposite end of the circle.

This is a great conditioning workout for developing dribbling, and for improving their close quarters control.

The aim of the coach should be to make kids perform as many offensive and defensive drills as possible. The more attention he pays to detail, the more skillful these players will become. The idea is to make the entire exercise fun for the kids, and to ensure that they learn something new every day.