FineSoccer Drill 2

The second part of this progression is to set a field up as shown in diagram 1

diagram 1

The dimensions will depend upon the numbers playing but with 16 or so players, you would use half of a full sized field. The corners have a small area designated by cones (the two sides of the triangle that make up the right angle should be 3 yards long). The 16 players are broken up into two teams (team A and team B). Team A would place one player in the upper right corner and also one in the lower left corner. Team B would place one player in the upper left corner and the lower right corner.

Team A scores a goal by passing the ball into either of the players in their corners and then that player must one touch the ball to a third player for the goal to count. If the goal is scored, the player who originally passed the ball into the triangle then goes in the corner and the player who originally was in the corner joins the others on the field. Just like in the previous drill, players will originally try to dribble toward the goal and then pass it to their teammate. Also, just like the previous drill, this will NOT be effective. Building on the last drill, explain how in order to score a goal, their must be three players involved (however, now it's almost four players). Instead of trying to dribble the length of the field, the player with the ball should look for two players working together and play the early first pass to them. Then those two players will play the ball into the corner and make the proper runs in order to get open. (pretty cool progression!)

As the players get more accustomed to this game, they will automatically start to get better spacing as they realize that instead of forcing the ball into one corner, they can change directions and go the other way if they have proper balance.

Any balls that go out of play are kick ins and even a kick in can be played into the corner to initiate a goal.

Of all of the drills that I have ever used, this might be the most enjoyable for me because of how quickly I tend to see improvement and then combined with the next drill, how well they are able to take this improvement and actually apply it in a game situation.

The next step in this progression is to change the field slightly to look like the one in diagram 2

diagram 2

This field has the same dimensions but now, instead of triangles in the corners, there are small 2 yard wide goals (just place a goal in each corner and then another one 2 yards in on the end line. Also there is a square in the middle.

Again, there are 2 teams but now to score, the ball must be played through the goals. Team A would be scoring into either the top left goal or the bottom left goal and Team B would be scoring into either the top right goal or the bottom right goal (this part is set up like a standard 4 goal game. The rectangle in the middle represents a one touch zone (for younger players this can be a two touch zone). By having the goals in the corners, it encourages the players get wide early and by putting in the one touch zone, it discourages the players from trying to dribble from one side of the field to the other. You will start to see players doing a much better job of spacing with players running through the center to receive the ball and play one touch soccer.

The other thing this central zone does is encourage both width and depth. Instead of playing all balls either square or forward, they will realize the advantages of player balls back and around the zone (just like you want them to switch balls around the back of the field in a real game).

One of the reasons I like this game so much is that the spacing comes almost naturally and I believe the more a player can realize on their own without it having to be explained in great detail, the more they will really progress.

To make this game even more difficult, you can also put in a one touch finish restriction. This simply means that in order to score a goal, it must be played one touch into the goal. This will help them to get back into the thought process of working in 2's and 3's instead of just playing by themselves.