Soccer drills for youth must not only build their stamina but also their self-confidence, motivation and inspire team spirit. You can use the following drills during your practice sessions to develop your players’ speed, dexterity and lasting power, enabling them to be fit on match days.
You can also vary the drills depending on your players’ current fitness levels. Make sure they drink enough water.
- The Fitness-Agility-Team spirit Drill
From the end of the field, arrange a cone five meters away, then another five meters from the first cone and so on until you have five cones, the fifth cone being 25 meters away from the end of the field.
Now have your team line up at the end line. They must be all set to run really fast. When you blow your whistle, have them run to the 5-meter cone and back to the end line. Then they must run to the ten-meter cone and back, then the 15-meter cone and back, 20-meter cone and back and finally, the 25-meter cone and back.
This youth soccer drill is very invigorating and you can have your youth soccer players go through it once during a practice session. You can vary the distance and number of cones as per requirement. You will also need to time your players when they do this drill. Encourage them to cheer each other on and join them!
- Building Those Leg Muscles
Pair off your team players and give each pair a ball. Have them stand in a line. While one player is in the line, the partner moves out two meters away, facing the player on the line. This means you will now have your players standing in parallel lines.
Now have the player without the ball stand with feet apart, with just about space to pass the ball. The player with the ball should pass the ball through his partner’s legs. As soon as this happens, the partner must turn around and go after the ball.
When they reach it, using their inner, outer or sole of the foot to turn it, dribble it once and send the ball back to their partner on the line. After doing this, they go back to their line and get ready for a repeat. After a few times, they swap positions and do it again.
These soccer drills for youth can double up as a fitness workout and also develop ball control.
