Soccer coaches offer pointers to help players> Scrimmages, drills improve skills

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As fall draws rapidly closer, college and high school soccer coaches are putting their teams through their paces. Youngsters will be making their first forays into the sport in various youth leagues and there will be an abundance of travel soccer.

Thanks to University of Maine soccer coaches Scott Atherley (women’s) and Travers Evans (men’s), Husson College women’s coach Keith Bosley and Orono High School girls coach Cid Dyjak, here is a variety of drills coaches can use to improve their players’ skills.

Multi-ball scrimmaging is helpful

1. Divide your squad into five-player teams and have a game on a field approximately 40-by-30 yards. Instead of one soccer ball, use two at a time. And when a goal is scored, have the goalie who was scored upon quickly put the ball or another ball right back into play. This is good for developing ball-possession skills, decision-making and communication skills.

Force players to use weakest foot

2. Divide your team into two units and hold a weak-foot scrimmage. In a weak-foot scrimmage, players ***must*** pass or shoot the ball with their weakest foot. They can dribble with both. All players have one dominant foot but it is very important for them to be able to strike a ball with their weak foot. If a player passes or shoots with their strong foot, award a free kick to the other team.

Dribbling with purpose and vision

3. Create a 20-by-20 grid and have eight players within the grid. It will be one player paired off against another. Then position eight other players (we’ll call them protectors) around the outside of the grid. Players in the grid must try to dribble the ball to the line marking the grid. The protectors are allowed to take one step into the grid and it is their job to prevent the ball possessor from accessing the line with the ball.

So the four players with possession of the ball must not only find a way to shield the ball from the player they are matched up against, they have to be able to look up and either find a vacated spot along the line or dribble around one of the protectors.

This drill emphasizes dribbling to maintain possession and escape pressure; dribbling to penetrate the line; it encourages the dribbler to exhibit and change of pace and to develop their vision with the ball.

Odd-man drill teaches transition

4. Have a five-vs.-five scrimmage and have two other players who will play for the team with possession of the ball. If that team loses possession, the two extra players switch allegiances to the team that has gained possession. So you will always have a seven-vs.-five situation. Have those two players wear the same color jerseys to differentiate from the two five-player teams.

Award points to the teams based on their ability to string together a selected number of passes without losing possession.

You can spice the drill up or any passing drill by limiting the number of touches a player can have (i.e. one touch, two touch, etc…) before passing.

Or you can have three teams with three or four players apiece and play two teams vs. one. When the one team gains possession, the team that lost possession becomes the team playing against the other two.

Constant motion with two-sided net

5. Scrimmage with a flat goal or with two cones serving as the goalposts. Two goalies will stand virtually back to back protecting each side of the net. Teams can score into either net. Multiple balls can be used.

Surprise numbers force adjustment

6. Have four lines of attackers at midfield and two lines of defenders next to the goalposts. Have a goalie protecting the net. The coach then calls out the number of attackers and defenders and you play the situation. It could be four vs. four, four vs. two, two vs. one, etc…..

Keep all your players on their toes

7. Create three teams of four although you can use any number depending upon the number of players available. Two teams are playing at once but once a goal is scored, the team that scored the goal takes the ball out of the net and attacks the far goal. Meanwhile, the team that surrendered the goal runs off the field and is replaced by the team that had been idle.

This keeps players involved at all times. They are forced to reorganize as quickly as possible and forces them to adapt to different roles (attacking, defending, etc..).

Gates foster diversity and creativity

8. Near the top of the penalty area, set up four, five-yard “gates” with cones or jerseys or whatever you can find. Have three or four attackers going against three defenders. The attackers ***must*** pass or dribble the ball through the gates before going in to take a shot. They can run through the non-gated areas but only without the ball. Eventually, you can add two or three gated areas out on the sides or way up the field which gives the defenders a chance to score. This drill forces the attackers to vary their attack and switch fields and it makes the defenders move from side to side as a unit and then make a transition to offense upon gaining possession. Attackers must transition to defense if the defenders gain possession and the goals are set up for them.

Warm-up drill for shooters, goalies

9. This is a shooting drill which also benefits goalies. Have three lines of players, one next to each goal post and the other in the middle of the field 20-25 yards from goal. The player in the line in the middle of the field dribbles a couple of times and takes a shot from the top of the penalty area; they continue toward goal and a player from one of the goalpost lines passes it out and he or she one-times a shot from around 12 yards out. The shooter continues toward the goal and a player in the other goalpost line tosses the ball in the air so the shooter heads the ball toward goal from six yards out. The players then switch lines.

Goalies subjected to shots, crosses

10. This is a goalie drill. Have five players lined up in a semi-circle around the penalty area.

Starting with the players on one of the flanks, that player sends a high cross into the penalty area that the goalie must catch and throw back. The player immediately next to the server of the cross then shoots on goal requiring a save; the player in the middle comes in on a breakaway that the goalie must react to; the next player in the semi-circle shoots on goal and then the player on the opposite flank floats a cross that the goalie must catch.