Pre-season fitness and warm-up routines can be very demanding on young players, so amongst all the hard work it’s important to remember to add some elements of fun into your sessions. A bit of fun can transform the attitude of your players when they turn up for pre-season – it can make the difference between them just coasting and really putting the effort in.
For younger age groups, fun games are an ideal way of getting players to repeat techniques and skills that will be needed when they start playing matches. My two favourite at Under 7 and Under 8 are Star Gates, which gets teams working on passing and forward play with first touch and possession skills to the fore, and Bumper Cars, which covers dribbling the ball and running with it while keeping it under control.
Another excellent source of games for pre-season can be found in the EasiCoach Curriculum sessions for different age groups. Games like Dribble the ball 5 yards and turn are great fun and help develop your players as they get ready to start the season.
For the older age groups, I play games like Shrinking goal, which creates equality between teams no matter who you pick on each side. It is a game that focuses on skill and accuracy, which is vital for pre-season.
Finally one of the games that professional teams use with their players to get their skills up to speed is Soccer Tennis. I love this game and so do my players, we play it long after the training session is over because it is such fun and it develops skills, so it’s a win-win situation!
This is a great game since it provides a natural handicap that makes even the most unequal of teams (in terms of player skill) equal. So let your players choose their own teams, if necessary, and enjoy the game’s effect! MORE
Get those soccer brains ticking over with this great game that covers dribbling, running with the ball, accurate passing, changeovers, first touch into space. MORE
In this game when you say “go”, each dribbler aims to dribble his ball from the big square into one of the smaller squares. The three middle players must try to win the balls from the dribblers. MORE
A soccer tennis drill is an excellent way of developing juggling skills and first-touch for your young players - and the big bonus is that it’s great fun to play as well. MORE
If your team is getting caught out by counter attacks, balls over the top or a team that dominates with through passes, a sweeper can be a godsend MORE
Great strikers can score goals with both of their feet, so try to get your players using their weaker foot close to goal so they’re not twisting their bodies into unusual shapes to try and get their foot in the right position to score.
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Every age group in youth soccer will, at one time or another, use twin strikers as their attacking threat. From 4v4 right up to 11v11 pairs of strikers work very well. Here are my sessions to help you coach two strikers with your team. MORE
To dominate the centre of the park you need players who can drive through midfield with excellent close control and balance, get into advanced positions and link with strikers to create goalscoring opportunities. MORE
In grassroots football it can be a real challenge to get tiring players to give a final push at the end of the game Here are four ways to get them set up for their next match to score late goals. MORE
Intelligence on the pitch isn’t something that comes naturally to all players. In attack intelligence means finding the best way to create space to score a goal – so if they anticipate where space is and link up play with good support the opposition will be put under severe pressure. MORE
