Week 1
Week 2
- Laces Dribbling Technique: https://youtu.be/LRW3UpQrgPQ
Using laces dribbling technique, dribble around using only your laces.
- Challenge 1: Only use your right foot
- Challenge 2: Only use your left foot
- Challenge 3: How many laces touches can you get in 20 seconds?
- Figure 8 Dribbling: https://youtu.be/_gOORygHlLE
To get more laces touches over space spread the cones out further. To get more quick laces touches move the clones closer together. Try completing figure 8s by only using your right foot or by only using your left foot.
- Challenge 1: Only use your right foot
- Challenge 2: Only use your left foot
- Challenge 3: How many figure 8s can you get in 30 seconds?
- 5 Dribbling Activities: https://youtu.be/jwIHc9rz7yo
In each activity you can challenge yourself by only using your dominant or weaker foot.
Week 3
- 10,000 Touches: https://youtu.be/wjFihKoBs24
Try each of the activities in this video and follow along to get 10,000 touches on the ball. If one of the techniques is too difficult substitute it for another technique like take-stops or toe taps.
Week 4
Pro Tip: I recommend learning and working on one move at a time. To work on these moves you can lay out 4-6 cones in a small space(5x5yds) and every time you get to a cone you perform a move(i.e. pullback). You can also work on the move by dribbling back and forth between two cones. When dribbling between cones we want to use our laces dribbling technique and keep control of the ball.
- Tennis Ball Training Tool: https://youtu.be/nSaY_w77FJc
This is a great tool that you can make at home! This tool allows you to work on passing and receiving technique on your own.
Week 5
- 15 Ball Mastery Techniques: https://youtu.be/oP3XuwHK6sA
Perform each technique 75-100 times and this will turn out to be a lot of touches in a short amount of time!
- Passing Technique: https://youtu.be/Sm-u_ESEmjE
This is a great game that players can use with or without a soccer ball. Feel free to add more colors to keep the game interesting. i.e.: red light-stop, green light=go, yellow light= slow, blue light= toe taps, orange light= tick tocks, purple light=knee on the ball. You can make up anything you want, but this can be a great game to get some touches on the ball.
- Receiving the ball: https://youtu.be/RZyviLvidps
Pro Tip: When we work on passing we also need to work on receiving the ball. This video refers to the large middle surface of the inside of the foot as the”meaty” part of the foot. Start with very short passes(2-3 steps apart) to work on the technique before trying anything further away. No matter how you are working on your passing technique try this workout to get a lot of repetitions:
- Right Foot - Passing/Receiving x 20 reps
- Left Foot - Passing/Receiving x 20 reps
- Alternating Feet (receive Right / Pass Right - Receive Left / Pass Left) x 20 reps
- Receiving Across Your Body (Receive Right / Pass Left - Receive Left / Pass Right) x 20 reps
- Repeat Steps 1-4 a total of 3 times.
Total Passing Touches: 240
Total Receiving Touches: 240
Week 6
This video has 32 variations, but focus on numbers 1 through 11 this week. The cones are set up about one yard apart and there are 7 cones total. It is very important to be on your toes when going through this. As soccer players we should always be on our toes, but this is great for quick feet as well as working on your dribbling. Here is an example workout plan:
- Single Leg Weave (Right Foot) x 4 reps
- Single Leg Weave (Left Foot) x 4 reps
- Outside Foot Only x 4 reps
- Two Touch Outside/Inside (Right Foot) x 4 reps
- Two Touch Outside/Inside (Left Foot) x 4 reps
- Inside Inside x4 reps
- La Croqueta Outside Left x 4 reps
- La Croqueta Outside Right x 4 reps
This is a very difficult skill - the key point of this skill is the firm horizontal touch that goes through the cones followed by the vertical touch forward by the opposite foot. - Inside Outside x 4 reps
- Sole Roll Stop x 4 reps
Pro Tip: If you revisit the wall ball session from last week here is a video that gives some great tips on how to get comfortable using your weaker foot: https://youtu.be/Md2SQRN4054
Week 7
- Wall Ball Workout: https://youtu.be/LoJ5dsFz59s
This is a great way to get a lot of repetitions with your passing technique. If you need a refresher on passing technique take a look at the video from week 5. In this video I recommend only doing the second wall exercise he demonstrates, 2 touch passing. Here is an example of a workout you could do:- Right foot, one touch passing x 20 reps
- Left foot, one touch passing x 20 reps
- Alternating one touch passing (left foot, right foot, left foot, etc) x 20 reps
- Repeat steps 1-3
- Right foot, two touch passing x 20 reps
- Left foot, two touch passing x 20reps
- Alternating two touch passing (left receives/right foot passes, vice-versa) x 20 reps
- Repeat Steps 5-7
- Backup 5 yards and Repeat 5-7 2 more times at 10 reps each
- Move back in 5 yards and...
- Right foot, two touch laces x 10 reps
- Left foot, two touch laces x 10 reps
- Alternating two touch laces x 10 reps
- Repeat Steps 11-13
Total = 360 Passes!
If you have a wall that is tall enough try the fourth exercise the video demonstrates where the player volleys against the wall. This is a great challenge to keep the ball up! Keep your score each time and see what you can get as your high score. You may find it easiest to use the inside of your foot as much as possible since that’s the largest surface we can use to have control of the ball.
If you would like some tips on using your weaker foot here is a video that shows how to work on your weaker foot: https://youtu.be/Md2SQRN4054
Week 8
Games! These games will be a lot of fun and a great review of our skills and techniques we have been working on over the past 7 weeks.
- Soccer Golf:
Pick an object as your target and try to pass the ball and hit the target. Count how many passes it takes you until you hit the target. Whoever has less passes for that target gets to pick the next target. Play 6 rounds and try to vary the distance and difficulty in passing to the target. Think mini golf but with a soccer ball and our feet. - Soccer Bowling:
Using tall cones or water bottles set up a triangle using them much like you would with bowling pins. To start take 5 steps from the top of the triangle and that will be the starting point. Player passes the ball into the cones and gets a point for each cone that is knocked down. Take 2 turns before resetting the triangle. If it is too easy back up another 5 steps or until it is a more difficult distance. - 3, 2, 1 Juggling Challenge:
This juggling game is great to work on your touch and also listening to instructions. Have a sibling or parent throw a ball(nicely) up in the air and say “1”, “2”, or “3”. Whichever number they say is the number of touches you must take to get the ball back to them. If you complete the command you get a point. If you do not complete it successfully your sibling/parent gets a point.
- Garbage Can: https://www.mayouthsoccer.org/assets/61/6/garbage_can_challenge.pdf
Check this game out on MA Youth Soccer. You can use other items in place of garbage cans like tall cones or water bottles if necessary. Check out the progressions too to make it more difficult! - Soccer Tennis: https://www.mayouthsoccer.org/assets/61/6/soccer_tennis.pdf
This is an awesome game that will challenge your juggling skills.
Week 9
This week we are combining Week 3 and Week 4 to continue working on our dribbling control and speed and also continue working on some great moves that will help in 1v1 situations.
Pro Tip:I recommend learning and working on one move at a time. To work on these moves you can lay out 4-6 cones in a small space(5x5yds) and every time you get to a cone you perform a move(i.e. pullback). You can also work on the move by dribbling back and forth between two cones. When dribbling between cones we want to use our laces dribbling technique and keep control of the ball.
Week 10
Let’s work on our Coerver skills and increase the difficulty by following this video(work on skills #1-20,28 and 29): https://youtu.be/IeMYh7roBjk
Do 20 reps of each skill before moving to the next skill. Once you get through the skills, start back at the beginning and go through them a second time(don’t forget to take a 3 minute break in between round 1 and round 2).
For the skills that are new, start slow and make sure they correct before trying to add in speed. It’s much better to do them correctly and slow than fast and incorrect. When you get comfortable with the skill then add speed to continue challenging yourself. An additional benefit to working on these skills is that it works on footwork, quick feet, and teaches players to be on their toes.
Week 11
- Wall Ball Workout: https://youtu.be/LoJ5dsFz59s
This is a great way to get a lot of repetitions with your passing technique. If you need a refresher on passing technique take a look at the video from Week 5. In this video I recommend only doing the first three wall exercises he demonstrates, 1 touch passing, 2 touch passing, and two touch passing further away from the wall. I also added in the laces technique that is demonstrated on our Instagram account @wakefieldsoccer. Here is an example of a workout you could do:
- Right foot, one touch passing x 25 reps
- Left foot, one touch passing x 25 reps
- Alternating one touch passing (left foot, right foot, left foot, etc) x 30 reps
- Repeat steps 1-3
- Right foot, two touch passing x 25 reps
- Left foot, two touch passing x 25 reps
- Alternating two touch passing (left receives/right foot passes, vice-versa) x 30 reps
- Repeat Steps 5-7
- Backup 5 yards
- Right foot, two touch passing x 15 reps
- Left foot, two touch passing x 15 reps
- Alternating two touch passing (left receives/right foot passes, vice-versa) x 20 reps
- Repeat Steps 10-12
- Move back in to the wall
- Right foot, two touch laces x 15 reps
- Left foot, two touch laces x 15 reps
- Alternating two touch laces x 15 reps
- Repeat steps 15-17
Total = 510 Passes!
If you have a wall that is tall enough try the fourth exercise the video demonstrates where the player volleys against the wall. This is a great challenge to keep the ball up! Keep your score each time and see what you can get as your high score. You may find it easiest to use the inside of your foot as much as possible since that’s the largest surface we can use to have control of the ball.
If you would like some tips on using your weaker foot here is a video that shows how to work on your weaker foot: https://youtu.be/Md2SQRN4054
Week 12
This two part series is similar to the 15 Ball Mastery Techniques video we worked through before except part 2 of this series does a great job showing various turns you can do with the ball.
Perform each skill 30 times and each turn 10 times before moving to the next one. After going through each skill take a 2 minute break then go through the turns again(part 2) 20 times each. I do not recommend going through the fitness portion at the end of part 2.
Week 13
This video has 32 variations, but focus on numbers 1 through 11 this week. The cones are set up about one yard apart and there are 7 cones total. It is very important to be on your toes when going through this. As soccer players we should always be on our toes, but this is great for quick feet as well as working on your dribbling. Here is an example workout plan:
- Single Leg Weave (Right Foot) x 4 reps
- Single Leg Weave (Left Foot) x 4 reps
- Outside Foot Only x 4 reps
- Two Touch Outside/Inside (Right Foot) x 4 reps
- Two Touch Outside/Inside (Left Foot) x 4 reps
- Inside Inside x4 reps
- La Croqueta Outside Left x 4 reps
- La Croqueta Outside Right x 4 reps
This is a very difficult skill - the key point of this skill is the firm horizontal touch that goes through the cones followed by the vertical touch forward by the opposite foot. - Inside Outside x 4 reps
- Sole Roll Stop x 4 reps