U-6 Soccer Drills

1. Sharks and Minnows (with a goal)

I draw a full field, including a center stripe, with line paint and a goal at each end of the field. I start out as the "shark" with a cone on my head. The kids start on one end line parallel with the goal. The shark must stay in the starting half of the field. Once the kids get past the center line, they are free and are supposed to go to goal and shoot. They then retrieve their ball and start over going the opposite direction, again finishing with a shot on goal. Anyone who gets their ball kicked out of bounds by the shark before they cross the center stripe becomes a shark and gets to put a cone on their head. The point of the cone is to make the game more fun and to show which kids are sharks. They love being shark so much that most of them don't get upset when they get their ball kicked out. Keep going till only one "minnow" is left. Incorporating the goal into the drill is crucial to allowing the kids to understand how the drill relates to game conditions. Discourage the kids from "kicking and running" and encourage them to dribble fast instead.

2. Dribbling Through Gates

Draw a long, snaking line with line paint that ends right in front of a goal. (The line should look like a bell shaped curve.) Place cone "gates" on both sides of the line: one gate at the beginning, one at the half way point and one near the end. Kids line up at the first gate and dribble as fast as they can following the general path of the painted line and through each cone gate. After they get through the last gate, they dribble to the goal and take a quick shot. Have a parent retrieve the ball for each kid and direct them to dribble their ball back to the starting gate, going well around the cone course so as not to interfere with the next kid. Encourage the kids to go as fast as they can and to shoot very quickly at the end. This drill teaches the kids how to cut the ball from side to side, dribble through traffic and shoot. Keep the drill moving fast, staring the next kid after the first kid is half-way through, so that the kids are only standing in line for a few seconds.

3. Dribbling Through Gates (Shooting from Distance)

Same as the dribbling through gates drill in #2 above, but move the gates further from goal and have the kids take a shot from 10 to 15 yards out.

4. Two Passes Before You Can Shoot

Pair up players on an extra long field and have them go back and forth between the two goals. Must complete two passes before being allowed to shoot. Teams should try to keep track of their goals scored and see who can score the most in 8-10 minutes.

5. Crossing Drill

Use a full field with cones designating the corners of the field. Players line up in two lines on one side of the field, with one line at each corner cone. One line of players will dribble the ball down and cross the ball, and the other line of players will crash the goal and attempt to shoot the crossed ball into the goal. It may help to roll the ball out toward the corner cone on the opposite end of the field to get each group started. The shooter should hold his run until the crosser is nearly ready to cross and then run at full speed toward the goal. Encourage the crosser to look up, find the shooter and place the ball far enough in front of goal to allow the shooter to run onto the ball and take a shot on goal. Once each group has taken a turn, go back the other way and alternate crosser and shooter. Also alternate which side the ball is being crossed from to switch the foot used by the crosser and the shooter.

6. Left Foot or Right Foot?

This is a shooting drill to teach the kids how to use the correct foot when shooting, depending on body position in relation to the goal. Paint a straight line from the point where the midfield stripe touches the sideline to a point about four feet out from the endline just past the far post of the goal. Have the kids dribble from the starting point and shoot with the foot that is closer to the far post (i.e., if they are dribbling from the left to the right, they should shoot with their right foot and vice versa). Repeat on the other side, having them shoot with the other foot. Demonstrate and/or explain why it's so much easier to shoot with the correct foot.

7. Turning the Ball Around

Have the kids start next to the goal at the end line. Kids dribble to midfield and use a skill to turn the ball around (e.g., pulling the ball back with the bottom of the foot, cutting it back with the inside or outside of the foot, etc.). Make sure they are going fast when they turn around. Dribble back to the goal and shoot. After a couple reps, release a defender right when the dribbler is turning around so he has to turn under pressure. Try to beat the defender and get a shot off.

Here's a video of this drill in action (note: the big blonde headed kid is a big brother and not on the team):



8. Face Off

Have the kids stand at midfield and square off against each other in a face off. Drop a ball for each pair of kids. The object is to turn the ball around and go to the goal that is behind the player (i.e., not to go toward the goal the player is facing). This way, the kids work on turning the ball around. Also, the player who looses the face off is forced to play recovery defense and get back to prevent a shot on goal.

9. Triangles

Set up cones in a triangle, 10 to 15 feet apart. Station two kids and the first cone and one kid at each of the other two cones. One of the two kids at the first cones passes to the kid at the second cone and then follows his pass by running to the second cone. The kid at the second cone controls the pass and then passes to the third cone, also following his pass by running to the third cones.

(I'll continue to add to this list as time permits.)