Provide some fun competition and have your players let out their energy by incorporating fun drills and games into your practices. It is important that when doing fun drills and games with your players, that they are still developing and improving their soccer skills. We searched the web and pulled together 10 fun soccer drills to fit into your soccer practice. Each of these drills can be customized to however you see fit for any age level or level of difficulty!

1. One-on-one Ball Control Drill

In teams of two, put each pair of players into a space outlined by pylons or cones. The objective of this drill is to have one player control the ball, while the other player attempts to gain control and kick it out of the small space. The players can switch roles once it goes out of bounds.

2. Bank Robbers

If you’re looking for a warm-up game or something to play at the end of practice, bank robbers is a fun yet competitive choice. Split your players up into two teams, and each team possesses two sets of balls in each corner. The objective of the game is to steal all the balls from the opposing team and dribble them to your side. Players are considered safe when they are on their own side of the field, but if they get tagged while on the opposing team’s side, they must sit there until a teammate comes and tags them free.

3. Soccer Tic-Tac-Toe

This drill can be used to help your players work on their agility and decision making under pressure. Split your players up into two teams and create a tic tac toe board with any equipment that you have. Each team must race to the board and place a soccer ball down to create a full line of three. You can make them dribble the ball there, run backwards, or perform an agility circuit on their way to the board.

See the Soccerexpert for more fun soccer warmups!

4. Target Practice

For your Forward and Midfield players working on accuracy, set up targets in the net for them to attempt to hit. Have them go through a series of balls and directions to try and hit each of the areas in the net. You can customize this drill so they only have to hit each target once, or for every target missed they must complete an exercise.

5. 1v1 Attack or Defend

This drill keeps players quick on their feet as they don’t know who the attacker or the defender will be. Have someone kick the ball to a pair from the sidelines and whoever gets to it first will try to score on either net, while the other player will act as the defender and try to take possession. Once the defender gets possession or the attacker scores, the next pair can go.

6. Red Light, Green Light

Have your players pair up with one ball for each pair. When you say green light, have them scatter around the field and pass back and forth with their partner at a fast pace. When you say red light, whoever in the pair has possession of the ball has to do an exercise of your choice. Like hot potato, you want to get rid of the ball as fast as you can while still staying in control. This will keep the players fast on their feet, focused, and wanting to make quick one-touch passes.

7. Cone Scattered Dribbling Drill

The objective of this drill is for your players to improve their dribbling control. Use pylons and scatter them across the field in no specific order. When you blow the whistle, have the players dribble around the cones at a fast pace avoiding knocking any of them over. This will help them with their ball control while moving at a fast pace. You can customize the drill to have them go faster every time you blow the whistle or do jumping jacks when they knock a pylon over.

Visit Coachtube.com to see a variety of customizable drills.

8. Duck Tails

Using pinnies or bandannas, have your plays tuck one into the back of their shorts to resemble a tail. In a contained area, have the players dribble their own ball around at a fast pace, while at the same time trying to steal the pinnies off the other players. This will help the players learn to keep their head up while maintaining control of the ball and learn to get out of sticky situations fast.

Watch a demonstration by Mojo.Sport to see it in action!

9. One Touch Passes

It is important no matter what age the players are to focus on the basics. One touch passes are an important defensive skill to get the ball out of your side as fast as possible. To make this skill fun, set your players up in a circle with one player in the middle. Have the person in the middle make one touch passes to each of the outside players, then switch out the middle person once they are done. Make it more interesting by putting them on a time limit or see which player can do it the fastest!

10. Team Shooting Drill

In two teams, the objective is to score as many goals as possible. Split each team up into 2 sets, having one line as the shooters and the other the passers. The line on the outside will pass to their shooters on their team who will race in to shoot a goal. Have the shooters and the passers alternate within their team so that they get to practice both skills. This will allow players to practice accurate passing, shooting, and communicating as a team.

Visit the SoccerTutor to see more complex drills for older athletes!

Keep practices fun with new soccer balls from SoccerCards.ca, or reward your players with soccer cards and stickers after a fantastic practice or special occasion!