Soccer Coaching Blog

Seven keeper drills that run with one feeder and a bag of balls, each with its setup and what it trains. Also: U.S. Soccer age guidance on who plays in goal, the punting ban in small-sided games, the eight-second rule, how gloves should fit, and a 20-minute backyard plan.

Start with a 4v1 in a 10-yard square, then work up to a 5v2. This guide gives grid sizes and touch limits by format, four coaching points to repeat, six variations from the open side to find the target, and where rondos fit in a youth practice.

Ten conditioning drills, most of them with a ball, laid out week by week for high school and club tryouts. Start inside the 14-day heat-acclimatization window, build to harder reps in week 3 and keep the last two days light, with a backyard version included.

Seven chase-and-dribble games that keep every 8-year-old on a ball, each with a coaching note you can use on the night. Also inside: how U8 and U9 differ on ball, game length and offside, and a simple backyard week around team practice.

Ten 1v1 drills in one place, each with setup, rotation and the coaching cue that matters, plus a table that sizes the grid to your team's age group and weekend format. Several have a home version with a parent playing defender.

Ten warm-up drills that keep a ball moving from the first whistle, each matched to the age group it suits. Stack three of them into a 10-minute routine, see how a high school pregame differs, and get a solo version your kid can run in the backyard.

Eight U6 drills built so nobody stands in line, from Space Wars to Team Tag, each with a short coaching note. For volunteer coaches there is also the U6 rule summary, an hour split into four blocks and the exact phrases that land with five-year-olds.

Every minnow has a ball, the sharks don't, and anyone who loses their ball joins the sharks. Get the rules, a box-size table by age and group size, four variations from seaweed to win it and score, and a small-group version for the backyard.

Five footwork drills for one player and a ball, four for two players and a scrimmage for the group. Each comes with a number to track, the US heading rules for under-11s are built in, and a weekly plan fits it all into 10 to 15 minutes a day.

Start with no goal, add an empty net, then a keeper, a rolling ball and a bouncing ball. Each shooting drill comes with a setup in yards and a way to make it harder, plus a quick plan by age group and five simple cues for striking the ball cleanly.

College and high school play on the same 8 x 24 foot goal as the pros, while a U8 goal is one eighth of that area. This guide covers every level in feet, compares each youth goal with full size, and shows which 3-in-1 trainer opening matches which.