Warm-up: Shooting circuit
Organisation
- Create four teams – one on each corner of a square
- Each team has a colour and gates with the same colour inside the square
- Each player has to dribble through their coloured gate and return to the next player in a relay race
- Each team has to complete its own colour and then another colour, etc.
- Players can also go in pairs and dribble then pass the ball through gates before they return
Ways to make the exercise easier:
- You could start with a simple race and no balls
- You could also introduce different physical movements such as hopping, skipping, jumping, etc.
Ways to make the exercise harder:
- Increase the number of coloured gates in the square
- Make the gates smaller
Great questions to ask the children:
- Can you show me how quickly you can dribble with the ball under control?
- Can you show me a trick where you turn on the ball when you return to your corner?
- Can you keep your head up when dribbling so that you avoid others?
Safety tips:
- Only one player or pair to go at a time from each team
Skill development: 3v3 with different number of goals
Organisation
- Create four teams – one on each corner of a square
- Each team has a colour and the same coloured cones inside the square
- Each player has to dribble round their coloured cone and return to next player in a relay race
- Each player/team must then dribble round the whole square
- Each team nominates one defender to delay the dribblers
Ways to make the exercise easier:
- You could start with a simple race and no balls
- You could also introduce different physical movements such as hopping, skipping, jumping, etc.
Ways to make the exercise harder:
- Increase the number of coloured cones in the square so that players have to dribble round two or three before they return
- Add a defender from each team who can act as a blocker when players dribble through the square and so have to go around them as well
Great questions to ask the children:
- Can you show me how quickly you can dribble with the ball under control?
- Can you show me a trick where you go past the blocker when you return to your corner?
- Can you keep your head up when dribbling so that you avoid others?
Safety tips:
- Only one player or pair to go at a time from each team
Game application: 6v6 Game
Organisation
- Organise mini-pitches for 4v4 with two goals at each end in wide areas
- Teams play normal football with the focus on dribbling
- Can they try to dribble past a player when 1v1?
- If they can’t, can they pass to a team-mate in space to try and dribble and score?
Ways to make the exercise easier:
- You could play 5v3 so that one team has more space to dribble
Ways to make the exercise harder:
- One team plays with fewer players
- Impose conditions on ways to score
Great questions to ask the children:
- In which areas of the pitch should you take risks and dribble with the ball?
- Can you show me different ways of tricking your opponents?
Safety tips:
- Create safe zones between pitches