DEFINING EFFECTIVE SOCCER DRILLS

Excellent and effective soccer drills must meet the following criteria:

1. Soccer drills must support the theme of the practice session
2. Soccer drills must be targeted in complexity towards the age group and the competitive level of your team and players. They must motivate the players. Young kids need fun motivational games, older and more competitive players need more challenging exercises being motivated by accomplishment and competition.
3. Soccer drills must be easy to explain and demonstrate.
4. Soccer drills must be designed for the space and equipment available.
5. Soccer drills must be adaptable as the players go through them to add or reduce the complexity.
6. Soccer drills must always show improvement in players performance from beginning to the end of the drill.
7. Soccer drills must be relevant to game situations and players must easily understand how they can translate what they learned to a game. You can test this in the end-of-practice scrimmage.
8. Soccer drills must keep players' attention and interest and must keep players moving with a ball as much as possible.
9. Soccer drills must allow for progression of difficulty if the players catch on quickly.
10. Soccer drills must end on a successful note for the players.