Football skill drills

Matters most for: Defensive mid, Central mid, Centre back, Full back

Setup: A wall and a ball. 5–8m back.

1. 1. Pass firmly against the wall with the inside of the foot.
2. 2. Take the return with your far foot, away from where a defender would be.
3. 3. Play it back first time, alternating feet every rep.

Volume: 5 × 60 seconds, alternating feet

Coaching point: Your first touch decides the pass — set the ball outside your body, not under it.

Make it harder: Move closer to speed it up, or restrict yourself to two touches, then one.

Matters most for: Defensive mid, Central mid, Winger

Setup: 4+ players, one ball, a 8×8m square.

1. 1. Players on the outside keep the ball; one or two defend inside.
2. 2. Two touches maximum — receive across your body and move it on.
3. 3. Whoever loses it goes in the middle.

Volume: 4 × 4 minutes

Coaching point: Scan before it arrives. The pass you make is decided before you touch the ball.

Make it harder: Shrink the square, or go one-touch.

Matters most for: Centre back, Defensive mid, Central mid

Setup: 30–40m of space, a partner or a target zone.

1. 1. Take a positive first touch across your body, then drive it 30m.
2. 2. Strike through the bottom third with the laces for a driven ball.
3. 3. Alternate driven and lofted — different jobs, different techniques.

Volume: 5 × 10 switches

Coaching point: Open your body before the touch, not after. You can't switch play facing your own goal.

Make it harder: Hit a moving target, or switch off one touch.

Matters most for: Centre back, Full back, Defensive mid, Central mid

Setup: A ball and 40m of space, with a target — a goal, a tree, a cone.

1. 1. Take a settling touch across your body, then strike through the bottom of the ball with your laces.
2. 2. Aim to land it in a 5m target zone, not just to hit it far.
3. 3. Alternate feet every five, and half of them off one touch.

Volume: 5 × 10 passes

Coaching point: The settling touch decides the pass. If it is under your feet you will scoop it; set it half a metre across yourself.

Make it harder: Reduce to one touch entirely, or aim for a partner's chest rather than a zone.

Setup: A wall, a ball, two cones 3m apart.

1. 1. Throw or pass the ball against the wall at varying heights.
2. 2. Kill it with one touch and move it through a cone gate.
3. 3. Alternate which gate — left, right, then behind you.

Volume: 6 × 45 seconds

Coaching point: Cushion, don't stop it dead — the touch should already be going where you want to run.

Make it harder: Add a turn before the touch so you receive on the half-turn.

Setup: A ball, a wall, 20 minutes.

1. 1. Everything with the weaker foot: passes, touches, turns, strikes.
2. 2. Start slow and accurate before adding pace.
3. 3. Finish with 20 weak-foot strikes at a target.

Volume: One session a week, 20 minutes

Coaching point: It feels bad because it is bad — that's the point. Nobody improves a weak foot in the middle of a game.

Make it harder: Add pressure: a time limit, or a defender who knows you can only use one foot.

Matters most for: Central mid, Striker, Defensive mid

Setup: Two cones 10m apart, a wall or server.

1. 1. Receive with your back to the far cone, on the half-turn.
2. 2. Turn out of your feet in one movement and drive forward.
3. 3. Alternate turning left and right, and inside and outside foot.

Volume: 6 × 45 seconds

Coaching point: Check your shoulder BEFORE it arrives. The turn is decided by what you saw, not what you feel.

Make it harder: Add a passive defender touching your back so you have to feel where they are.

Matters most for: Defensive mid, Central mid, Centre back

Setup: A wall, a ball, and four numbered cones around you.

1. 1. Before every pass into the wall, look over both shoulders — a real turn of the head, not a glance.
2. 2. Take the return with the foot furthest from the cone you last looked at.
3. 3. Move the ball to that cone in two touches.

Volume: 6 × 45 seconds

Coaching point: Scan BEFORE the ball arrives, not while it does. Midfielders who look late take a touch that solves nothing.

Make it harder: Have someone call a cone number as the ball leaves the wall.

Matters most for: Winger, Striker, Central mid

Setup: 6–8 cones, 1m apart.

1. 1. Weave through using both feet, small touches.
2. 2. Head up between touches — find a fixed point to look at each time.
3. 3. Explode out of the last cone for 5m.

Volume: 8 runs, 45s rest

Coaching point: Touch count beats speed. Small touches keep the ball inside your stride.

Make it harder: Narrow the gaps, or use only your weaker foot.

Matters most for: Winger, Striker

Setup: A cone as a defender, 20m of space.

1. 1. Attack the cone at pace, execute one move (step-over, chop, drag-back).
2. 2. Accelerate hard for 5m past it — the move is worthless without the burst.
3. 3. Rotate through three moves so you own more than one.

Volume: 3 moves × 6 reps each side

Coaching point: Sell it with your shoulders and eyes, not just your feet.

Make it harder: Add a real defender at 50%, then full pace.

Matters most for: Striker, Winger, Central mid

Setup: A goal, a ball supply (server or rebounder), the penalty area.

1. 1. Receive a rolled ball across the box and finish first time.
2. 2. Alternate sides so you strike with both feet.
3. 3. Place low and across the keeper rather than blasting it.

Volume: 5 × 10 finishes

Coaching point: Ankle locked, head over the ball. Placement beats power inside the box.

Make it harder: Server varies the pace and angle without telling you.

Matters most for: Central mid, Winger, Striker

Setup: A goal and 6+ balls, 18–22m out.

1. 1. Take a controlled touch out of your feet, then strike across the ball.
2. 2. Aim for the corners — pick one and commit before you touch it.
3. 3. Reset fully between strikes; this is a quality drill, not conditioning.

Volume: 4 × 8 strikes

Coaching point: Plant foot pointing at the target. Most bad strikes are bad plant feet.

Make it harder: Strike moving away from goal, or off the weaker foot only.

Matters most for: Striker, Winger

Setup: A goal or two cones as a target, and a ball, from wide of the post.

1. 1. Start wide, take one touch across yourself to open the angle.
2. 2. Aim across the keeper for the far post, low and hard.
3. 3. Half the reps from each side, using the foot nearest the goal-line.

Volume: 4 × 10 finishes, both sides

Coaching point: The opening touch does the work. From a tight angle you are not beating the keeper with power, you are beating them with the angle you made.

Make it harder: Finish first-time off a rolling ball, or start with a sprint to arrive already tired.

Matters most for: Winger, Full back

Setup: The flank, a goal, cones or targets in the box.

1. 1. Drive 10m down the line, then cross first time off the run.
2. 2. Vary between the near post, the penalty spot and the back post.
3. 3. Whip it — the ball should be moving away from the keeper.

Volume: 5 × 6 crosses each side

Coaching point: Look up once, then cross to the picture — don't stare at the ball.

Make it harder: Add a defender pressing, forcing you to cross earlier.

Matters most for: Goalkeeper

Setup: A ball and someone to serve, or a wall you can chip against.

1. 1. Attack the ball at its highest point, taking off from one leg.
2. 2. Lead knee up — it makes room and protects you.
3. 3. Catch in front of your head, fingers spread behind the ball, then bring it down.

Volume: 4 × 8 claims

Coaching point: Call it loud and early. Half of claiming a cross is the defenders knowing you're coming.

Make it harder: Add a passive body in front of you so you have to come through traffic.

Matters most for: Full back, Winger

Setup: A ball, three cones down a wing, and a target in the box.

1. 1. Start with the ball, play it wide to a cone, then sprint the overlap outside it.
2. 2. Collect, take one touch to set, and cross first-time on the second.
3. 3. Alternate between a whipped near-post ball and a cut-back.

Volume: 12 crosses, 6 of each type

Coaching point: The sprint is the drill. Crossing fresh teaches you nothing about crossing on 70 minutes and a lung-buster.

Make it harder: Time the run against a stopwatch, or cross first-time with no setting touch.

Matters most for: Centre back, Striker

Setup: A server, a ball, a goal or target area.

1. 1. Attack the ball from a short run-up — meet it at the highest point.
2. 2. Defensive reps: head for height, distance and width.
3. 3. Attacking reps: head down, back across the keeper.

Volume: 4 × 10 (alternate attacking/defensive)

Coaching point: Attack the ball, don't wait for it. Eyes open, contact on the forehead.

Make it harder: Add a passive jumper to compete against.

Matters most for: Centre back, Striker, Defensive mid

Setup: A ball and a wall, or a ball you can throw high.

1. 1. Throw the ball up above head height and attack it — meet the ball, do not wait for it.
2. 2. Contact with the forehead, eyes open, neck firm, and head THROUGH the line of the ball.
3. 3. Defensive reps: head it high and long. Attacking reps: head it down.

Volume: 4 × 10 headers, alternating defensive and attacking contact

Coaching point: You attack the ball; it never attacks you. Meeting it a foot earlier is the whole difference in a duel.

Make it harder: Jump off one foot from a short run-up, or have a partner serve from an angle.

Matters most for: Centre back, Full back, Defensive mid

Setup: A 10×15m channel, an attacker with a ball.

1. 1. Close the ground quickly, then slow into a side-on stance.
2. 2. Show them onto their weaker foot and toward the touchline.
3. 3. Tackle only when the ball is away from their body.

Volume: 8 × 30 seconds, alternating roles

Coaching point: Get there fast, arrive slow. Diving in is how you get beaten.

Make it harder: Shrink the channel; give the attacker a two-touch limit.

Matters most for: Striker, Winger, Central mid

Setup: A partner with a ball, 15m of space.

1. 1. Partner plays a heavy touch or turns their back — that's your trigger.
2. 2. Sprint to press on the trigger only; jog otherwise.
3. 3. Arrive curved, cutting off the pass back.

Volume: 10 × 15-second bursts

Coaching point: Press the moment their head goes down. Pressing a player who's looking up just tires you out.

Make it harder: Two attackers, so you also have to choose which one to press.

Matters most for: Centre back, Full back, Defensive mid

Setup: Four cones in a 5m square.

1. 1. Get into a side-on stance, knees bent, weight on the balls of your feet.
2. 2. Shuffle between the cones without crossing your feet, staying side-on throughout.
3. 3. On the last cone, turn and sprint 5m as if the attacker has knocked it past you.

Volume: 8 × 20 seconds, 40 seconds rest

Coaching point: Side-on and patient. A defender who squares up has already committed, and the first touch past you decides the duel.

Make it harder: Have someone point the direction late, or add a ball to shepherd rather than a cone to touch.

Matters most for: Centre back, Full back

Setup: A ball, a wall to rebound off, and space in front of you.

1. 1. Play the ball against the wall so it returns at an awkward height.
2. 2. Clear it first time — high, long and wide, never straight back down the middle.
3. 3. Reset your feet between every rep rather than standing still.

Volume: 4 × 12 clearances, both feet

Coaching point: Height, distance, width — in that order. A clearance that stays in the box is a second chance for them.

Make it harder: Take them under pressure from a closing partner, or off a bouncing ball rather than a rolling one.

Matters most for: Goalkeeper

Setup: A wall and a ball, 6–8m back.

1. 1. Throw the ball against the wall and get set before it comes back.
2. 2. Feet land shoulder-width, weight on the balls of the feet, hands up in front of the chest.
3. 3. Save, reset to your starting mark, repeat immediately.

Volume: 5 × 45 seconds

Coaching point: Be still at the moment of contact. A keeper moving as the ball is struck is a keeper going the wrong way.

Make it harder: Throw harder and closer so you have less time to set.

Matters most for: Goalkeeper

Setup: A wall, a ball, soft ground if you can.

1. 1. Roll the ball hard into the wall low so it returns along the floor.
2. 2. Collapse sideways, bottom hand behind the ball, top hand over it.
3. 3. Trap it against the ground and pull it into your chest before you get up.

Volume: 6 × 6 each side

Coaching point: The bottom hand is the barrier — if it's beside the ball rather than behind it, the ball goes through you.

Make it harder: Start standing rather than crouched, so you have to drop into it.

Matters most for: Goalkeeper

Setup: Four cones two metres apart across your goal line.

1. 1. Side-step between the cones staying square to the pitch — never cross your feet.
2. 2. On a call or a clap, set and take an imaginary save.
3. 3. Recover to the middle cone each time.

Volume: 6 × 30 seconds

Coaching point: Stay tall. Keepers who drop their hips shuffling can't push off to save.

Make it harder: Add a ball thrown to a random side as you finish the shuffle.

Matters most for: Goalkeeper

Setup: A wall with an uneven surface if possible, and a ball.

1. 1. Throw the ball hard at the wall from close range.
2. 2. React to whatever comes back — you won't know the angle.
3. 3. Parry wide or catch, whichever the ball allows.

Volume: 5 × 10 throws

Coaching point: Hands travel to the ball on the shortest path. Any loop and you're late.

Make it harder: Move closer to cut the reaction time, or use a rebounder for a truly random return.

Matters most for: Goalkeeper

Setup: Cones or markers at 15m, 30m and 45m, and a few balls.

1. 1. Roll to the near target, drive to the middle one, kick long to the far one.
2. 2. Cycle through all three so you're switching technique every rep.
3. 3. Take each one as if you've just made a save — move, then release.

Volume: 4 × 9 (3 to each target)

Coaching point: Distribution starts attacks. Pick the target before you gather, not after.

Make it harder: Add a time limit — release within three seconds of collecting.

Matters most for: Goalkeeper

Setup: A ball, and targets at 30m, 45m and the halfway line.

1. 1. Same approach every kick: two steps, plant, strike through the bottom of the ball.
2. 2. Work through the three distances in order, three balls at each.
3. 3. Then repeat with the weaker foot at the shortest distance only.

Volume: 27 kicks, plus 9 weak-footed

Coaching point: Height and distance come from the plant foot, not the swing. Pointing it at the target is most of the accuracy.

Make it harder: Add a target zone rather than a distance, or kick into the wind and adjust.

Matters most for: Goalkeeper

Setup: A ball and an attacker, or cones to run onto.

1. 1. Close the distance fast while the ball is away from the attacker's foot.
2. 2. Stop and get set as they touch it — never dive early.
3. 3. Spread big: hands and feet wide, make yourself the largest barrier you can.

Volume: 4 × 6

Coaching point: Patience beats bravery. The keeper who goes to ground first loses the 1v1.

Make it harder: Let the attacker choose to shoot early or take you on.