Space Invaders soccer coaching game for ball control skills
Use this fun soccer coaching game to help your players control the ball under pressure when they're running in a straight line.
The name of the game is Space Invaders and the main coaching objectives are to improve dribbling and close control skills, passing accuracy and pace, and one-touch passing.
Set up Space Invaders game
Create a 30 yards by 10 yards playing area with cones spread five yards apart along the length. Use 16 players split into four teams of four, with 10 footballs.
Progression
Introduce timing, so the quickest team to reach the safety zone wins, or stipulate a maximum amount of time. Alternatively, allow the passers an extra touch so they can be more accurate when firing the "laser".
Key soccer coaching tip
Keep an eye out for cheating in this game. If an invader's ball is touched, they're out. Make sure the passers are only using one-touch to begin with.
How to play Space Invaders soccer coaching game
- In pairs, players from three of the teams stand on either side of the channel. On your call, they play one-touch passing back and forth. This represents the laser to shoot down invaders.
- The fourth team - the invaders - has to dribble through the channel, one player per zone at a time, avoiding having their ball hit by the lasers. If an invader's ball is hit by a laser, they have been destroyed and leave the channel in that zone.
- The invaders must aim to reach the safety zone at the end of the channel. The team with the most invaders reaching the safety zone wins.
- If no team reaches the safety zone, the team that progresses the farthest along the channel wins.
Get more soccer coaching games by ordering a copy of Fun Soccer Games for 5 to 8 Year Olds.
Click the link for soccer coaching tips to help improve your players' ball control skills.
Soccer coaching tips
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