Soccer warm-up for dribbling on demand
This simple yet effective warm-up drill will get your players mentally alert very quickly, while helping them perfect their ball skills at the same time.
How to set it up
- Mark out a 25-yard square.
- Tell each player to grab a ball and find some space inside the square.
Getting started
- Players must react to simple commands.
- Call out instructions such as: "Slower", "faster", "turn", "skill", "keep the ball up", "best foot", "weak foot", "change balls".
- Look for players to perfect each new instruction, observing how quickly they can switch from one routine to the other.
- Given that they’re operating in a tight area as well, see if they can prevent bumping into one another.
- Experiment by calling out individual instructions to selected players as well, to ensure that everyone is listening at all times.
Why this works
Sometimes the simplest warm-ups can be the most effective. There’s no doubt that the pace of the English Premier League is filtering down to our youth systems, so speed of thought is often as valuable as speed on the ball!
This exercise is taken from Michael Beale's The Ultimate Soccer Warm-Ups Manual.
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