Football | Dribbling Drills

Player dribble the ball forwards before dragging it back and pushing it forwards again. The contact with the boot should involve a push rather than tap.

With a ball each players dribble the ball around the area with their right foot only.

With a ball each players have to dribble the ball around the area with their left foot only.

Players with a ball each and have to dribble the ball around the area using both feet and any additional skills they have already learned. i.e. turns, step overs etc.

Skills dribbling - players dribble with the ball to the first cone which they should then run around in an anti-clockwise direction. They then run to the second cone and run around this one in an anti-clockwise direction as well. From this point players run through the two gates before running from the near right to far left cone, along the back edges of the blue cones (far left to far right) and finally around the near left cone before dribbling back to the touchline.

A fun game for all - all players are numbered (in the animation from 1-4). The coach plays a pass straight down the middle of the two lines of players. As soon as they have made this pass they must call out a number. The players whose number has been called out must sprint to try and win the ball. The player who is first to the ball can then turn and dribble to their side. The team with the most balls at the end of the drill is the winner.

The coach calls out any of the four directions: Coke, 7 Up, Sprite or Pepsi. The players must dribble their ball in the direction that the coach has called. The coach can introduce other commands such as milkshake - kids do a forward roll, Sparkling water - All players link arms around the coach, Orange juice - all players hop on one leg.

Set out as many gates as possible within the area (2 discs, 2 yards apart). Each player has a ball. Group in pairs. Player 1 must dribble through as many gates as possible in a specified time limit. Player 2 must try and shadow his partner and each time he is able to kick his ball and it hits the ball of his partner, Player 1 loses a point. One point per gate.

Set out an endzone 5 yards wide from each endline. Play 4 v 4. One ball per group. The red team is in possession of the ball. The object of the game is to advance the ball to the attacking endzone. A goal is scored when a player dribbles the ball into the endzone and stops the ball with the sole of his foot. No defenders are allowed in this area. You can choose to make the endzones neutral such that either team can score in both endzones.

Close control dribbling with the ball. This practice is a good practice to set up as part of a skill circuit where the players pratice lots of variations of dribbling. Place the cones about 5 metres apart and ask the players to dribble around the cones in a figure of eight as fast as they can.

Form a sqaure with players evenly split across the four corners Working diagnally players must look to dribble across, avoiding those also working across the square The more space they have the bigger toucher they can take

Section off four 5 x 5 yard squares in the corners of your 20 x 20 yard area. Station 3 players without a ball in each corner area. Before the game starts, the coach can tell the players the story of frogger, who jumps from lily pad to lily pad visiting his friends. He must return home before dark or else his mother will give him a good tongue lashing. Once the game begins, the coach shouts out, "Frogger!" Players must run from their corner area to the next sequential corner area as shown in the diagram. Continue the activity until players return to the area where they started.

Players dribble around the area, keeping the ball close to their feet whilst avoiding the other players. When the coach calls out a colour players must try and dribble through a gate of that colour as quickly as possible (in this case the red gate).

The object of the game is to dribble to each of the gates in the area. Once a pair reaches the gate, they must play the ball through the cones 3 times back and forth before moving onto the next gate. If another ball is struck or a cone is moved 1 penalty point is occured. Score 3 points for each gate successfully negotiated.

The object of the game is for player 1 to lose his shadowing partner, player 2. Player 2 must dribble at speed, tracking player 1. When the coach shouts out, "Who you gonna call?" The kids reply "Ghostbusters!" At this point everyone freezes. The coach should gauge the distance between partners as a measurement of their success.

The players line up at one end of the grid with the coach the other end. The players will then shout "how long left ref?" The coach will then give them a time e.g. 5 mins and then counts 1-2-3-4-5 and turns to face the players who are dribbling towards him. Anyone still moving has to go back to the begining. The winner is the first one to touch the coach.

Player dribble down a line moving the ball out using the ouside of the boot and back in with the instep.

Player dribbles the ball moving the ball from instep to instep, one touch on each foot.

Instep to instep on the spot. Player hopping up and down at the same time. On coach's command turn and dribble 3m. At that end resume on the spot instep to instep.

Amalgamation of the previous 2 practices. On the spot move the ball from instep to instep. On coach's command, drag ball laterally using the sole of the boot twice, before playing it back to the starting position with the instep.