Passing Technique and Ball Control
The following are two warm-up exercises that I like to do with my players. They are pretty straight forward and involve movement and passing. The objective is to keep everyone on their toes and get the blood flowing (you will want to stop and stretch every few minutes) and to focus on technique and proper weight of the pass. Ideally, the objective is one-touch passing, but you want the exercise to work so if a player needs to take a second touch, that is ok. Push the players to make the passing and the movement as perfect as possible.
1. http://www.insidesoccer.com/is-web/movie?id=464
2. http://www.insidesoccer.com/is-web/movie?id=463
After the warm-up, you can take the concept to the next level with the following technique exercise: http://www.insidesoccer.com/is-web/movie?id=177&pro=1. This, or similar adaptations, are practiced by the top professional clubs around the world (in this case Boca Juniors, the dominant club in Argentina). The emphasis is on touch and ball control. Make the exercise appropriate for your team's skill level (for instance, the younger teams might struggle with the outside of the foot volley or other aerial passes). However, don't be afraid to challenge your players--these are the types of exercises you want to repeat and, if practiced regularly, you will see a great improvement in ball control over the course of the season. Make sure you explain and practice the difference between a defensive and an offensive header--defensive headers should be met at the highest point and headed "up and away" to their teammates, and offensive headers should be headed down, or in this case straight into a teammates hands at their chest or mid-section. With the dribbling, encourage the players to use all parts of the foot (remember, with a fast straight-ahead dribble, the toe should be pointed down and the touch should be with the laces). Obviously, with older teams, coaches have the option of turning this entire exercise into a fitness session, making the players perform everything at high speeds.
Passing & Off-Ball Movement -- http://www.insidesoccer.com/is-web/movie?id=530&pro=1
I love using this exercise as a warmup or high tempo activity to focus on the technique of passing and receiving and the tactical element of moving off the ball to support a player in possession. Note the setup and rotation (the ball always starts at the cones with two players). Younger teams may want to try, or at least start with one ball. Make sure the players are productive with their first touch. They don't want to be simply stopping and collecting the ball at their feet, but rather using their first touch to set up their next action (remember "anticipation" rather than "reaction"). Note the progression to combination plays and pay particular attention to the movement and passes so that you can demo them correctly. Throughout all of these progressions, you want your players finding some sort of rhythm to the exercise so that they can execute it correctly with good flow and tempo. They also need to really concentrate on their passes (both accuracy and the weight of the pass) and touches, as well as their off-ball movement and where they need to be to offer support. With older teams, make your players play one-touch (younger teams might need a few more touches to make it work). This increases the tempo and demands that the off-ball movement be early, forcing the players supporting the ball to be mentally sharp and focused. Be patient with your players--some teams take a couple more minutes to get the rotation and flow of each progression, but encourage those players who are quick to understand to communicate and help each other out. This promotes leadership in the flow of play as well as the idea that players should be looking to make each other better. After all, with soccer, much more can be achieved in a game-type situation if players can sort things out collectively for themselves rather than having EVERYTHING communicated from the bench.
Passing With Movement -- http://www.insidesoccer.com/is-web/movie?id=482
This is a great passing exercise for your players to focus on the technique of short and long passes, as well as their runs off the ball. It can also be used as a warmup or even a fitness exercise. It looks fairly simple, but note the runs and passes made by each color so that you can clearly explain them to your players. Emphasize the importance of the weight of the pass--with older teams, the longer pass can be a driven ball in the air. Also note how the coach instructs the players to check away before receiving the pass--this is a habit that we want to instill in our players, especially the younger ones (it is something that can be included in all of your passing drills/exercises). With my team, I had enough players that I put a player in yellow in the middle and he was replaced by the yellow who passed him the ball. One they got comfortable with this, I added a second yellow in the middle, kept the same type of rotation, but had them play with two balls at the same time (the balls started at opposite ends of the rectangle). Make sure you swap the players so that both colors get a chance to make the different runs and supports off the ball.
Passing, Turning & Combination Play -- http://www.insidesoccer.com/is-web/movie?id=247&pro=1 -- This is a great exercise that can be used as a warmup or a drill to emphasize proper passing technique and different forms of passing combination in a game-like scenario. In a game, we prefer for our players to attack in numbers (rather than string out a lone striker by hitting him or her long balls repeatedly). This exercise allows the players to become comfortable with typical ball movement and support in regard to working the ball up through the midfield to the strikers and creating a collective attack. Note the player rotation within the exercise. The turns can be done with either the inside or the outside of the foot, but encourage the player to do it quickly and decisively in order to separate from the "defender." Keep the tempo high. In the second part of the exercise, encourage your team to play one-touch.
Passing Technique, Movement, and Mental Awareness
Soccer is a great sport because as coaches we can't call time outs to draw up plays and regroup our team. Players have to learn how to think for themselves so that they can collectively deal with the ups and downs that come with the flow of play over an entire half of soccer. This demands constant mental sharpness and concentration. Try to push your players in this regard. In other sports, coaches usually push players in practice by demanding a really high work rate, for instance in running plays or straightforward fitness exercises. And although a high work rate is important in soccer practices, you also want to make sure that you are pushing your players mentally as well. This is just as important (if not more so!) and sometimes more difficult than the physical demand as it forces players to think for themselves, become "schemers," think creatively, and embrace the conceptual side of the game.
http://www.insidesoccer.com/is-web/movie?id=353 -- This is a very simple passing exercise that can be used as a warmup (with intermittent stretching). Have the players focus on the weight of the pass and their first touch (their first touch should be productive and setting up their pass, or in other words in the direction of the recipient). Before anything else, demand that your players be mentally sharp with their runs and give them the incentive to not make a single mistake. You can advance the exercise by increasing the speed of the exercise, or with one-touch passing (the runs need to be made faster). As Ose says in the video, encourage them to use all surfaces of the foot with their touches and passes.
Passing & Combination Play-- http://www.insidesoccer.com/is-web/movie?id=481
This unopposed passing game can be a great warm-up or an exercise leading up to a possession game. It promotes the essential concepts of combination play, for example movement off the ball, early support, and quick ball movement. Technically, players should be focusing on good touches and proper weight on their passes. Older teams should play one-touch. Note the passing combination and rotation/movement of the players off the ball so that you can spell it out clearly for the players in a demo. Once the players get the hang of it, you can ask them to speed up the tempo. Also note the coach's emphasis on "not killing the space" with the angled supporting run. Remind the players passing and receiving the ball that each pass should be setting up the next one in the progression. In this regard, older players should be focusing on passing to a specific foot in order to set up their teammate's next action. If younger players must take more than one touch to make it work, ask them to be productive with their first touch and take it in the direction of their next pass instead of killing the ball at their feet with a "trap."
Technical Coordination With Passing
