Coaches must balance both skill development and fun. By 10, kids already have some good fundamentals, so you can move into more advanced drills, particularly ones that can replicate situations they would experience in a real game.
Whether you are a beginner or looking for some help with your soccer coaching, you’ll find some great ideas with these drills.
Warm-up drills are great for getting bodies moving and blood pumping. Have your players do some basic warm-up drills before moving to more advanced drills.
Create a 16×20 yard grid with four mini goals. Ask two players to be ‘neutral players’ and set them up between a couple of nets that you have set up. Split the other players into a pair of teams, and have them stand in 4 different lines. Pro Tip: Have some extra balls available for quicker restarts.
The coach starts it off with a pass to one side. The first two kids from each team play a 2v2 game with the help of the 2 neutrals. Neutral players patrol along the sidelines between the nets, but they cannot enter the field of play. The role of the neutral players is to always be on the side of the attackers, so they switch sides dynamically.
When the players score a goal, all the players leave the field, and four new players come onto the pitch. The game ends when one team scores 5 goals. Be sure to swap the neutral players out to give everyone a chance to play the role of the neutrals and repeat as desired!
Give it a shot and you’ll see how fun this one is!
Prepare a 20-meter square field and place a mini net in each corner. This one works best if you have a plethora of soccer balls on hand.
Split the players up into 4 equal groups. Each group stands in line directly behind one of the goals but outside the grid (one team in each corner). It starts when the coach passes a ball into the field of play.
The first player from each soccer team enters the field starting up a 1v1v1v1 free-for-all game against the other soccer players. Each player tries to score on any goal while defending their own goal.
When your goal is scored on, the player is eliminated and joins the back of their group line. The coach plays a new soccer ball in, and the remaining three players play a 1v1v1 game with the same rules. This goes on until there is only one player left. The last man standing wins a point!
You can play this again with the next group of soccer players, and set a target such as whichever team scores 8 points first is crowned the winner!
Learning to dribble effectively is a skill that all 10-year-olds should be working on. Being able to dribble using both feet is a basic skill that will need to be continually improved with drills. Drills that replicate potential game situations are preferred, as well as drills that encourage decision-making. These soccer drills can be played with any age group. Make sure players use both their right and left foot when performing soccer dribbling drills.
Goals from Chaos gets players excited and moving, and it replicates real game experience by adding the element of randomness that you’ll see when your players start to play it. Part of being a good soccer player is being able to react and adapt quickly to what’s on the pitch in front of you.
Prepare a 25×25 yard square with two small nets on each side of the square spaced evenly apart (8 goals total). Put a flat cone inside each of the of nets and divide the soccer group into 4. Ask them to line up behind one of the cones. Prepare as many soccer balls as you can—things are about to get crazy!
Each player in lines 1 and 3 should have a ball. Player one in line 1 passes the ball to the player at the top of line 2. They play a 1v1 scrimmage and try to score in one of the two goals they are facing by dribbling through and maintaining possession. You want to encourage the players to have control and disallow any long-range goals that avoid what you want to practice (i.e. dribbling and taking players on 1v1).
The first players in lines 3 and 4 do the same thing simultaneously on the same pitch! Essentially two games are going on at the same time, keeping the kids from waiting in line. Also, whenever a goal is scored or the ball goes out of play, the next player in line begins the next 1v1 game with the next player, and so on down the line.
Whoever scores the most goals by the end of the designated time wins the game! How wonderfully chaotic!
Passing is an essential part of soccer. Passing needs to be drilled at every soccer practice because it can always be improved and it promotes teamwork. The best way to do this with youth soccer players is to make it work in a fun game. Also, as the coach, be sure to encourage the young players to set good habits and to play “game-level” passes as weak, lazy passes don’t help players improve.
Start at one of the main nets and place some cones to mark off the area. Put ½ the balls on one side of the goal behind Cone A and half on the other side.
Split the players into two teams and assign them pinnies. On each team, one of the players starts in Triangle C, one on Cone B, and the rest of the happy soccer players should start on Cone A. Each of these should have a ball at the ready. The first team also puts a player in the goal to start as the first keeper.
The second team begins the game, passing and following in sequence (A-B-C). When ‘C’ receives the ball, they use their first touch to take the ball out of the triangle and their second touch to shoot. If ‘C’ scores, the second team wins a point and repeats. The person who scored joins the back of their line, and the player standing in the first team’s triangle becomes the next goalkeeper. Play first to 10 goals, and then have the teams switch sides, and do it again.
Set up a 7x7x7 yard triangle using tall cones. Each of the three sides of the triangle is a different goal. Make a square demarcation using cones outside of the triangle of a size about 35×35 yards in size. You will require two sets of pinnies and a ball.
Select two players to start as the keepers. Divide the rest of the soccer kids in two groups. The GK’s must defend all three nets and work out how to cover multiple nets at one time. The two teams compete for possession of the ball and try and score in any of the nets. Kids cannot run through the triangle. The drill continues if a goal is scored and the ball re-enters play through a different side of the Bermuda triangle. The first team to 5 goals wins!
Shooting is one of the most fun parts of soccer practice according to every single kid ever. But these shooting drills can help you make sure the players get some time shooting while also improving their technique and skill level. They are sure to be the highlight of your training sessions.
Start with a full-size goal and have one player start as the GK. The rest of the players line up behind the 18-yard box. The coach stands next to the goal with all the balls.
The coach passes a ball to the first person in line, who must then shoot with their first touch. What happens next depends on the result that comes from that shot on goal. Here’s how to decide what happens next:
Once a player gets eliminated, they stand behind the goal and help to collect the balls so the coach can focus on passing to the next player in rapid succession. If the player is able to catch one of the not-on-target shots before it hits the turf, then that player is allowed to rejoin the game by shouting the word ‘lightning.’ Then they can run and stand in the back of the line to wait for their turn. The last player in the game wins. Warning: this game can get loud!
Ball control, sometimes referred to as ball mastery, is the ability to control the soccer ball at close contact. There are several ways to improve ball control, including juggling and on-the-floor drills where you touch and move the ball with different parts of the foot.
Kids should practice ball control while playing heads up so they can scan the field of play. Coaches should mix these ball control drills with scrimmages later on in the practice session.
Set up a 35×25 yard square grid with two goals (one on either side). You’ll need 12 balls. Place them around the field in various positions outside the field of play.
Split the players up into two groups with the same number of players. Pass a white soccer ball into the play area to commence the soccer drill. The rules of the game are the same as a regular soccer game. The only difference is that if a team scores a goal or kicks the ball out, the other team can choose any of the balls around the grid to restart the game, which keeps players focused during quick restarts.
Only one soccer ball is allowed on the field of play at any given time. If, at any point, a team brings multiple balls onto the soccer turf, the other team is awarded a free kick by the referee. The drill continues until all balls have been used. The winning team is the one with the most goals.
Most 10-year-olds enjoy playing soccer games. As a coach, you want to work games into your practices and encourage small-sided games that allow for more touches on the ball. Games work on passing, speed, control, and dribbling. These are some great games to fit into your next practice on the soccer field.
Make a 25×35 yard grid with four PUGG nets. You will need to assign two teams of 4 players each. You’ll also need one ball.
This is a possession game where teams try to keep possession. Play is directional, with each team attacking one set of goals and defending the other. There are no keepers, but all other soccer rules apply. Play for a predetermined amount of time, and whoever scores the most goals wins!
Set up a 20×20 yard grid with 4-5 small gates placed randomly within the area. Split the players up into pairs and give one ball to every group of 2 players and have them remember their number (1 or 2).
Player 1 starts as the attacker and has a ball at their feet, while Player 2 will start as the defender. All pairs work within the grid at the same time. On the coach’s signal, all the attackers try to dribble through as many of the gates as possible while keeping possession of the ball.
Players cannot dribble through the same gate twice in a row, but they earn a point for each gate they dribble through successfully. The defenders try and stop their attacker from scoring points by blocking any of the gates. If the defenders win the ball, they give it straight back to their attacking partner, and the game continues.
After 90 seconds, the players switch roles. Whoever gets the most points wins, so be sure to have them keep count! Repeat with the player roles swapped.
Age 10 is a pivotal point for soccer development. If you want your child to have the best chance to earn a spot on their next soccer team, check out TOCA Football. TOCA has technology-enhanced soccer training designed to produce rapid improvements and develop well-rounded players.
Customers love TOCA Training:
“Not only incredibly innovative but also incredibly effective training. The instructors are skilled, attentive, encouraging, helpful, and caring.” - Gregory J, Riser’s parent
Book your free kickoff training session and see how much fun we have.
Coaches must balance both skill development and fun. By 10, kids already have some good fundamentals, so you can move into more advanced drills, particularly ones that can replicate situations they would experience in a real game.
Whether you are a beginner or looking for some help with your soccer coaching, you’ll find some great ideas with these drills.
Warm-up drills are great for getting bodies moving and blood pumping. Have your players do some basic warm-up drills before moving to more advanced drills.
Create a 16×20 yard grid with four mini goals. Ask two players to be ‘neutral players’ and set them up between a couple of nets that you have set up. Split the other players into a pair of teams, and have them stand in 4 different lines. Pro Tip: Have some extra balls available for quicker restarts.
The coach starts it off with a pass to one side. The first two kids from each team play a 2v2 game with the help of the 2 neutrals. Neutral players patrol along the sidelines between the nets, but they cannot enter the field of play. The role of the neutral players is to always be on the side of the attackers, so they switch sides dynamically.
When the players score a goal, all the players leave the field, and four new players come onto the pitch. The game ends when one team scores 5 goals. Be sure to swap the neutral players out to give everyone a chance to play the role of the neutrals and repeat as desired!
Give it a shot and you’ll see how fun this one is!
Prepare a 20-meter square field and place a mini net in each corner. This one works best if you have a plethora of soccer balls on hand.
Split the players up into 4 equal groups. Each group stands in line directly behind one of the goals but outside the grid (one team in each corner). It starts when the coach passes a ball into the field of play.
The first player from each soccer team enters the field starting up a 1v1v1v1 free-for-all game against the other soccer players. Each player tries to score on any goal while defending their own goal.
When your goal is scored on, the player is eliminated and joins the back of their group line. The coach plays a new soccer ball in, and the remaining three players play a 1v1v1 game with the same rules. This goes on until there is only one player left. The last man standing wins a point!
You can play this again with the next group of soccer players, and set a target such as whichever team scores 8 points first is crowned the winner!
Learning to dribble effectively is a skill that all 10-year-olds should be working on. Being able to dribble using both feet is a basic skill that will need to be continually improved with drills. Drills that replicate potential game situations are preferred, as well as drills that encourage decision-making. These soccer drills can be played with any age group. Make sure players use both their right and left foot when performing soccer dribbling drills.
Goals from Chaos gets players excited and moving, and it replicates real game experience by adding the element of randomness that you’ll see when your players start to play it. Part of being a good soccer player is being able to react and adapt quickly to what’s on the pitch in front of you.
Prepare a 25×25 yard square with two small nets on each side of the square spaced evenly apart (8 goals total). Put a flat cone inside each of the of nets and divide the soccer group into 4. Ask them to line up behind one of the cones. Prepare as many soccer balls as you can—things are about to get crazy!
Each player in lines 1 and 3 should have a ball. Player one in line 1 passes the ball to the player at the top of line 2. They play a 1v1 scrimmage and try to score in one of the two goals they are facing by dribbling through and maintaining possession. You want to encourage the players to have control and disallow any long-range goals that avoid what you want to practice (i.e. dribbling and taking players on 1v1).
The first players in lines 3 and 4 do the same thing simultaneously on the same pitch! Essentially two games are going on at the same time, keeping the kids from waiting in line. Also, whenever a goal is scored or the ball goes out of play, the next player in line begins the next 1v1 game with the next player, and so on down the line.
Whoever scores the most goals by the end of the designated time wins the game! How wonderfully chaotic!
Passing is an essential part of soccer. Passing needs to be drilled at every soccer practice because it can always be improved and it promotes teamwork. The best way to do this with youth soccer players is to make it work in a fun game. Also, as the coach, be sure to encourage the young players to set good habits and to play “game-level” passes as weak, lazy passes don’t help players improve.
Start at one of the main nets and place some cones to mark off the area. Put ½ the balls on one side of the goal behind Cone A and half on the other side.
Split the players into two teams and assign them pinnies. On each team, one of the players starts in Triangle C, one on Cone B, and the rest of the happy soccer players should start on Cone A. Each of these should have a ball at the ready. The first team also puts a player in the goal to start as the first keeper.
The second team begins the game, passing and following in sequence (A-B-C). When ‘C’ receives the ball, they use their first touch to take the ball out of the triangle and their second touch to shoot. If ‘C’ scores, the second team wins a point and repeats. The person who scored joins the back of their line, and the player standing in the first team’s triangle becomes the next goalkeeper. Play first to 10 goals, and then have the teams switch sides, and do it again.
Set up a 7x7x7 yard triangle using tall cones. Each of the three sides of the triangle is a different goal. Make a square demarcation using cones outside of the triangle of a size about 35×35 yards in size. You will require two sets of pinnies and a ball.
Select two players to start as the keepers. Divide the rest of the soccer kids in two groups. The GK’s must defend all three nets and work out how to cover multiple nets at one time. The two teams compete for possession of the ball and try and score in any of the nets. Kids cannot run through the triangle. The drill continues if a goal is scored and the ball re-enters play through a different side of the Bermuda triangle. The first team to 5 goals wins!
Shooting is one of the most fun parts of soccer practice according to every single kid ever. But these shooting drills can help you make sure the players get some time shooting while also improving their technique and skill level. They are sure to be the highlight of your training sessions.
Start with a full-size goal and have one player start as the GK. The rest of the players line up behind the 18-yard box. The coach stands next to the goal with all the balls.
The coach passes a ball to the first person in line, who must then shoot with their first touch. What happens next depends on the result that comes from that shot on goal. Here’s how to decide what happens next:
Once a player gets eliminated, they stand behind the goal and help to collect the balls so the coach can focus on passing to the next player in rapid succession. If the player is able to catch one of the not-on-target shots before it hits the turf, then that player is allowed to rejoin the game by shouting the word ‘lightning.’ Then they can run and stand in the back of the line to wait for their turn. The last player in the game wins. Warning: this game can get loud!
Ball control, sometimes referred to as ball mastery, is the ability to control the soccer ball at close contact. There are several ways to improve ball control, including juggling and on-the-floor drills where you touch and move the ball with different parts of the foot.
Kids should practice ball control while playing heads up so they can scan the field of play. Coaches should mix these ball control drills with scrimmages later on in the practice session.
Set up a 35×25 yard square grid with two goals (one on either side). You’ll need 12 balls. Place them around the field in various positions outside the field of play.
Split the players up into two groups with the same number of players. Pass a white soccer ball into the play area to commence the soccer drill. The rules of the game are the same as a regular soccer game. The only difference is that if a team scores a goal or kicks the ball out, the other team can choose any of the balls around the grid to restart the game, which keeps players focused during quick restarts.
Only one soccer ball is allowed on the field of play at any given time. If, at any point, a team brings multiple balls onto the soccer turf, the other team is awarded a free kick by the referee. The drill continues until all balls have been used. The winning team is the one with the most goals.
Most 10-year-olds enjoy playing soccer games. As a coach, you want to work games into your practices and encourage small-sided games that allow for more touches on the ball. Games work on passing, speed, control, and dribbling. These are some great games to fit into your next practice on the soccer field.
Make a 25×35 yard grid with four PUGG nets. You will need to assign two teams of 4 players each. You’ll also need one ball.
This is a possession game where teams try to keep possession. Play is directional, with each team attacking one set of goals and defending the other. There are no keepers, but all other soccer rules apply. Play for a predetermined amount of time, and whoever scores the most goals wins!
Set up a 20×20 yard grid with 4-5 small gates placed randomly within the area. Split the players up into pairs and give one ball to every group of 2 players and have them remember their number (1 or 2).
Player 1 starts as the attacker and has a ball at their feet, while Player 2 will start as the defender. All pairs work within the grid at the same time. On the coach’s signal, all the attackers try to dribble through as many of the gates as possible while keeping possession of the ball.
Players cannot dribble through the same gate twice in a row, but they earn a point for each gate they dribble through successfully. The defenders try and stop their attacker from scoring points by blocking any of the gates. If the defenders win the ball, they give it straight back to their attacking partner, and the game continues.
After 90 seconds, the players switch roles. Whoever gets the most points wins, so be sure to have them keep count! Repeat with the player roles swapped.
Age 10 is a pivotal point for soccer development. If you want your child to have the best chance to earn a spot on their next soccer team, check out TOCA Football. TOCA has technology-enhanced soccer training designed to produce rapid improvements and develop well-rounded players.
Customers love TOCA Training:
“Not only incredibly innovative but also incredibly effective training. The instructors are skilled, attentive, encouraging, helpful, and caring.” - Gregory J, Riser’s parent
Book your free kickoff training session and see how much fun we have.
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