Anatomy of a Practice - 4/5 Soccer

I've gotten a bunch of questions about practice over the years. Practice. Practice?! For those of you who follow the NBA, it's inevitable that Iverson's "Practice" rant just entered your skull. For those who'd like a recap -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUYjD7A75HQ Sorry. Several of the questions involved what is done during a practice, and why. I figured I'd take a few paragraphs to explain my philosophy on preschool and kindergarten soccer practices, which are never dull.

These kids can handle about 20-30 minutes, and that's it. Occasionally you'll get a kid who is really (really) into soccer, and he or she can keep going, but everyone else is pretty much spent - maybe even way sooner than 20 minutes. At this age, they can also handle about 2 or 3 instructions - so your drills must be simple, and direct.

Before practice, be sure to inform your parents to bring their kid AND a properly-sized ball. For this age, it's usually size 3 (this will not be confusing to someone who works at a sporting goods store). My practices for this age change very little week to week. The kids fall into the routine, and the session is much more productive, and less time is wasted.

I like to start with some basic speed dribbling after warmups (which are brief, if at all - more on that some other time). This will involve lining the team up along one line (or between cones, etc), and having them dribble the ball to another landmark and back. Doing this a couple times will take about 5 minutes. An interesting twist on this drill is to have a whistle and get the kids to stop and start on the whistle. This allows them to get practice controlling the ball and stopping the ball at different speeds.

Next is usually dribbling around cones. A series of 4 cones is set up in a line - each about 5 yards apart. One group of kids starts on one side, and one on the other. Having kids going each way makes them look up, and not at the ball all the time. Sometimes I'll "race them" around the cones if things seem to be slow. This also takes about 5 minutes, and then it's time for a water break. When it's hot, I may decide to take water breaks more often - both for health, and so it's not an issue during the next drill.

In the middle of practice, it's time for a partner-passing drill. Here, two kids pair up using one ball, and pass to each other about 10 feet apart. I let them sort of wander around the field here, because it's inevitable a few passes will not be that accurate. The focus, though, it on good passes right to the partner (which the partner can stop and send back).

Next is usually a "fun" activity. One thing we do is a "race the coach" dribbling drill to a landmark that's 50 or more yards away. This gives the kids a chance to continuously dribble for a longer distance (and they love it). They always win. Another idea is to set up a 10 foot - by - 10 foot box with cones and play "Takeaway". This is a drill where you try to kick away your teammate's ball while keeping control of your own. Chaotic, but also a favorite.

After a quick drink, the final 5-10 minutes are spent on either offense or defense. If we're focusing on offense, I'll do anything from just plain kicking at the net to dribbling and kicking, or passing, dribbling, then kicking. Adjust to your kids. If it 's defense, we usually focus on guarding the goal, turning the ball around (to go our way) or goalie work. Some leagues in this age group don't have goalies, so read your rulebook! As a note, I do always work on defense at practices during the year before offense. Most kids are already wired to score goals... but read your team.

In summary (about 5 minutes each)...
- Speed or straight-line Dribbling
- Dribbling Agility
- Passing
- Something Fun
- Offense or Defense

A few parting notes. Remember, you're the coach - set whatever rules you want. For me, everyone wears shin guards, no one talks or fiddles while I am talking, and everyone is expected to do their best.