Football: Run the Ball

The red player attacks the blue player in the area between the blue cones. The blue player cannot tackle but can only put red player under pressure.

Station one player in each grid in the crab postion (belly up, on hands and feet). Six players start on one end line. Station discs at the opposite end line. The standing players must dribble across the area without being tackled by the crab players who are trying to kick the balls out of the area. If a ball is kicked out, the player stays in the game and tries to help his teammates get the other balls across. The object of the game is to see how many times the players can dribble across the area until no soccer balls are left. Count how many successful trips players make. Repeat and rotate.

Set up 3 gates on each side as shown. The blue team run through the blue gates and the red team run through the red gates. Players run with the ball through all the gates, round the last cone and then bring the ball back. The first player to get back wins a point for their team.

Player(s) dribbles from one cone to the other. He/She takes 1 touch with the interior of the foot followed by 1 touch with the exterior while maintaing a good rhythm of forward movement.

The players (dalmations) are being chased by the catchers (Cruella de Ville). Any player that dribbles their ball outside of the box or has their ball kicked out of the box becomes a catcher.

Player(s) dribble from one cone to the other. They work on taking 2 touches backwards with the soles of one foot and push the ball forward with the interior of the other foot. Once they reach one cone, they turn and accelerate back to the start before repeating.

Set up as shown with cones evenly spaced out. The distance between the cones can be modified depending on your players abilities. Player(s) dribbles through the cone performing 2 touches with the interior and 2 touches with the exterior.

Objective: Application of running with the ball in a small sided game format. Detail: Use a box - box area on a pitch or set up 50 x 70 (older players). Split up the players into 6 v 2 in 2 end zones. Players in group 1 run with the ball to group 2 across the central zone. 2 defenders enter the zones once the ball and players have arrived.

Create "islands" using cones that can be in an area of any shape. All the players have 1 ball each and have to dribble in and out of the islands. When the whistle blows, the last 2 to get onto a island are eliminated.

The blue player stands behind their partner(red). The blue player is in possession of the ball. The objective of the game is for the red player to lose his shadowing blue player. The blue player must dribble at speed to track the red player. When the coach shouts out "Catch me if you can!", both players freeze. The blue player now has to try to pass the ball through the legs of his partner to score. Rotate positions.

Five players start on one end line, each with a ball. One defender is stationed in the middle without a ball. All players must try to dribble past the defender to the safety of the other side on the coach's call. If the defending player manages to kick the other players ball out of the area, then that player also becomes a defender. Continue until one attacker remains.

Working with one ball between two players start on opposite cones. The first player dribbles the ball to the end cone whilst the other player jogs past them to the other cone. On reaching the far cone the player with the ball turns and plays a flat, driven pass to the other player on the cone.

Players stand in a line with one ball each and take it in turns to run around the cones (space the cones around 5 metres apart). The dribbling player should aim to keep the ball close to their feet at all times as they navigate around the cones. As they approach the centre cone they run around it before moving onto the next cone. Every time they go round an outside cone the next cone should be the middle one.

Set up as shown with cones evenly spaced out. The distance between the cones can be modified depending on your players abilities. Player(s) dribbles through the cone performing 1 touch with the sole of the right foot dragging the ball across their body and 1 touch with the sole of the left foot to bring the ball back across to the other side.

Set up as shown with cones evenly spaced out. The distance between the cones can be modified depending on your players abilities. Player(s) dribbles through the cones performing toe taps to get through the cones without touching them, neither with the ball nor their feet.

Set up two cones about 2-3 metres apart. Players work individually with a ball each. Players must face forward at all times while moving the ball from cone to cone, dragging the ball with the sole of their foot.

Four groups are placed at four corners of the square. The two groups to one side of the square dribble the ball around the square in a clockwise fashion and the other two dribble the ball around the square in a anti-clockwise fashion. Keep going until all the team have been at least once.

3 pairs of players start by holding hands. They are the crocodiles. All other players have 1 ball each. The players dribble around trying to avoid the crocodiles. If a crocodile kicks a players ball out of the area, the player then links hands with the crocodile. Together, they chase other players. Play until 1 player remains.

Set up as shown with cones evenly spaced out. The distance between the cones can be modified depending on your players abilities. Player(s) dribbles through the cones diagonally performing toe taps backwards to get through the cones and then pushing the ball back between the cones with the exterior of their feet. Players should aim to not touch the cones, neither with the ball nor their feet.

Get players working in two's coming forward, dragging and pushing the ball before dribbling forward and passing the ball across. This drill builds confidence and will show holes in technique.