We now have 40 different exercises and drills Real Madrid coach, Jose Mourinho utilizes with his First Team, as well as Youth Academy players and Programs.

~ c ourtesy of Joe Frimpong

Coaching Exercises

Updated August 30, 2011

Young players learn best when a variety of games and drills are used for teaching. Bored players are not learning. Once soccer stops being fun, we've lost them. There are many ways to vary your practice either through the use of new activities or innovative equipment. Recreational coaches are only supplied a minimum amount of equipment due to funding so be creative. I have made many of the items sold by specialty stores with items from home or the local hardware store. Some just require a little thought. Look at the pictures in catalogs or on a website and think about what you have that would serve the same purpose or how you can recreate it. If your brain freezes, give me a call and I'll offer some suggestions on what I have used in the past.

Advanced level coaches also have a limited budget. Spend your money on the stuff that is nearly impossible to make and be a little creative. Some items may be multi purpose. Also, consider what items will get you the most bang for your buck. If the item will only be used once or twice a season, consider something that you can use at every practice or at least every week.

Ladders can be made from rope and narrow pvc pipe which is easily cut with a hack saw. Rings, think about dollar store hula hoops. Flag poles for weaving - what about bamboo stakes from the garden center? If you cut the base at an angle they shove right into the ground and the skinny ones come about 6 to pack for less than 5 bucks.

Send me your creative ideas and I will post them for everyone to see.

Happy practicing, Beverly (360-270-7122) scsc.coaches@salmoncreeksoccer.net)

Listed here are some websites that contain many games and drills to help you master your training session and get the desired results.

Better Soccer Coaching Would you like free drills and games delivered to your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday? From Tony Carr and Michael Beale? Then this is the spot for you. I get this newsletter weekly and love the articles and free drills on such a wide variety of subjects. Suitable for around U11 and above only because of how many players some of them need.

eHow I was very surprised to discover that eHow had a section on coaching soccer. The ideas here are simple but truly valuable to keeping your team's interest. Perfect for the new coach.

Footy4Kids This is a fun site based in the UK so don't be surprised by all the "football" references. It also tells about a unique patch system they use to encourage their players in a variety of ways. I adopted this last season with tattoos and stickers, worked really well at U9.

Free Youth Soccer Drills Very nice site with easy access to the drills by age and tips on various aspects of the game. Like how well organized it is.

iSport These pages offers 18 guides on everything from the moral ethics of diving to how to buy soccer cleats, learning to dribble, shooting, and passing among others. Great for all coaches.

Responsible Sports Very nice website sponsored by Liberty Mutual. You will find an eclectic set of coaching tools available here. Some sample sections include, Responsible Coaching, Youth Sports Advice, Community Grants, Season Evaluation, and pdf files you can download immediately. The pages are spattered with youTube videos on a variety of sports. Remember the 'art' of coaching can be learned from coaches across the spectrum of sports. Look for tools needed to teach a skill not the skill itself. Beginning coaches may like the newsletter.

Soccer Expert This site has its drills and games cross referenced by either age bracket or the skill you are trying teach. Nicely laid out, drill pages have diagrams. Easy to print and take with you to practice.

Soccer For Parents This kind of a one stop shopping place with drills, history, fund-raising and for newbies a terminology page. Also a great source is on the left menu, click on coaching soccer, scroll down the page until you get to the link for how to organize a soccer practice. It has a number of links with free practices ready for you to print out and take to practice with you. Perfect for the new coach who has not been able to attend a clinic.

Soccer Help Scroll all the way down to the bottom to get past the ad for premium content and you'll find the freebies. Some of them are pretty good and I love the "cheapskate" ideas for running a practice on a budget. Some great ideas are at the bottom of the page.

Soccer Training Guide The number of free games and drills here is rather limited but you may find the other articles very helpful. Especially for the new coach who may need a glossary of terms, i.e. wall pass or push pass…there are nice descriptions and usually a photo of a player doing it.

We Play This is one of my favorite websites. It offers video along with the text. Most videos show the high overview then a second run through with close-ups of the players interacting. Drills are divided by activity such as attacking or ball control, then subdivided by beginner, intermediate, advanced. I think that this site will appeal to a wide variety of coaches and the videos are great.

Free eBook This page has a free sign up for a 250 page manual coaching tips, drills, and games. The site itself also offers articles on a number of subjects you may find of interest. There is a link to the DVD's of the Coever Method of Coaching. I'm told these are great DVD's but honestly a little out of my price range. In addition to the emailed free guide if you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page there are pdf versions of 16 drills in 6 core areas.

Soccer Drills This site has some fun free drills however they are trying to sell you access to their premium section. Use what works for you and unless you really love a site's style there are enough free places that it's not really necessary to "buy"drills.

Soccer Practice Books These are eBooks with print and go soccer practice plans, "Each book has 10 completely worked out soccer practice plans, each with 80 soccer drills, following the sequence of warm-up, technical (skill) drill, fitness drill, tactical drill and scrimmage. Each drill and practice plan is on a single page that fits on your clipboard. And, we show you how you can develop 100's more practices with our drill matrix." They are $14.95 each or 3 for about $40. Compared to some of the other books for purchase I've seen, these seem very reasonable especially since no photo copying is needed. By scrolling all the way to the bottom you can find links that show you samples of the material in the eBooks. I am not a big advocate of spending a ton of money, I'd rather you went to a class on me, but these are perfect for the new coach who needs help getting their practices organized.