4 Individual Soccer Drills - Advanced & Travel Youth Soccer

In this article I will present 4 individual soccer drills that you can use while practicing by yourself. Bear in mind that you are your own coach. This simply mean that you should encourage yourself to perform the drill s with maximum effort and focus. Now, let’s check out the drills …

Wall-Kicks
This drill is my favorite when it comes to individual soccer drills. There are countless variations on this one and I recommend you to practice on this drill as often you can. Many great soccer players (Maradona and Pele) used to practice their skills with a wall.

Some important things to bear in mind are:

1. Keep your body relaxed.

2. Make sure to shift between your left and right foot while kicking the ball.

3. Try to use all parts of your foot (e.g. inside, outside, instep).

Stair-Steppers
They key with this drill is to keep jumping on and off the ball without letting it move backwards. I know by experience that this drill looks pretty simply while watching someone else performing it. However, once you start to perform it you will notice that it is more difficult then you thought.

To perform this drill you will simply need to:

1. Put the ball in front of you.

2. Place your kicking foot on the top of the ball.

3. Jump and put your other foot on the top of the ball while taking the first one off.

Machine Guns
This drill will besides improving your ball skills even increase your stamina, endurance and speed. To perform it you will basically need to:

1. Start by placing the ball between your feet.

2. Perform a motion similar to the stair steppers exercise; however, you should to this on the side of the ball in order to get the ball to move back and forth between your feet.

3. Try to keep your feet pretty close together.

4. Keep your body relaxed and focus 100% on the ball.

Juggling
If you don’t know how to juggle a ball then you don’t know how to play soccer either. This is one of the most basic soccer skills and will help you improve your overall ball skills. Be sure to use all parts of your body while juggling the ball. I know by experience that juggling with your head and thighs is more difficult than using the feet.

Juggling can be pretty difficult, especially if you are new to soccer. However, you should keep in mind to never give up. When I started to play soccer it took me over one year just to learn how to juggle the ball by using my both feet. Here is a plan on how to juggle by using different parts of your body:

1. Start to juggle the ball by using your feet. Make sure to use your both feet as well!

2. Flip up the ball and use your thighs.

3. Flip the ball again and use your head.

4. Switch back to your feet.

5. Then flip up the ball on your head.

6. Keep on doing so for 1 minutes or so.

Summary
You should perform these drills within 1 min interval. For example: Do the triangle pull-backs for 1 minute then rest 1 minute. Try to do at least 5 sets per drill. If you put effort in performing the drills right you will soon notice an improvement in your overall ball skills.