There are about 30 games that can help to improve various aspects of a players game. I am going to explain just a few of them.

This is a game that everybody likes. A goal is set up with cones and there is a keeper trying to protect the goal. The coach (me) stands behind a player who is about 20m or so infront of the goal with a ball in his hands. The coach throws the ball over the players head and when they see the ball they have to release a shot at the goal as quickly as possible trying to beat the keeper and score. The player who is going to have a shot on goal cannot see the ball until it is thrown over his head because his back is to the coach.

See example below:

The blue dot represents the coach,

The black dot represents the player who is going to have a shot on goal

The green dot represents the Goalkeeper, and

The red dots represent the cones being used as posts.

This is quite simple but a very effective way of seeing how two players think in terms of strategy.

The main aspects are dribbling, looking up, passing and shooting.

The game is set up as shown below:

Although it may look a little difficult, the game is really simple.

The red dots are cones so the two on the left are one goal and the two on the right are another goal,

The blue dots are team 1,

The green dots are team 2,

The grey dot is the ball,

The arrows represent what is probably the best move. The blues are shooting to the right of the picture so the blue dot with the ball kicks it between the two green dots and the other blue dot sprints to where the ball is going. Once the blue dot has the ball, he is unchallenged and can score.

This is one example of a strategy but there are many others to consider. The main part of this game is teamwork, without it, you will most probably lose. Passing the ball between you whilst getting further towards the oppositions goal is good progress but risky if tried with too many tricks.

This game requires 5 people two cones and a football. One player is the goalkeeper who has one defender to help him protect the goal, the other three players are the attackers who start with the ball and run towards goal. The attacking team need to maintain full control of the ball and each attacker must touch the ball at least once before a shot on goal can be made.

See the example below for the set up of this game:

So, as usual the red dots are cones to mark out the goal,

The green dot is the Goalkeeper,

The blue dot is his only defender,

The brown dots are the attackers, and

The grey dot is the ball.

In this scenario the attacking team should score 9 times out of 10. If the attacking team are doing really well after a while, a second defender is added and the game gets harder for the atacking team.

There are no offsides. If the ball goes out of play, the attacking team score or the defending team get the ball, then the game restarts and the players get back into their starting positions.

This is the most common dribbling training technique that is used by coaches all over the world. The idea of this technique is to weave in and out, in and out, of the cones keeping the ball under control but with as much pace as you can. Sounds easy and thats because it is. Once you have finished weaving in and out, turn around and dribble the ball down the side of the cones back to where you started from.

See the diagram below:

The red dots represent the cones that you have to dribble in and out of. the line with arrows represents one possible way of completing the course. The other way of completing the course would be by going to the left of the first cone, to the right of the second etc and when you get to the end you will have to go around the last cone from the left and dribble up the line of cones from the top.

The main things to consider are:

• Stance,
• Part of foot that is contacting the ball, inside, outside, laces,
• Weight that you put on the ball, how many touches, little touches or bigger ones.

By thinking of these things as you complete the course you will find that it becomes easier to do. Trying new ways of dribbling is also a good idea so that you can find the most comfortable one.