While passing creates opportunities to beat the defense and score, dribbling is the cornerstone of soccer. "Dribbling is the singular feature that identifies a mature, experienced player," notes soccer coach and author Jim Lennox in "Soccer Skills & Drills." Everyone wants to watch a player, like a Mia Hamm or Diego Maradona, whose serpentine dribbles leave defenders baffled in their wake, Lennox notes. Dribbling drills can help you improve your game to get closer to the elite level.
Step 1
Place your players on a starting line, if you are a youth coach, for the Red Light, Green Light drill. Stand 30 yards in front of them. Have the children dribble forward as fast as they can when you call "green light." When you call "red light," they have to stop the ball by placing a foot on top of it. If they can't stop the ball, they go back to the start line. This drill encourages the young player to keep the ball near his feet, a key component of dribbling.
Step 2
Set up a row of seven plastic disks a yard apart to practice the classic slalom drill if you are a player or coaching a team. Start at one end and dribble as quickly as you can between the cones, using light taps on the ball to curl the ball around each. Repeat using just one foot and then just the other, and then using just the inside of your foot; finish by rolling the ball with the top of your foot.
Step 3
Set up an area 12 yards long by 25 yards wide marked by plastic cones to practice the 1v2 dribble. The short ends of the rectangle serve as goals. Label yourself as an attacking player and try to dribble past the two defenders to score a goal. If a defender wins the ball, he plays 1v2 to attack the other goal. The exercise is always one player versus two, with the player who wins the ball going to the opposite goal.
Step 4
Work with three other players to conduct the Winterbottom duel, a drill named after an English director of coaching during the 1950s and still in wide use. Two players stand 30 yards apart with an extra ball each and their legs open to represent a goal. Two other players stand between the pair and engage in a 1v1 duel, such that if you have the ball, you try to pass or dribble the ball through the open legs of either goal. If your opponent wins the ball, he attacks in the opposite direction. The coach stops the drill after 60 seconds, and the pairs swap places. If you miss a shot, the player acting as goal kicks the extra ball into the air for you to battle for possession.
Tips and Warnings
- Look for opportunities to maximize your time dribbling a soccer ball. Find an informal pickup game to gain hours of playing time so you can work on dribbling moves. Or dribble the ball as you walk to school or around a park on your own.
Things You'll Need
- Plastic disks
- Plastic cones
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