Speed of Play Warm-up

This soccer drill is a great warm-up to sessions relating to speed of play. Players must have a good grasp of basic passing and receiving skills to successfully execute this soccer drill.

Drill Rating 4.09 from 31 user votes. Viewed 42003 times.

Soccer Speed of Play, Playing with speed, quick thinking

Setup

Create a 30X40 grid. Divide the team into even groups of 6 players per group (each group in different color pennies). Number the players 1 through 6; the ball should start with players 1 and 4 to start the warm-up.

Instructions

Follow the progression below after working on a step for 5-7 minutes. You can spend more or less time on an area depending on the players and players might not be able to complete all of the warm-up. With the players spread out inside the grid randomly and intermingled, perform the following progression:

Players should pass to the next highest number upon receiving the ball. So #1 passes to #2; #2 passes to #3; #3 passes to #4; … finally #6 passes to #1 and the warm-up continues.
Next, reverse the pattern where #6 plays to #5, #5 passes to #4; etc.
Next, players play to odd players if they are odd numbers and even players play to even numbers. For Example, #1 passes to #3, #3 passes to #5, etc… and #2 passes to #4, #4 passes to #6, etc…
Decrease the number of touches to make the speed of play faster by demanding quicker thought process.
Limit the verbal communication by limiting the number of words the players can speak. For example, only let then say one word. So player #1 might ask for player #2 by saying “TWO”.
Lastly, only allow non-verbal communication such as hand clapping, pointing, eye contact, etc.

Variations

N/A

Coaching Points

Encourage players to think a step ahead and know who the ball is coming from and who the ball is going to at all times.
Encourage proper passing and receiving skills.
Movement without the ball is crucial as players attempt to get in triangular shapes.

Focus

Titled: Speed of Play Warm-up
Tagged: Soccer Speed of Play, Playing with speed, quick thinking
URL: http://www.soccerxpert.com/soccerdrills/id1292.aspx
Published by: Chris Johnson