Football/Soccer Session (Beginner): Simon Says (Prepare)

Simon Says (Prepare)

Simon Says (Ball Mastery Warm Up)

This is a warm up designed to get all players moving with the ball and experiencing a variety of skills/techniques before going into the main sections of the training session. Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 will always be the same, the only things that will vary will be number 5 which will be 'The Skill of the Week' for that week. For the younger groups you can say "Simon Says" before every command to make it more enjoyable and engaging, for the older groups you can can simply explain what each number is and then call the number out.

- 1 ball per player

- All players must stay within square area

- Initially get them moving around getting a lot of touches on the ball using any part of their feet

- Introduce each skill from 1- 4, one by one until they understand all of them.

- Once you have introduced 1 - 4 skills, introduce 'The Skill of the Week'

- Spend approx 4 - 5 minutes on 'The Skill of the Week' making sure all players have grasped it

- Regress or Progress 'The Skill of the Week' depending on the age and ability

- Go around to each player individually and make sure they each are understanding and experiencing what they are supposed to do

- For number 6 you can choose between either dribble knockout or a challenge to see who can do the highest number of the 'The Skill of the Week' within 30 seconds. We prefer to have them compete against their own scores as opposed to other players scores so do 2 rounds of 30 seconds and have them try to beat their first round score in their second round. You can add a reward or punishment here to make it more engaging and fun. 

Make sure to tell players to practice 'The Skill of the Week' at home after the session for 1 week. Communicate this to them after this warm up and also remind them at the end of the session.