Football/Soccer Session (Difficult): U8 Skills and Individual Control

Activity #1 (20 mins)

• Activity Name: Ball Mastery & Quick feet weaves. 
• Activity Description: Player begins with a ball at the start of line 1. To start player can weave through the gaps with both feet then they leave the ball sprint over to line 2. In this line they can begin by doing shuffles- 2 jockeys side to side to weave through the cones. Player can then sprint diagonally back to the ball and weave back through the cones. They then leave the ball and go through the quick feet exercise one more time to complete a circuit- 2x ball work, 2x footwork. 
• Progression/Variations: 1: ballwork- normal dribbling/ Quickfeet- 2 jockey weave. 2: Ballwork- single cuts- inside/outside touches on one foot- players should alternate which foot they use/ quick feet- backwards 2 jockey weave. 3: ball work- toe taps forwards to weave through (for high level players have them switch from forwards and backwards- for lower level players have them stop the ball in each gap and do 5-8 toe taps on the spot)/ quickfeet- little 5 second sprint in each gap. 4: Ball work- Soccer boxes forwards to weave through (for high level players have them alternate between forwards and backwards- for lower level have them stop the ball on the spot and do soccer boxes on the spot for 5-8 touches)/ quick feet- come to the side of the cones start with one foot in one foot out and do criss cross jumps so switch feet as you move down the cones. 5: Ball work- roll tap- sole roll using the correct foot to switch to the other side of the cones then tap the ball forward with the opposite foot then sole roll back to the other side and repeat/ quickfeet- hops on one foot to weave through- have players switch which foot they hop with. 6: Ballwork- Pull back with the sole push out with the laces, catch the ball on the opposite sole and repeat/ quickfeet- hopscotch. 7: Ball work- Use L turns to weave the cones/ Quickfeet- Bunny hops. Feel free to add in other ballwork/quickfeet ladder exercises you know. 
• Coaching points: Lots of touches- but soft quick light touches. Light on our feet and quick on our feet. Don't look at the ground the whole time during our ball mastery try to glance up. 
• Small Groups: For groups of 2 just have the other player start at the quick feet line (2). For groups of 3 just set up another ball work line (3) have players start on a line each then move through 1-2-3-1. For groups of 4 just set up 4 lines and have two lines as ball work, two lines as quick feet players move through line 1,2,3,4,1 repeat.  

Activity #3 (20 mins)

• Activity Name: Dribble, Shoot, Control Circuit
• Description: Player starts with a ball between two sets of cones. They work on various ball manipulation skills (soccer boxes, toe taps, etc). Coach randomly shouts out right or left. If coach shouts 'right' the player leaves their ball and quickly side shuffles over the cones and back to the ball. They then continue with the ball manipulation skills until the coach shouts R or L again - This element should be rather quick 15-20 seconds with multiple R & L calls from the coach. Next the coach will shout 1, 2, or 3. The player dribbles to the corresponding cone. At cones 1 & 3 the player should perform some kind of sideways move (L-shape, Ronaldo chop, Maradona, inside/outside spin moves), at cone 2 the player should perform a regular attacking move (Scissors, Double Scissors, Matthews, Side-Step, Double Touch, etc). After completing the move they then shoot on goal. After shooting on goal they should accelerate to cone #4 where they receive a pass from the coach (players should work on first touch - basic first touch for less developed players - receiving with the back foot or touches with the inside and outside of the foot which allow you to spin a defender for more advanced players. After receiving the ball the player dribbles through the disc cones between cones #2 and #4 working on different footwork patterns before returning to the beginning. They then return to the ball manipulation skills and coach calls R & L again.
• Progression:

- Instead of shouting the numbers use different color cones and have player look for the color cone which the coach holds up.

- Have player facing away from goal and looking over their shoulder while doing ball manipulation skills to see the color the coach holds up.

- Add 'Turn'. If coach shouts turn the player quickly dribble to cone #2, performs a turn and then dribbles back to the start position and continues with the ball manipulation skills ready for the next instruction.

- Add 'Pass'. If coach shouts a number followed by a pass then the player dribbles to that cone, performs a skill and passes to the coach. The coach then lays the ball off and the player strikes the ball which has been passed to them - for more advanced players the coach can pick the ball up after the pass and serve in the air for a volley.

• Small Groups: 

- Make sure players are only doing the ball manipulation part for a short period so other players are not stood around.

- Once one player has gone next player should be working on ball manipulation skills right away.