What if I told you that Soccer drills which incorporate formations are the backbone of all training sessions. Training methods adopted will serve no purpose if these drills are not suitable for your players.

Formation is the system in which the players are set in field. The players can easily learn to respond to different situations on field when they are made to perform drills using the formations. Soccer training has a few standard formations which will be talked about below.

Centering the ball: This requires the player to kick the ball from side into the middle of the field. It accounts for one of the top ways to get the ball into the arc of concentration. At this point, what is most important is to ensure the good balance between rest of the team and the player centering the ball. Centering of the ball is done on both sides of the field and is very easy to carry out.

You must ensure that soccer drills lay emphasis on all theories of offence, mid-field, defense, and support. So when the player gets the ball, he’ll move it to the outside of the field towards the end line. He can do it by dribbling or passing the ball. What’ critical here is to get close to the end line.

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To safeguard the goal, the defense must disintegrate to make a line involving the person centering the ball and the goal. For this reason, your team must be competent to retain their formation for a long time and steal the ball when on defense.

The ball would not go offside every time it is centered from the end line or is very close to the end line. This is because the player who receives the ball is actually behind the point from where the kick was shot.

Kickoff formations: Most of the teams that are composed of young players work with such soccer exercises that help them move to the center circle and then kick the ball as hard as possible. This is their kickoff approach. There are many advantages of kicking off the ball. First, the ball gets really close to the opponent’s goal. Second, the team only has to cover a lesser area if the ball is kicked to the left or right side.

Then, it is easier to teach them to first kick and then take off. Even though it makes sense to kick the ball bit it is preferred to have a soccer practice where the players spin the ball forward to a teammate, move about the ball to the outer field, and then move along the field towards the opposition’s goal.

In this manner, the team is in a better position to maneuver the ball. Make it a point to position your players in a suitable formation and run the formation as you would do in any other drill. Bear in mind that this is not a real game. You are just teaching the players to play in different positions.

So go ahead, run the formation drill, end, modify, and execute the drill again. Keep working with these soccer drills to the point when all the players have learnt to maintain their positions and react suitably in them.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make training fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Soccer Coaching Drills