27 Soccer Passing Drills Every Coach Needs in Their Toolkit

22. Technical Ball Work Warmup

How the Drill Works:

Players warmup while getting touches on the ball. Players partner up and work on passing and volleying with each other as they move forwards and backwards.

Purpose:

Warm players up before the session while giving them touches on the ball. Players improve their technical passes, first touch, and volleys.

Diagram:

Setup:

• • Set up two, parallel cone lines, 30 yards apart.
  • Have the players partner up with one soccer ball and spread across the one of the cone lines.
  • The player on the line starts with the ball at their feet with their partner four yards away.
  • Complete 15 minutes with stretching breaks. Add more time as needed. Switch technical patterns every couple of minutes.

Instructions:

1. Partners work down and back between the cone lines maintaining their four-yard distance.
2. Technical patterns could be:
   1. One-touch passing.
   2. Two-touch passing.
   3. The partner moving backwards has the ball in their hands and tosses the ball to their partner moving forward for volleys (inside, outside, two-touch, thigh-foot, head-foot, etc.).
   4. Headers
   5. Juggling (one-touch, two-touch, etc.).
   6. Be creative. Switch it up. There is no wrong combination!
3. After players complete one down and back, they rest on the starting line for the rest of the players to return. The coach will demonstrate the next pattern before players repeat the process with the new pattern.
4. Complete 15 minutes with stretching breaks. Add more time and patterns as needed.

Variations:

Patterns – Give the players new technical patterns every turn, or every other turn.

Distance – Increase, or decrease, the distance between the two cone lines as needed.

Coaching Points:

• Remind the players this is warmup. Players should be mentally sharp, but the physically intensity should slowly build. The focus of this activity to give players simple technical repetitions while preparing their bodies for the rest of the session.
• Teach the players to control their bodies and maintain balance.
• Encourage the players to increase their intensity as the activity progresses. Players’ bodies should be ready to go after the completion of the activity.