Jebreel Bubtana
This is a great exercise to teach your team how to make overlapping runs and work on their aerobic power.
Set up the field as shown below in figure 1, with two feeders and three others who will be working and overlapping.
The feeder at the top of the diagram starts with the ball. As one of the players starts to
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
Improving your player’s speed and agility will help them get to the ball just ahead of their opponent, so working on this is something that every coach should be doing.
Set up the field as shown below (figure 1).
Each stage of the circuit is broken down as below:
By Jebreel Bubtana
This exercise will work on your player’s 1st touch at different heights, progressing from being easy to control the ball at the start to being more challenging and working more on anaerobic fitness as well as 1st touch.
Set up the field as shown below in figure 1, with a 4x4 yard square and three players per group.
The player in the middle receives the ball from either of the players on the outside of the square. They receive the ball from the feeder and have
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
This exercise will work on the anaerobic fitness of your players in a fun and competitive environment. As soccer involves a lot of short sprints, this exercise will focus on this.
Set up the field as shown below with two cones 8 yards apart. You can set up multiple areas so that your whole team can work on this, with two players per area facing each other in the middle between the two cones (figure 1).
The players will give themselves a letter, A or B. A’s will start by
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
As always, making fitness exercises fun and adding an element of competition will make your players psychologically more willing to work hard, which will help to develop their fitness. The exercise below will try to do that.
Set up and instructions:
Split your squad into two teams and set up the field as shown below in figure 1.
The first player in each line will now dribble in and out of the cones in the direction as shown by the arrows. When they reach the end cone they
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
The exercise below will work on your players’ foot skills and aerobic endurance.
Set up and directions:
Set up the field as shown below with a 20x20 yard square in the middle and a bigger square on the outside. All but two of the players on your team will have a ball (figure 1).
The players with a ball will dribble around the 20x20 square whilst the two players without a ball
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
The following exercise and progression will work on your player’s aerobic fitness whilst using a ball. It is important to incorporate the ball into fitness exercises, as this will ensure that your players are working on their technique as well as their fitness during exercises.
Set up the field as shown below in figure 1 in a 30x30 yard area. Depending on the age of your team, you can make the area smaller. The gates made by the discs are 5 yards apart. You will also need to split your team into four groups, with each group having one ball.
The idea with this exercise is that all 4 groups link together with passing in an anti clockwise direction. The exercise starts with the player who is
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
This is a great exercise to work on your players reactions, endurance, agility and quickness, which are very important components for soccer players in order to get to a loose ball first.
Set up and directions:
Set up your field as shown below in figure 1. Split your players into two teams (you can set multiple fields up like this so that there is not much waiting time between goes) and they start behind the goal that they are defending. Mini goals or pugg goals are great for this exercise. To their right is a line of discs with a gate in front and to their left is a ladder with a gate in front. The coach will start with the balls in the middle of the area to one side.
The next part you can do a number of ways but I will give you an example. When the coach
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
This exercise will work on your player’s first touch into space and give and goes, which along with short sprints will work on your player’s aerobic endurance.
Set up and directions:
Set up the field as shown in figure 1 with a 15x15 yard square, 3 players and 1 ball.
The player with the ball passes to their teammate in front of them and follow their pass. The player receiving the ball now takes
Continue readingJebreel Bubtana
This technical warm up works on movement to create space away from a defender (checking) and first touch at various heights.
Set up the field as shown below in figure 1.
The player without the ball will sprint to the disc on the right (check to the disc) to start the exercise. As soon as they as they
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
This is a great way to work on your player’s fitness and technical ability on the ball, with passing, first touch and dribbling included in the circuit.
Get your team to partner up and set up the field as shown below in figure 1.
There are 5 stations in this circuit described in more detail below:
Station 1 – The player without the ball must shuffle through the ladders as quickly as possible. After this is done, that player then
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
This exercise works on counter attacking and recovering as a defender.
Set up the field as shown below in figure 1, with two goals 25 yards apart and two lines of players to the right of each goal.
The exercise starts with one player attacking the goal in front to
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
This is a fun way to have your players compete against each other whilst working on their endurance.
Set up the field as shown below with the cones in a zigzag shape all the way to the edge of the 18-yard box (figure 1).
The players at the front of each line race against each other to the edge of the 18-yard box by touching each cone in the zigzag with their hand (figure 2). As they make it to the to the last cone, the coach will
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
This exercise gets the players to develop their anaerobic endurance very well by winning the ball back quickly. The idea is to place the team with the ball under high pressure and win the ball back as quickly as possible and then pass the ball out the outside players and keep possession to get their breath and shape back.
Set up the field as shown below (figure 1). The area is 20x20 with 4v4 in the middle and 4 neutral players on the outside who cover the four sides on the square.
Both teams try to keep possession of the ball and can use the neutrals on the outside of the area to help them keep the ball and get as
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
This exercise can be used as a warm up for most of your sessions as it gets the players working on their endurance whilst maximizing the number of touches that they have on the ball.
Set up the field as shown below in figure 1. Each player will need a ball and they start off by dribbling around anywhere in the area.
The coach will then use numbers as instructions for the players as follows:
Number 1 – ten toe taps
Number 2 – ten
By Jebreel Bubtana
Learning how to defend a 2v1 is very important, as it is a situation that comes up many times during the course of a game.
Set up the field as shown below in figure 1. Mini goals or Pugg goals can be used in the top right and top left corners of the area. The exercise starts with the defender who passes the ball across the area to the two attackers.
The attackers try to dribble the ball through the gate on the other side of the field in the middle. The defender must
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
This exercise works very well to provide a fun training environment for your players whilst ensuring that they are working on their endurance and reaction time.
Set up the field as shown below in figure 1. Two goalkeepers are needed then split your group of players into two teams and have the players’ number themselves (this is based on how many players are on each team, in the diagram below, the players would be numbered 1-3). In order to keep the players working hard continuously, ensure that you have plenty of soccer balls with you.
With the players lined up either side of the coach, the ball is thrown or passed into the middle of the area and at the same time the coach
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
It is important to get your players to understand that when defending they must show the attackers away from goal and this set of exercises is great for developing this understanding and working on endurance.
Set up and directions:
Set up the field as below (figure 1). The cones are set up 10 yards apart and the cones act as attackers. The defenders must curve their run and close the space down to the cone quickly. The player must defend the cone for 3 seconds and then move onto the next two cones, doing the same thing before going back to the start cone. The defenders must complete this circuit using the correct techniques 6 times. This also works on the players’ endurance and the coach must emphasize that the players cannot get sloppy and not defend the cones properly as their legs get tired.
Coaching Points:
• Curve run as shown by the arrows above.
• Close down the cones quickly.
• As the defender gets closer they must
By Jebreel Bubtana
This is a great way to get your players working hard and improve their endurance in a fun environment that gets them competing against each other.
Set up the field as shown below with an area of 12 yards x 10 yards and two mini goals 1 yard wide each. You can set up multiple mini fields depending on how many players you have (figure 1).
Split the group into pairs, with each pair being a team. The aim is to let your team play and have fun. At the same time they will be
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
This is a fun exercise for your team to do that gets both your attackers and goalkeepers working hard.
Set up the field as shown below in figure 1 with 10 soccer balls on the edge of the 18-yard box.
The attacker dribbles towards goal on a breakaway and tries to score the 1v1 against the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper can come out and try to stop the attacker from scoring, as they would do in a real game situation. After the attacker has had a shot they
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
This is a great exercise to use during pre season training as it gets your players working very hard. You can also use this to get your players competing against each other.
There are 3 stations to set up as shown below with the cones being placed 5 yards apart (figure 1).
Station 1 – The players dribble to the first cone, turn and then dribble back to the start as quick as they can. This sequence is repeated with the second and third cone. The players must be encouraged
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
This dribbling challenge is a great way to have your players work on different dribbling techniques, whilst working on their endurance. The objective is to complete the challenge with 5 soccer balls as quickly as possible. Set up your field as shown below (figure 1).
There are 4 stations that your player/players must complete before getting the next ball and going again.
Station 1 – Dribble in and out of the cones using the inside and outside of both right and left foot. It is important that the player
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
This is a great exercise to use to work on first touch and develop your player's endurance levels. I have used 10 players in this exercise as an example; however the numbers can be modified depending on the size of your squad. The exercise starts with 5 players on the outside of the area with a ball each and the other 5 players in the middle of the area without a ball (figure 1).
The players in the middle run towards the outside players and when they are around 5 yards away, the ball will be passed to them by
Continue readingBy Jebreel Bubtana
This exercise works on first touch with different parts of the body as well as agility, coordination and conditioning, which is great way to start your pre-season training.
There are 3 different stations as shown below (figure 1), with players spending 4 minutes working before switching with the feeder and then moving on to the next station.
Station 1:
The player must run through the ladder placing both feet in the gaps of the ladder, after this is done they must sprint to the feeder who will be holding the ball out in