Soccer Drills - Junior High School

Are your players ready for senior high school?

Nothing is more exciting than helping your players to get ready for the next level. Junior High School Players are usually right in between playing levels and the differences in skill can be quite big for players of the same age. That poses a challenge for you as a soccer coach. You have to find drills that are suitable for your best soccer players, as well as for those who need to play catch up. At the end of the day you want all of them to be successful players at the senior high school level

We, at planet.training, got you covered if you want to improve those skills. We have thousands of soccer drills for any skill! You can directly start coaching with these four exercises or try hundreds of Premium Exercises and public drills in our soccer database.

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Shooting Drill – Precision from distance

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Set Up:

Place two big goals next to eachother, with a distance of at least 15m in between. Two poles on each goal line divide the goal in thirds. Put another pole 25m in front of the two goals. 3 cones, behind the pole, mark the shooting area (see drawing). The players will then line up at station 1 and 2.

Execution:

The first player of each station starts dribbling towards the pole at the same time, after the coach has given the start signal. Both players try to get around the pole as tight as possible (Consider the player coming from the other side). As soon as the players have passed the pole, the coach will give a signal on where to shoot the ball. The goal shot must take place inside the shooting area. S1 will use the right foot and S2 the left.

Count the goals – Who has the highest score after 5 rounds at each station?

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4 vs 2 with counter attack

Set Up:

For this exercise you will need one half of a regular pitch, where a “4 vs 2” will be played. 10 meter in front of the halfway line, set up a pole goal (Width of penalty area). Place enough balls behind both goals. Divide the group into teams of 4 and line up one goalkeeper between the posts. Two players of the defending team will wait as substitutes next to the goal.

Execution:

This exercise consists of a regular “4 vs 2” game, with both teams having the opportunity to score a goal. The attacking team (green) will start the game from the pole goal and will try to make use of the majority situation, through a quick passing game. The game will restart in front of the pole goal, with the attacking team maintaining ball possession after a goal or a missed shot. If the two defenders can intercept the ball from the attacking team, they will have the opportunity to score a counter attack goal by dribbling across the goalline of the pole goal. After two minutes the two waiting defenders will come into the game for the other two. Playing time: Two 4 minute games will be played with each team being the attacking team once.

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2 +2 versus 2 - Majority in a small sided game

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Set Up:

Set up a field of approx. 30m x 20m - One big goal on each end of the field. Three teams of 2 - One goalkeeper per goal. Place balls near goalkeeper for a quick pass, in case ball goes out of bounce.

Execution:

In this drill your players will learn to play a fast, yet controlled majority game, to take advantage of the situation. Team A (Blue) plays a free 2vs2 against Team B (Yellow). Neutral Team C (white) will always support the ball possessing team in their attack - After a goal Team C joins the attack around midfield.

Played with offside rule. After change of ball possession the neutral team C has to transition quickly as well. Because of the small sided game setting, this drill will get quite exhausting. Use little breaks where players can catch their breath to coach them up.

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3 Color Game with shot on Goal

Set Up:

Use 4 Cones to set up a passing field of approx. 30m x 20m between midfield and penalty box. Set up 3 cone goals (2m width) that are used for through passes at the end of the passing field. 3 Teams of each 3 players + goalkeeper in big goal, 1 ball.

Execution:

Two of the three teams will play together as Offense versus one defending team. The two offensive teams (white & red in the beginning) try to stay in possession by passing the ball as efficiently as possible. The ball possessing teams must play four successful passes, until they are allowed to play the fifth pass as a through ball through one of the three cones to one of their teammates.

The striker has to win his 1 on 1 with the goalie - One defender is allowed to chase the player, trying to prevent the shot. In case of interception by defending team: If the defending team can gain ball possession, the exercise starts anew. The team of the player that lost the ball will now be the new defending team – The other team now plays with the new ball possessing team.

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Without passing and dribbling there is no scoring

Scoring and winning is the ultimate goal of any football game. Whether a volley shot, bicycle kick, header or instep drive. Any technique can be improved by practicing it during your soccer training sessions. However, without an effective passing game or a perfect dribbling, there would not even be a chance to score. Therefore, coaches should always combine several skills in their session plans. Shots on the goal are perfect for engaging in small-field games or passing drills. To make sure that your next session plan is created even faster, there are a lot of other drill examples and variations on our other exercise pages.

ELEVATE YOUR GAME