Jim Cantrell 0 Report post Posted September 9, 2005 I am looking for games to help with fundamentals for a 3-4 yo team. The stuff in the drills section of this site dont really address keeping a 3 or 4 year old entertained AND teaching them.I guess the important thing is to keep them happy, having fun and wanting to play next season too - but any suggestions would be appreciated.Jim Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joey 0 Report post Posted March 27, 2006 Hi Jim! Did you find anything? I just started coaching a 3-4 year old soccer team, and I need as much info as I can get. Never coached soccer before. Thanks!JoeyI am looking for games to help with fundamentals for a 3-4 yo team. The stuff in the drills section of this site dont really address keeping a 3 or 4 year old entertained AND teaching them.I guess the important thing is to keep them happy, having fun and wanting to play next season too - but any suggestions would be appreciated.Jim Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hollad6636 0 Report post Posted March 28, 2006 One drill that we did that was very popular with our kids when they were that age was to place two groups of 10 to 14 cones in a 10x10 area about 25 feet apart. Each player has a soccer ball and on go they all dribble down the field to the first group of cones. When they arrive at the first group of cones they must shoot their ball at a cone and try to knock it over. They can not go on to the next group of cones until all the cones in that group on knocked over. Once they are they dribble down to the next group of cones. You can keep this drill going for awhile by setting back up the first group of cones while they are working on knocking over the second group of cones. This will work on their footwork and their shooting skills while giving them some conditioning. In addition by have that many cones each child will have the opportunity to have some success at knocking over a cone. P=PlayerX=ConePP X X X XP X X X XP X X X XP X X X X XP X X X XP X X X XAnother drill that is easy to run is to set up two groups of 4 cones in a straight line five feet apart from each other. Line X-----X-----X-----X LineLine X-----X-----X-----X LineFirst they must dribble with only their right foot through all 4 cones and then pass the ball to the first person in line who will then dribble back and pass to the first person and so on. After three of four times with the right foot, they must use only the left foot and then finally they can use both feet.If you have alot of players make three lines. Finally, small sided games are always a great way to introduce the game to this age group. 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, etc.The most important thing with this age group is to keep them moving. The more time they spend doing anything while kicking the ball, the better they will get.Good luck,Schann Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hollad6636 0 Report post Posted March 9, 2008 Coaches,Take a look at our newest product. The CoachDeck Soccer Drills CardsThese cards were created to assist you to help your players learn important skills and fundamentals though fun drills and games. The time commitment involved in coaching is enormous, and sometimes it is not possible to thoroughly prepare for each practice. Designed by professional coaches, the drills can be performed by players from 6-16 and are laid out in a fast, easy-to-understand format that allows you to conduct an extremely effective practice with little or no preparation.Inside each soccer deck you will find 52 color-coded soccer drills. The nearly infinite number of drill combinations you can create means your players will never get tired of the same old practice. Nearly every drill contains a unique, "Make it a Game" feature that will ensure your players want practice to go on forever. Each Deck also contains two double-sided instructional cards on Safety, Terminology, Practice and How to Use CoachDeck.Regards,Schann Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chelsea33 0 Report post Posted March 11, 2009 What a fun age. At that age they say you have done a good job coaching as long as they want to come back and play again the next year, so fun is the key. We introduced games like Red Light/Green Light, where they would line up on one side of a small field and dribble towards you. You would yell out Red Light, where they would stop the ball. Green Light they could dribble fast and Yellow Light was a slow dribble. They key was to stop the ball on Red Light without it running away from you. One thing I did with my 4 and 5 year old is let them dribble as small ball around the house when you are home, but have them do it without their shoes on. This forced them to not use their toes and dribble the correct way, so when you run a drill with dribbling they are using the shoe lace portion of the foot. It seemed to work. Have fun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coachdave 1 Report post Posted May 13, 2011 Hi, in reply to the question about coaching basic soccer skills to very young children, the best place to look is http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/soccer_coaching_and_the_very_young_child.htm#drillsThe info is written by a coach who has lots of experience coaching all ages and many of the drills are age specific. The site also has a lot of practical coaching advice to offer, as well as the drills and games. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites