For best accuracy, short passing should be played with the instep.  A great tip for coaches and players is to always practice soccer passing drills using both feet, so working on the left foot, then the right.

Soccer Passing Rules

• Approach the ball from an angle of about 30 degrees.
• Get your non-kicking foot close to the ball.
• Make sure that your weight is planted forwards, with your head over the ball. This way, the pass will stay on the ground, which makes control for your team mate easier.
• Get to know your team mates, so that you can pass to their favoured foot (if they have one).

Soccer Passing Drill One: Simple Grid Passing

• Use the grid with a smaller square in the middle.
• Two players (grey, below) pass across the grid, making sure that the ball goes through the middle square
• Once this is mastered, two more players practice across the grid (yellow/pale grey, below). This means that timing of the pass becomes important, to stop the balls hitting each other.
• To make the drill realistic, the players should always be on the move.

Soccer Passing Drill Two:  Passing Square

This drill is good for getting player to vary their passing.

• Mark out a rough square with four sets of two cones. The drill is for the blue/grey player in the centre.
• This player must pass the ball through the cones to a team mate, but in a different way for each.
• In this example, the two white players will receive a straight forward pass to feet, one player passed to with his left foot, the other with his right.
• The yellow/pale grey players can be one a pass to run on to, the other a lifted pass.
• The support players simply return the ball to the grey player after they have received their pass.
• Rotate periodically.

Development

• Receiving players call out the type of pass they want.
• Pressure is added to the central player with the ball played to him in a variety of ways.
• The addition of an opponent to add further pressure helps to recreate the match situation.

Soccer Passing Drill Three: One In, One Out

• This uses a grid, it can be made larger for less skilled players, to give more time on the ball.
• A player from one corner (white) plays the ball into the central player (grey/blue). He jogs after the ball into the centre.
• The central player turns 180 degrees with the ball and passes to corner he is now facing. He follows the ball to that corner.
• The player from the next corner (yellow/pale grey) plays the ball in for the skill to be repeated.
• The play continues.

This is a very effective warm up drill as well as good for passing, as it can start gently with pace increased as the players loosen up.

Soccer Passing Drill Four:  Pass, Pass, Shoot

This is a good drill for keeping players motivated, as everybody loves to shoot.  Stress the importance of keeping the ball on the ground for this drill, until the shot stage.

(Remember to coach your players to shoot low across the body of the keeper – this is both the hardest position for the keeper to reach, and also creates the opportunity for rebounds if the shot is partially saved.)

• White player passes to blue/grey and runs on (blue/grey arrow) for the return.
• Blue/Grey player passes with a simple one-two.
• White player ends with a shot.

Development

Start with two touches, then move on to one touch play.

Soccer Passing Drill Five: Obstacle Course

This is a good, fast action drill, also great for a warm up.  The drill can be made simpler or more difficult by placing the cones further apart or closer together.

• White player passes through the cones to grey.
• Grey controls, changes the angle, and passes back between two different cones.

Development

The drill can be developed by the addition of a defender running parallel with the cones, who aims to intercept the passes.  In this case, the other players must work together to make angles which allow passes to bypass the defender.

If you’re looking for something simple that you can do with just a friend, check out the video below:

I hope you enjoyed this blog on soccer training. Also, check out our book on Soccer Shooting Drills below.

Abiprod

Home of Soccer Training – Books