Sample Practice

Kicking

Activity	Notes
Warmup: Look Up (5 mins) n players, each with ball In a confined space, all players are dribbling. Coach walks around, holds up fingers. Players immediately stop the ball and call the number of fingers. - other warm-ups: leapfrog, …	- Confined space forces ball to remain at feet. - Stopping the ball immediately shows that player has control - Calling number of fingers forces players to look up off the ball while dribbling
Tunnel Tag (10 mins) W/parents as tunnels	How to kick: use the inside of (both) feet, because it’s flat and accurate. Don’t use your toe.
Two-touch back and forth (10 mins) Parents w/kids, each with ball Players stand fairly close (5-10 paces apart) facing each other. Pass the ball to other player, who touches it away and passes it back.	- look at ball when you kick it - non-kicking foot points at partner, other foot hits ball on instep like a golf club (follow through) - emphasize both feet - (advanced) use outside of foot instead of instep - look at ball as you touch it to receive, knock it offline, look up, look back at ball, make the kick
Poison Ball (10 mins) 2 teams Teams line up horizontally facing each other about 20 yards apart, with balls. Between them, a line of 4-5 balls, one of which is distinctively colored (the poison ball). The object is to kick your ball to knock balls in the middle over the other team’s line, without touching the poison ball. If a ball doesn’t reach your team’s line, you can go retrieve it. You can’t block an incoming ball with your foot, but you can deflect it by kicking a ball at it.	- balance the teams - makes them keep the balls on the ground - look for pace (fast enough to knock balls around), accuracy
Scrimmage (10 mins)	- just observe (if you can) and see what sticks, what doesn’t. Good guidance for your next practice. - comment on only those things that you’ve been teaching this practice, ignore the rest.