3 Soccer Drills to Practice at Home

To truly take your soccer skills to the next level, training at home is the key. Sure, team practices are vital in improving communication and teamwork, but when working on basic fundamental skills like dribbling or other ball-play, nothing beats working at home.

Our top 3 soccer drills to practice from home are:

1. Figure 8 Dribbling

This simple drill requires two cones and a ball. Set up the cones beside each other with enough space in between to create a figure 8 path. Typically, 4-5 yards apart works best. In 60-second intervals, dribble the ball between the two cones in figure 8. As you go, make sure your knees are always bent, and you are leaning your body in the appropriate direction. Keep the ball close and make sure your turns are short and quick.

To make things more challenging, you can mix it up for yourself by trying new things such as only using the inside of your feet to dribble or the outside. Other challenges can be only using your left foot or right foot and work to keep your head up.

2. Wall Juggling

The aim of this drill is to improve reflexes and get better at juggling the ball. Stand between 1 and 3 yards away from the wall you plan to use, making sure you’re allowed to use the wall first and begin to practice juggling and throws to improve your skills and reflexes.

The more you do this drill, the better you will get, so there is really no time limit on how long you should practice. As you use the wall to bounce the ball back and forth, make things more difficult for yourself by using your thigh, chest and different parts of your feet. Keeping good balance and staying on your toes will help keep the ball in the air for longer while teaching you the proper weight and touch to use to maintain constant control over the ball.

3. Stair Stepping

This drill is designed to improve stamina and balance. It involves putting the ball in front of you and jumping on and off the ball without allowing it to roll backward. This is one of those drills that sounds easy, and looks easy, but is actually quite hard to master.

With your kicking foot on the ball, jump and place your other foot on the ball while removing the kicking foot. The key to this drill to work quickly and work on your stamina while also challenging your balance and control.

By taking some drills home with you, you can work on your individual skills and stamina. Improving yourself as an individual player will help your team in the long run.