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Soccer Cone Drills for One Person to Practice Dribbling

By Parker & Walsh Leave a Comment

soccer cone dribbling
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Dribbling is a key soccer skill and it’s one that’s pretty easy to practice. If you have a ball and a grassy area to play in, you can easily work on your skills by yourself since dribbling is at its core an individual act.

But if you want to commit to improving your dribbling as significantly as possible, you’ll want to add some structure to your individual training.

Specifically, using soccer cones for dribbling is a great way to practice because they allow you to replicate more game-like situations: quick changes of direction, dribbling in tight spaces, and practicing different dribbling moves (link).

Getting a small set of soccer cones, ideally disc cones but full size ones work fine, is cheap and can be a good investment. And if you don’t have any cones at all you can set up a series of shoes, other balls, or similar small objects for you to dribble through.

soccer dribbling
If you don’t have cones, don’t worry! Just be creative finding something you can put down and dribble through, like these players working on their dribbling with bowling pins. image credit

Next we’ll look some good specific exercises you can do with your cones (or other objects).

Best Soccer Cone Dribbling Drills

When it comes to actually setting up cones for working on your dribbling individually, there are multiple ways to do it.

One is to set up a straight line line of cones for you to dribble through (like with the bowling pins in the above image).

The closer you space the cones, the more difficult the drill will be.

Where to Place the Cones: Setting the cones down in a straight line about 2 yards apart will help you with close control, while increasing the distance is good for beginners since it gives you a little more space.

Once you have your “course” set up, start dribbling!

Keeping Close Control: Weave through the cones while keeping the ball close to your feet so you remain in control. Learning how to do this is essential to becoming a

You also want to make sure to master the movement first, and only then try to do it at speed. If you try to go at a quick pace from the start, your form will suffer and you won’t get much benefit.

Dribbling with All Surfaces: Also make sure to dribble with both the inside and outside of your feet. You can choose a pattern of touches, for example cutting one direction with the inside of the foot followed by an outside touch with the other foot. Then vary it up.

In addition to dribbling through a straight line, there are other ways you can set up your cones. One option is to set up the cones in a T formation and dribble to the middle top cone, cut to one side, do a turn around that cone, sprint dribble to the other side, and then dribble to the bottom cone. Any dribbling exercise also helps with your fitness and this one especially so.

You can also set up three cones in a triangle about 2 feet apart, and dribble through them similar to how you did with the straight line.

Specifically to help you work on your dribbling moves, like the stop and go and the pull back V, you can do a great drill with only one cone.

Dribble at the cone from about 10 yards away and treat it as a defender. Perform your move without getting too close, and then change direction with a burst of speed into space.

When you’re learning how to dribble to beat an opponent, change of pace and change of direction are the two crucial aspects to doing it successfully, so focus on those with all of your dribbling practice.

What’s next? Some of our other articles go into even more detail on specific dribbling exercises and goals, so take a look at those for more ideas and inspiration:

The Zig Zag Dribbling Drill

2 Dribbling Drills for your Backyard

We hope this information is helpful to you in upping your individual training for dribbling. Cones are a very modest investment that can pay off big down the line with the structure they can give to your dribbling exercises. If you have any comments or questions, let us know in the comments section below.

Soccer Ball Control Drills You Can Do Inside Your Basement or Living Room

By Parker & Walsh Leave a Comment

soccer ball control

If you are looking for a way to get a lot of touches on the ball and improve your ball control when you only have a small space to use, then I have the Soccer Training Solution for you.

I like to call these Soccer Ball Control Exercises in a Box.

The drills are a variety of individual exercises designed to improve all aspects of ball control including your touch, balance, agility, and endurance.

Ultimately, these exercises will help you stay over the soccer ball and keep it within your area of control, between your feet.

Fortunately, the exercises do not require much space, so you can do them either inside or outside.

In fact, they only require a 2 yard by 2 yard area.

If I was going to have my soccer team do these exercises, I would have each player put down four soccer cones to create a box.

However, the cones are not necessary. The box is just a visual to map out your area of control. You can also thrown down shoes or other objects if you are playing in a basement or other indoor area.

You may recall in our previous articles (The Best Soccer Dribbling Drill, How to Get Better at Juggling, and Soccer Moves You Can Practice at Home), we have talked about elite players striving to get 10,000 touches per day.

Our Ball Control Exercises in a Box are another way to accomplish your goal of becoming an elite soccer player, as they will help you add to your number of touches per day. 

Performance Levels:

Ball Control Drills for Beginners:  1,000 – 3,000 touches per day

Proficient/minimum:  5,000 touches per day

Advanced and elite players:  10,000 touches per day 

Without further ado, let’s get to the specific ball control drills.

Ball Control Exercises in a Box

With this series of ball control drills, you will get a total of 1,700 touches.

You will find that many of the drills take you to one side and then back to your original position, so you can easily do them in the 

One last piece of advice: These drills should be performed at game speed to improve your skills.

  • Inside Cut, Outside Push (200 Total Touches)

    • Directions: Start on one side of the “box” (or small area). Cut the ball straight across your body to keep the ball underneath you and then push the ball with the outside of your other foot towards the other side of the box. Going side to side is one rep. Perform 5 reps then take a 10 second break. This is one round. Do a total of 10 rounds or a total of 50 reps totaling 200 touches.

  • Single Foot Inside Outside (400 Total Touches)

    • Left Foot Small Touches (100 Touches)
      • Directions: For the small touches you will be keeping the ball on just one side of your body, the left side, touching the ball with the inside of your left foot and then the outside of your left foot. This would be one rep. Perform 5 reps then take a 10 second break. This is one round. Do a total of 10 rounds or 50 reps totaling 100 touches
    • Right Foot Small Touches (100 Touches)
      • Directions: Same as above except you use your right foot.
    • Left Foot Big Touches (100 Touches)
      • Directions: For the big touches, start on the left side of the box. Cut the ball across your body with an inside cut and then shuffling your feet to cut the ball with outside of your left foot back to your starting position using the whole “box.” This would be one rep. Perform 5 reps then take a 10 second break. This is one round. Do a total of 10 rounds or 50 reps totaling 100 touches.
    • Right Foot Big Touches (100 Touches)
      • Directions:  Same as above except you start on the right side of the box and use your right foot.

  • Single Foot Inside Outside Two Touch each (400 Total Touches)

    • Left Foot Two Touch Each Direction (200 Touches)
      • Directions:  Start on the left side of the box, use the inside of your left foot to take 2 touches to go across the box. Then use the outside of your left foot to cut the ball back towards your starting position. Take a second touch with the outside of your foot to get to your starting position. This would be one rep. Perform 5 reps then take a 10 second break. This is one round. Do a total of 10 rounds or 50 reps totaling 200 touches.
    • Right Foot Two Touches Each Direction (200 Touches)
      • Directions:  Same as above except you start on the right side of the box and use your right foot.

  • Outside Push x2, Sole Stop (300 Touches)

    • Directions:  Start on one side of the box, use the outside of your foot to take two touches to go across the box. Then use the same foot to stop the ball with the sole of your foot and step over the ball so the soccer ball is now between your feet. Next, use your other foot to push the ball with the outside of your foot to go back to your starting position. Then use the same foot to stop the ball with the sole of your foot and step over the ball. This is one rep. Perform 5 reps then take a 10 second break. This is one round. Do a total of 10 rounds or 50 reps totaling 300 touches.

  • Sole Roll, Outside Push (200 Total Touches)

    • Left Foot (100 Touches)
      • Directions:  Use the sole of your left foot to roll the ball across your body, then use the outside of your left foot to push the ball back to your starting position. This is one rep. Perform 5 reps then take a 10 second break. This is one round. Do a total of 10 rounds or 50 reps totaling 100 touches.
    • Right Foot (100 Touches)
      • Directions: Same as above except you use your right foot.

  • Sole Roll, Stop (200 Total Touches)

    • Directions: Use the sole of one foot to roll the ball across your body, then use the inside of your other foot to stop. Next, use the sole of your same foot you just stopped the ball to roll the ball back across your body, then use the inside of your other foot to stop the ball. You are now back to your starting position. This is one rep. Perform 5 reps then take a 10 second break. This is one round. Do a total of 10 rounds or 50 reps totaling 200 touches.

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The Comprehensive List of Stop and Go Soccer Moves

By Parker & Walsh Leave a Comment

soccer stop and go dribble

The stop and go is a great soccer move that incorporates the two elements you need to beat defenders off the dribble. In our article How to Beat Defenders off the Dribble, we wrote that these two crucial things are a change of pace and a change of direction. It doesn’t matter what move you use as long as the soccer move has these two aspects.

This is why we recommend the stop and go because, as the name implies, it is built on a change of pace, and it also incorporates a pseudo change of direction by manipulating your hips and or the ball. (You will see this below in the different stop and go variations.)

The stop and go is used to get a defender off balance which creates space for you dribble past or to get off a shot, cross, or pass. The move is generally used on the flanks because that is where most teams try to attack. In general, you should always be dribbling the ball with the foot furthest from your opponent.

There are many variations of the stop and go which use a different surface of the foot to complete the move. It’s your job to choose the stop and go variation that fits you best and then work perfect it.

Stop and Go Variations 

As you can see there are three main types of stop and go moves depending on what surface of your foot you use to stop the ball. Some use the sole, others the inside of your foot, and still others the outside of your foot. It’s a good idea to become comfortable using all three surfaces before you decide which variation you want to perfect.

  1. Stop the ball with the sole of your foot; push forward with the laces of the same foot.
  2. Stop the ball with the sole; push forward with the inside of your opposite foot quickly.
  3. Stop the ball with the sole; step over the ball with the same foot so the ball is between your legs. Then square up (turn your hips 90 degrees) to face your opponent and drag the ball with the inside of your opposite foot.
  4. Stop the ball with the sole; step over the ball with the same foot so the ball is between your legs. Then square up (turn your hips 90 degrees) to face your opponent and do the Double Touch (La Croqueta) move (to do this move, use the inside of your foot to quickly drag the ball across your body to push it forward with the inside of your other foot).
  5.  Stop the ball with the inside of your foot, square up (turn your hips 90 degrees) to face your opponent, and push the ball forward with the laces of the same foot.
  6. Stop the ball with the inside of your foot, square up (turn your hips 90 degrees) to face your opponent, and push the ball forward with the inside of your opposite foot.
  7. Stop the ball with the inside of your foot, square up (turn your hips 90 degrees) to face your opponent, then perform the Double Touch (La Croqueta) move.
  8. Stop the ball with the outside of your foot; push the ball forward with the inside of the same foot.
  9. Stop the ball with the outside of your foot, square up (turn your hips 90 degrees) to face your opponent, then perform the Double Touch (La Croqueta) move.
  10. Stop the ball with the outside of your foot, feint like you are going to dribble backwards, then use the laces of your opposite foot to push the ball forward.

Perfecting a stop and go variation will allow you to easily add a counter move, which is a move allowing you to go in the opposite direction of your stop and go. The counter move can be a simple faint or step over to allow you to dribble in the other direction.

Simply put, the stop and go is a move that works! Choose one or two stop and go variations, and then keep practicing until you perfect them. This move will put defenders on skates making them unbalanced and letting you add them to your highlight real.

2 Dribbling Drills to Improve Your Skill in Your Backyard

By Parker & Walsh 1 Comment

Here at Soccer Training Solutions, we’ve already given you some helpful tips for how you can improve your soccer skills in your backyard.

But today we’ll focus on dribbling, one of the best skills for anyone trying to play at a high level, and show you how you can improve your skills in your backyard with only one cone.

(And if you don’t have a cone handy, you can substitute any small object like a shoe or soccer ball. Ditto for any nearby grassy area if you don’t have a backyard or if it isn’t set up for soccer practice.)

The following two drills will help you work on your change of pace and change of direction, which are the only two elements you need to beat a defender on the dribble.

Pair these two elements together, and you will be extremely difficult to stop on the dribble.

The first drill below works on change of pace, and the second drill works on both a change of direction and a change of pace.

Drill 1: Change of Pace Dribbling

Set a cone on the ground and start about 15 yards away with a soccer ball at your feet. Make sure there is about 15 yards of open space past the cone too for you to dribble into.

To begin the drill, dribble at a medium pace toward the cone. When you pass the cone, sprint dribble for another 15 yards after the cone.

Try to run as fast as you can after the change of pace while still keeping the ball under your control. The change of pace is crucial.

At the end, use the sole of your foot to stop the ball. (And make sure you switch up which foot you use.)

Once completed, turn around and do the exercise again. Try to do it 10 times in a row, which will also help you get fitter.

Drill 2: 1 v Cone Dribbling

For this next drill, use the same basic setup at the previous drill, but this time you will dribble at your cone which acts as a defender for you to beat.

In order to beat your “defender,” you will perform a move, which can be anything from a step over to a 360 spin.

Practice each move 10 times slowly and then 10 times at a faster pace. You should complete your move about a yard away from the cone. Here are some moves that you’ll want to try.

Rake – Use the sole (bottom) of one foot to pull the ball across your body and slightly backwards to the inside of your other foot.

In a game situation the pull would take the ball just out of reach of a defender, and pushing the ball with your other foot would allow you to accelerate past.

Step Over – Move one foot around the front of the ball and slightly over the top so your heel passes across the top third of the ball.

At the same time drop your shoulder to make it look like you are going to take off in that direction. Then you use the outside of your opposite foot to accelerate the other way.

Inside Out – Use the inside of one foot to touch the ball slightly inside as if you were going to knock it to your other foot or continue dribbling inside.

Then use the outside of the same foot to move the ball back to your original direction and past your defender.

These are just a few of the drills that you’ll want to try for the 1 v Cone drill. There are also other dribbling drills you can try.

For even more training ideas, as well as complete training plans, take a look at our Individual Soccer Training System.

 

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How to Beat Defenders off the Dribble

By Parker & Walsh Leave a Comment

soccer-defending-block-tackleJust about every player wants to know the secret to dribbling past opponents, and this article will shed some light on it. Two questions typically get asked. First, what is the best move to use when dribbling? And second, how do you beat someone 1 vs. 1?

What is the best move to use?

You can debate the merits of various 1v1 moves endlessly. There are step-overs, cuts, drags, stop-and-gos, 360s, and much more: in short, plenty of options. But in reality, it does not matter much which move you use. You do not need a particular special move to beat your opponent, and different players are more effective with some than others.

Perfecting particular soccer moves is not the most important aspect of beating a defender with dribbling. Instead, you only need to know two things, which leads us into the second question!

How do you beat someone 1v1?

You most likely have heard these two things I am going to tell you, but they are crucial to take to heart, especially if you can do both of them together.

The two things in order to beat someone off the dribble are change of pace and change of direction. This is it.

The best coaches I’ve ever had drilled these two things into me, and got me to a point where I could do both. My game improved significantly as a result.

The most vital component to beating a defender 1v1 is achieving separation. A change of pace or a change of direction can get you a little separation on their own, but pairing them together yields greater separation and allows you to get around your opponent.

We’ve said that the particular move you use doesn’t matter. But I would recommend perfecting two to three moves of your choice for your arsenal, so you don’t become predictable with the same one over and over again.

If you want to know more about dribbling, then check out our other blog post, Soccer Dribbling: How to Practice the Most Important Skill.

Soccer Dribbling: How to Practice the Most Important Skill

By Parker & Walsh 1 Comment

soccer-defending-block-tackleDribbling is a crucial skill to develop from as young an age as possible.

Kids may not be able to understand soccer tactics such as spacing or be able to complete more nuanced tactics such as effective passing, but dribbling is much more natural and an accessible skill.

And it’s certainly not just for kids, as dribbling is important at all levels of play. Being able to dribble past defenders is a learned skill and takes lots of practice.

Even midfielders and defenders must also be able to dribble in different situations, so it’s crucial for everyone to practice it regularly, not just forwards.

As with most skills, lots and lots of repetitions are crucial to improvement. This is where dribbling has a clear advantage over other skills, as you can dribble a soccer ball around all the time.

If you want to get better, start to dribble a soccer ball everywhere!

Dribble in your backyard, dribble through the house (if you’re careful not to break anything), dribble on the walk over to your neighbor’s house.

Dribble in tight areas and try moves to get around objects or people.

Dribbling a soccer ball around all the time will allow you to be comfortable on the soccer ball and pick your head up. And ultimately, it will help you keep control of the ball when you get to a game situation.

How can dribbling improve your game?

We’ve already mentioned that all players need to feel comfortable dribbling, no matter their position.

Dribbling allows you to keep possession, put your team in a numbers up advantage situation and create your own shot, to give a couple of examples.

Next time you’re watching a soccer game, keep track of all of the situations where you see players dribbling. It will be a lot more than just forwards trying to get by a defender in the attacking third.

Do you see a defender under pressure who needs to dribble to open up a passing lane? Or a midfielder tracking back and keeping possession?

How many dribbling moves do I need to learn?

Fancy moves can look impressive, but players really need just two to three moves. You need a move to go each direction: left and right.

These might be different types of cuts with different surfaces, step-overs, or similar techniques.

If you want to take your game to the next level, then you need to combine two or three moves together.

How do I practice soccer dribbling moves?

In order to effectively practice dribbling, you need to develop the motor skills and muscle memory for your two to three favorite soccer moves.

First, start off performing the move slowly for five reps to get the motion down correctly.

Next, perform the move at about 75% of full speed for five reps. Finally, practice the move at 100%.

You will need to do this for each move. You can practice your soccer moves anywhere, but an open grass area will work best.

If you want access to a complete library of dribbling moves, plus daily training plans that will help get you playing better faster, check out our soccer training system.

Do you do anything particular to practice dribbling? If so let us know in the comments.