As the famous adage goes, practice is the key to success. If you take a look at today’s top soccer players, they are people who have worked hard for the skills they display on the field. To achieve this level of skill, they have to take training levels beyond the team sessions.

If you are looking to better yourself and become a quality football player, then it is imperative that you put in extra time to practice. In this article, I am going to give you a few football training games and drills, and hopefully you will find them useful in your training program.

Juggling

This is a soccer drill that falls under the individual training category. Ball juggling may not have any accurate use in a real match, as you will rarely find space or time to do so. However, juggling affects some other basic soccer skills, and it is one of the easiest and fun football drills to practice individually.

Football juggling affects your soccer control ability and by constantly keeping the ball in the air, you can understand how soft or hard the ball needs to be hit to keep it under your control. In the game, it affects your ability to receive and stop balls as well as dribbling skills.

Juggling ideally has a positive effect on concentration, balance as well as the ability to control the ball with both feet. Of all the drills for individual practice, this one proves to be the most effective and beneficial. That being said, it is worth saving up a couple of minutes a day to juggle.

One on One Dribbles

During a match, there are countless occasions where you will have to take on an opponent one to one and so, this practice works best when done in a pair.

When employing this training game, is best that you train with someone you would usually have to dribble against in a match. If you are an offensive midfielder or an attacker, then practice with a defensive midfielder or a defender.

When practicing, it is also good to switch places now and then, after playing the attacker, switch positions and become the defender this time round. This gives you a chance to develop both attacking and defending skills as you practice.

To make this training game or drill more fun, you can hold a score. Whenever the attacker moves the ball past the defender, they get a point, and if the defender stops the attack, they get a point as well. Set a limit also. Whoever reaches 10 or 15 points wins and then you can switch sides and start over.

One Touch Passing

This is a practice game that works well for groups. In this regard, you can find three or more teammates and get this drill going. This practice works wonders to your ball control, agility and passing skills during games. Here’s is how this drill works:

Assuming you have five teammates, split into two groups of 3, aligned face to face. The distance between the two teams should just be a few yards. Group 1 starts with the first player passing the ball to the first member of the second team. After passing the ball, the player in Group 1 moves to the back of the line and the first player in Group 2 passes the ball to the second player of Group 1.

Practice this as fast and accurately as possible without touching the ball more than once. You can play with varying distances between the teams once you get a grip of the system. You can even try passing the ball in mid-air without allowing it to touch the ground and without stopping. This is a bit harder, but it improves your overall ball control skills.

These are just a few of the training games and drills in soccer, as there are many others out there including; Attack And Defend, 1-2-3 Pass, Steal That Ball, 1 vs 1 To Goal and may more. Whether you want to practice individually, with a friend or with your team, you now have three effective drills to help you better your soccer skills.

Keep your training interesting and develop games to master the skills necessary to master ball control and real-game scenarios.