Soccer passing drills and exercises are a great way to develop agility, movement, decision making and team attitudes. When coaching and working with kids of all ages, there are methodologies of combing skill development with fun while getting their passing down to a science.
Four Corners; Ages 10-14
Make four grids of approximately 5 ft x 5 ft each and about 40 yds apart from each other. There is no ‘out of bounds’ section allocated. There will be two teams, each of from 4-8 players. Variations on this passing drill can include the pass must be a give and go to a team mate player.
The object of this game is to get point scores based on passing the soccer ball to a teammate who is inside of one of the four corners. Each team has the ability to score in any corner, but cannot make a point score in the same corner twice in a row.
Split the Defenders; older kids, ages 12-14
There will be three teams, of two players each and a 25×25 yard or grid. Variations in this can be to add one caviat: if a team makes a mistake, those team members go into the middle and the two defenders can be placed outside the cones.
The game object is for the four outside players to maintain possession and keep the soccer ball away from the other team. Points are scored when they see and achieve the opportunity to pass a ball in between the two defenders and they have a successful pass to their team member that is located diagonally across in the grid.
Dodge Ball; fun game for ages 6-12
This is a good push, pass and dribbling exercise and fun for a large age group. Variations can include specific methods of dribbling and movement, starting the players inside the circle without a soccer ball. For the younger kids, parents can be on the outside of the circle and this can be a total dribbling exercise.
Using cones, create a large circle. The purpose of the game is to have players on the outside of the circle ‘push pass’ the ball back and forth to their partner who is also on the outside of the circle and make an attempt to hit the players inside the circle with the soccer ball. All passes must be on ground level.
Tug of War: Passing for accuracy; ages 6-14
This exercise is excellent for power and accuracy training.
Using cones, create four imaginary lines. The inside lines are about 20 yards. Place a uniquely colored soccer ball as the target ball in the center. Players on each side are going to try to make the target ball cross the line of the opposing team. This will be done by kicking through push passing their soccer ball at the target ball.
Chip Pass Game: Chip pass or long pass; ages 11-14
Using cones, set up two large 10×10 grids, one at each end of the field. Two teams will be playing against each other. To score a point, a team player must make a ‘chip pass’ to their own ‘target team member’ that is inside of the grid.