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⚽ 27 drills

Pre-Season Drills

27 pre-season drills for grassroots football coaches, from U7 to adult. Each with step-by-step instructions, coaching points, and a visual diagram.

9v9 Shape Induction

Most U12 pre-season sessions start with football and assume players will fig…

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End of Pre-Season Assessment Game

Pre-season blocks only have value if the concepts transfer to match play…

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First Touch Flow

The single biggest mistake at pre-season week 1 is running a session like it…

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Match-Realistic Intervals — Pre-Season Final Phase

Generic interval running produces generic fitness…

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3-Zone Pattern Play

By weeks 3-4 of pre-season, players have technical reactivation in their leg…

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Ball Mastery Reactivation

The first session back after summer break at U8–U11 needs one thing above al…

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Pre-Season Box

Modern pre-season fitness should be ball-led, not lap-led…

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Combination Play Build

By week 3 of pre-season the team needs to rebuild the combination play habit…

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Pre-Season Conditioning Game

In weeks 2–4 of pre-season, the fitness component needs to be embedded in ga…

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Pre-Season Individual Assessment

Most coaches judge pre-season progress subjectively…

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Match-Day Rehearsal

In weeks 5–6 of pre-season the session format should mirror a match day exac…

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Formation Introduction

Pre-season is the right time to introduce a new formation or re-introduce la…

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Pre-Season Tactical Introduction — 11v11 Shape

Most squads jump from physical pre-season directly into match-pace tactical …

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Phase 2 Technical Reset

Phase 2 of pre-season (weeks 3–4) is where technical habits from last season…

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Pre-Season 1v1 Confidence

Technical confidence in 1v1 situations drops during an off-season break…

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Pre-Season Fitness Circuit

Pre-season fitness building used to mean laps and shuttles…

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Pre-Season GK Integration

Goalkeepers are often the last players considered in pre-season planning…

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High-Intensity Pre-Season Intervals

High-intensity interval training with the ball in weeks 3-4 of pre-season bu…

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First Session Culture Builder

The first session of pre-season establishes the culture for the entire year…

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Pre-Season Possession Rondo

The pre-season possession rondo reactivates technical sharpness after an off…

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Pre-Season Set Piece Review

Set pieces account for roughly 30% of goals at all levels…

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Pre-Season Shape Introduction

The first tactical session of pre-season should establish the team's shape a…

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Reaction Warm-Up

After 4–6 weeks off, players need their nervous system reactivated before an…

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Reactivation — First Session Back

The first session of pre-season is not a fitness test and not a technical dr…

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Small Squad Fitness — Pre-Season Circuit

Pre-season fitness with a small squad is difficult to run effectively — most…

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SSG Ladder

By week 4 of pre-season, players have their fitness back and their basic tec…

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Team Builder

The first session of pre-season has a specific problem the rest of the year …

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