Soccer drills at home, for the space you have
48 drills from Spatrian’s homeschool PE programme, each with its set-up, its steps and what to watch for. 21 of them one child can run alone in a backyard, and 12 fit a small backyard, a patio or a cleared room. Written for ages 13–18.
Small-space drills
These fit a small backyard of 20 × 20 ft; the 4 marked 10 or 12 ft fit a patio, a driveway or a cleared room indoors.
Toe Taps & Sole Rolls
Alternate tapping the top of the ball with each foot (toe taps), then roll the ball forward/back with the sole.
Juggling Challenge
Keep the ball in the air using feet, thighs, and head. Count consecutive touches.
Cool-Down & Debrief
Slow jog, static stretches (30s each: quads, hamstrings, calves, groin), and chat about what went well.
Three-Second Win-It-Back Duel
The instant you lose it, you have three seconds to take it back before they are out.
Wall First Touch
Pass into a wall and kill the returning ball dead with one touch, then play it back with the next.
Tight Box Dribbling
Keep the ball moving inside a small square for a full minute without it crossing a line.
Four-Turn Circuit
One turn at each of four cones — drag-back, inside hook, outside hook and Cruyff — round and round.
Weak Foot Only
Two minutes against a wall using nothing but the foot they avoid.
Jockeying Shadow
Defensive shuffling with no ball at all — the shape a defender holds before the tackle.
Scan Clock
Four coloured cones set like a clock face, the ball always moving, and a colour called at random.
Cut and Go
Accelerate to a cone, brake properly, cut, and accelerate away again.
Sole Roll Turns
Move the ball with the sole only, rolling it across the body and dragging it back to turn, the way futsal players keep it close on a hard floor.
Solo drills for a backyard
One child, no partner, and a garden of 45 × 30 ft or less. The space and equipment check narrows these to the ground and the kit you have.
Warm-Up Jog & Stretch
Light jog around cones, followed by dynamic stretches (leg swings, arm circles, lunges).
Toe Taps & Sole Rolls
Alternate tapping the top of the ball with each foot (toe taps), then roll the ball forward/back with the sole.
Wall Passing (Solo) / Partner Passing
Stand 5-8m apart. Pass the ball back and forth using the inside of the foot.
Cone Weave Dribble
Set up 5-6 cones in a line (2m apart). Dribble through using small touches with both feet.
Target Practice
Set up targets (cones, water bottles) in a goal area. Shoot from 8-12m trying to hit them.
1v1 to Mini Goal
Take turns attacking and defending. Attacker tries to dribble past and score in a mini goal.
Ladder & Cone Agility
Quick feet through a ladder (or cones as substitutes), followed by short sprints.
Juggling Challenge
Keep the ball in the air using feet, thighs, and head. Count consecutive touches.
Cool-Down & Debrief
Slow jog, static stretches (30s each: quads, hamstrings, calves, groin), and chat about what went well.
GK Handling
Basic shot-stopping: set position, W-grip, collapse dive.
Two-Wall Scanning Gauntlet
Continuous wall passing while reading and calling a marker behind you.
Three-Colour Agility Maze
Quick feet through a small grid, exiting through whichever colour gets called.
Wall First Touch
Pass into a wall and kill the returning ball dead with one touch, then play it back with the next.
Tight Box Dribbling
Keep the ball moving inside a small square for a full minute without it crossing a line.
Four-Turn Circuit
One turn at each of four cones — drag-back, inside hook, outside hook and Cruyff — round and round.
Weak Foot Only
Two minutes against a wall using nothing but the foot they avoid.
Jockeying Shadow
Defensive shuffling with no ball at all — the shape a defender holds before the tackle.
Scan Clock
Four coloured cones set like a clock face, the ball always moving, and a colour called at random.
Cut and Go
Accelerate to a cone, brake properly, cut, and accelerate away again.
Sole Roll Turns
Move the ball with the sole only, rolling it across the body and dragging it back to turn, the way futsal players keep it close on a hard floor.
Toe Poke Finish
Shoot with the toe of the shoe into a small gate against a wall, from a still ball and then a rolling one: the quick finish futsal players use when a defender is close.
Ball mastery
Touches on the ball in a space the size of a doormat.
Toe Taps & Sole Rolls
Alternate tapping the top of the ball with each foot (toe taps), then roll the ball forward/back with the sole.
Juggling Challenge
Keep the ball in the air using feet, thighs, and head. Count consecutive touches.
Sole Roll Turns
Move the ball with the sole only, rolling it across the body and dragging it back to turn, the way futsal players keep it close on a hard floor.
First touch
Receiving the ball so the next action is already set up.
Dribbling and turns
Carrying the ball, changing direction and beating a player.
Cone Weave Dribble
Set up 5-6 cones in a line (2m apart). Dribble through using small touches with both feet.
1v1 to Mini Goal
Take turns attacking and defending. Attacker tries to dribble past and score in a mini goal.
1v1 Channel
Attacker tries to beat defender in narrow channel to score.
1v1 Continuous Transitions
Attack, and the second the ball is gone you are the defender for the next one.
Rondo with the Escape Dribble
Keep-away where a player under pressure is allowed to dribble out instead of passing.
Back-to-Goal Hold-Up and Turn
Receive with someone behind you, hold them off, and turn only when it is on.
Tight Box Dribbling
Keep the ball moving inside a small square for a full minute without it crossing a line.
Four-Turn Circuit
One turn at each of four cones — drag-back, inside hook, outside hook and Cruyff — round and round.
Passing
Weight, angle and timing, against a wall or with other players.
Wall Passing (Solo) / Partner Passing
Stand 5-8m apart. Pass the ball back and forth using the inside of the foot.
Rondo 3v1
Three players keep possession against one defender in small grid.
Triangle Passing
Three players form triangle, pass and follow or pass and move.
Two-Grid Transition Rondo
Keep the ball in one grid, then break into the next one the moment it opens up.
Up, Back and Through
Pass in, get it laid back, then slide it through for the runner. Three players, one moving ball.
Blind-Side Check and Slip Pass
One player disappears behind the defender's shoulder; the other slides it into the gap.
3v1 Keep-Away with Split Passes
Keep-away where a pass played between the defender's legs or either side of them is worth double.
Weak Foot Only
Two minutes against a wall using nothing but the foot they avoid.
Shooting
Striking a ball at a target, from the toe poke to the box.
Target Practice
Set up targets (cones, water bottles) in a goal area. Shoot from 8-12m trying to hit them.
Shooting from the Box
Receive pass and shoot from various positions inside the box.
Toe Poke Finish
Shoot with the toe of the shoe into a small gate against a wall, from a still ball and then a rolling one: the quick finish futsal players use when a defender is close.
Scanning
Looking before the ball arrives, and deciding off what you saw.
Colour-Call Rondo
Normal keep-away, except a colour gets called and the next pass has to go towards that colour.
Two-Wall Scanning Gauntlet
Continuous wall passing while reading and calling a marker behind you.
Three-Colour Agility Maze
Quick feet through a small grid, exiting through whichever colour gets called.
Midfield Pivot Scanning
Receive in the middle and move the ball to whichever of four gates gets called.
Scan Clock
Four coloured cones set like a clock face, the ball always moving, and a colour called at random.
Defending
Jockeying, steering and recovering, with or without a ball.
Defensive Shape Drill
Practice maintaining defensive line and shifting as a unit.
Channel Duel — Steer to the Line
Defend a narrow channel by showing the attacker sideways instead of diving in.
Zonal Sliding Screen
A defending line shifts across together to shut whichever side the ball is on.
Recovery Run and Angle of Pursuit
Chase back from behind on a curved line so you arrive goal-side rather than alongside.
Steering to the Outside Gate
Defend a central goal by making the attacker take the side gate instead.
Jockey and Recovery Challenge
Back off under control, then turn and match them the moment they go.
Jockeying Shadow
Defensive shuffling with no ball at all — the shape a defender holds before the tackle.
Pressing
Winning the ball back in the seconds after losing it.
Five-Second Win-It-Back Box
Lose the ball and you have five seconds to get it straight back before they escape the box.
4v2 Press Trap
Two defenders work as a pair to shepherd the ball into one half of the grid, then take it.
Three-Second Win-It-Back Duel
The instant you lose it, you have three seconds to take it back before they are out.
Small-sided games
Two-a-side and up: the drills that are a game.
Goalkeeping
Handling and footwork for the player in goal.
Speed and agility
Footwork, acceleration and changes of pace.
Warm-up
Before a session.
Cool-down
After a session.
Every drill, read aloud and logged
Spatrian’s Audio Coach talks your child through these drills while they play, and logs each run as PE time on the record your state asks for.