This article is one of three articles covering practice design and execution. This article covers what specific skills to teach. The other articles cover overall Practice Structure and Design, and Drill Design

The Minimum to Cover Before the First Game

Before the first game of the season, players should be reasonably prepared in three areas:

• Essential rules
  • Example: No hands, field boundaries, etc.
  • Age-specific rules such as the build-out line, offsides, and throw-ins
• A small number of critical set plays to reduce chaos and prevent high-risk situations in the first game:
  1. Defensive goal kicks
  2. Kick-off
• Enough scrimmaging for players to feel comfortable playing together

There are often only a handful of practices before the first game. Early practices should prioritize orientation—learning the rules, understanding a few basic set plays, and getting used to playing together—while also developing a rough sense of where players may fit initially.

Everything after the first game should be driven by what the game itself reveals.

Throughout the Season: Concepts and Skills to Address

Below is a list of skills and concepts that should be taught in some form over the course of the season. What is feasible depends on the age, developmental stage, and composition of the team.

This list is a guide—not a checklist. Limited practice time, limited help, and wide variation in skill mean some concepts cannot realistically be taught well. Use your judgment, and use games to decide what matters most.

What is realistic varies significantly by age:

• U6–U8:
  Ball familiarity, spatial awareness, and 2–3 simple ideas (spread out, pass to a teammate, defend your goal)
• U10–U12:
  Supporting angles, basic defensive shape, and more deliberate decision-making
• U13+:
  Positional play, combination passing, and more complex tactical understanding

These concepts fall into three broad categories. Not everything will apply to every team or age group, but this framework helps you prioritize based on what you actually see in games.

Core Teaching Categories

Essential Rules and Stoppage Plays

• Age-related rules (e.g., build-out line)
• Must-always, must-never, and when-in-doubt rules
  (for example, never cross the ball in front of your own goal)
• Stoppage plays (e.g., goal kicks)

Individual Decision Making

• Spread the field wider to create space
• Support from behind
• Ball-side and goal-side positioning on defense
• Provide angles of support from behind and the side—not only forward
• Don’t sprint too far ahead to receive the ball
• Recognize when you are open
• Move after you pass
• Defend and pressure opponents
• Avoid bunch ball—spread out like pepperoni on a pizza
• Know where to be when possession changes
• Where to dribble
• When to stop dribbling
• Where to pass
• When to pass
• What angle to pass at

Individual Technique and Skills

• Basic kicking technique for passes and air balls
• Dribbling technique
• Using the body legally and effectively
• Tackling (not slide tackling, depending on age)
• Chest control
• Basic trapping
• Finishing
• First touch

Good drills integrate technique and decision-making. Passing technique alone is meaningless if the decision about where to pass is poor.

How to Choose What to Focus On

The game should drive these decisions.

Scrimmages and free play help, but games are the most reliable source of information. Some things must always be addressed—your must-always, must-nevers, and stoppage plays. Beyond that, your job is to identify real problems.

There are many practice plans online that progress through pre-set topics. You must decide whether those plans actually fit your team. Every recreational team has specific needs that a generic plan cannot address. The most valuable skill for a recreational coach is learning how to:

• Identify the biggest problems
• Prioritize them
• Design drills that address them efficiently

Focus on patterns such as:

• A skill or technique many players struggle with
• Decision-making on the ball (over-dribbling, only passing forward)
• Decision-making off the ball (not knowing how to get open, support from behind, or spread out)

Prioritize patterns that did—or could have—changed the game. These are your highest-yield teaching opportunities.

Example: If players consistently misjudge air balls and only pass forward, design a drill where:

• The ball starts as a drop kick from the goalkeeper
• The receiver must control under pressure
• The next pass must go sideways or backward
• The sequence ends with a finish

One drill, multiple problems addressed.

Focus the next week’s drills on the skills, technique, and decision-making that mattered most.

How to Teach It

Specific drill design is covered in detail (see Drill Design). In practice, most drills should take the form of:

• Small-sided games
• Pattern-based activities
• Short simple technique drills preceding the above.

Start by prioritizing:

• What needs reinforcement beyond free play
• What cannot be fixed during a game

Then select 1–3 drills that accomplish those objectives

Whenever possible, teach through movement—not lecture. Movement builds motor memory. During games, players process many things at once. Translating verbal instruction into physical action under pressure is far harder than relying on movements that already feel familiar.

Teaching with words can help—but it should be uncommon. Use words when:

• A player asks for deeper understanding (best handled one-on-one)
• Older players need positional explanation (brief discussion, then walk-through)
• Addressing team-wide topics like sportsmanship or why scores are not run up

Keep discussions short and question-based: “How do you think the other team feels when the score is 8–0?”

Analogies matter. “Pepperoni pizza” instantly reinforces spacing. During games or scrimmages, calling out “pepperoni” can trigger that understanding without explanation.

What to avoid

• Brand-new drills every practice
• Overly complicated setups
• Drills with excessive standing around

Favor drills that keep kids moving, thinking, and engaged.