small-sided games U12 soccer drills

What is the U12 category?

The objectives of the U12 category in soccer

Some tips for coaching a U12 team

1. The alternation of individual and team learning: knowing how to balance personal development and team play.
2. Improvement of technical gestures: Emphasize improving the most obvious technical skills for each player.
3. Teaching through play: Build sessions around fun games to develop techniques and principles of individual action.
4. Reinforcement of basic concepts: Focus on possession, ball progression, and exploiting spaces on the field.
5. Introduction to transition work: Start working on the changes between attack and defense, initial positioning, etc.
6. Do not focus your training sessions purely on the "physical" aspect as you may be used to hearing. Favor exercises of agility, endurance, and flexibility to promote psychomotor development.
7. Simplicity should be your watchword when preparing U12 training sessions. It is essential because it allows for better learning: it is then your animation that will give rhythm to your U12 drills, not the complexity of your training sessions.
8. Finally, do not forget to include recovery periods.

What training exercises for U12s?

1. Passing exercises on the move: Encourage players to move while exchanging accurate passes to improve both their mobility and passing precision.
2. Possession games: Organize games where the objective is to maintain possession of the ball in small spaces, which helps develop quick decision-making and play under pressure.
3. Technical courses: Set up courses with cones to work on dribbling, changes of direction, and ball control.
4. Reduced match situations: Create mini-matches (5 vs 5 or 7 vs 7) to encourage team play and the application of basic tactical concepts in a match context.
5. Shooting exercises: Practice shots on goal from different positions to improve efficiency in front of the goal.
6. Oriented control and dribbling with the “escape from prison” drill: Add a fun element with an exercise that targets improving oriented controls and ball dribbling.