Soccer Conditioning Drills - Be the Team You Need to Be

Few team sports are as physically demanding as soccer. To perform at your peak for the duration of a game, you need to build up your stamina and cardiovascular strength. Whether you are a player or a coach, you can look to implement these drills to better your team.

Skills & physical fitness both play an important role for a soccer player. Both are crucial if you want to excel in the game and dominate the field. Unless you practice and train, it becomes practically impossible to outrun your opponents and utilize the techniques you have to your advantage.

Here we will be looking at a few of the best home conditioning drills for soccer players. You can perform these workouts to improve your athleticism and lower your risk of soccer injuries and with teammates to improve skills. 

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Conditioning workouts are a go to for many soccer players to improve fitness. “Conditioning” means preparing the body to perform with stamina and endurance. Most people tend to confuse conditioning with strength building.

Conditioning your body means you’ll have the endurance to run around for an entire 90-minute soccer game without getting fatigued, and it will probably help you feel more optimistic about your performance too.

While strength training is exercising to build your physical strength, conditioning helps to increase your cardiovascular system’s performance. Soccer fitness drills train and strengthen not only your cardiovascular but the respiratory systems as well.

Whether you’re just started or an advanced player, we’ve got great ideas for simple drills that improve agility, coordination, speed, strength, reaction time and more!

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The 3v3 workout activity is among other good fitness drills for soccer that conditions players while training them to defend their opponents. In this game, players are divided into 2 small teams of 3 players each. Each player is matched up with another player from the other team. Players can only tackle or defend the opposing players that they have been assigned to.

Desired Result:

Develop fitness and endurance through short, intense games. Players must work to stay with and defend their assigned opponent while also using wick cuts and change of speed to create space on offense. Players improve their conditioning while getting a mock game.

How to Setup:

• Set up a grid measuring 25x16 yards and put a full-size goal post on each width, with a goalkeeper on each goal.
• Divide the players into small groups of 3 and let each team be visually separated using different jerseys.
• Assign 5 balls to each team. The balls will stay in the goal.
• 2 teams will play per round.
• Decide how long each round should be. A standard recommendation is letting the teams play for 2 minutes before rotating the players.

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Two teams play against each other to goal with one condition – whenever a team loses possession, they must sprint to touch their own end line before they can attempt to win the ball back.

Desired Result:

These are team passing drills for soccer that require the teams to constantly move, pass the ball amongst the players, dribble to retain possession and try to score. The team that loses control of the ball must sprint and touch the goal line before attempting to win the ball back.

As you can imagine, this is a high-intensity drill that trains the players to recover quickly and attack the offense team before it has a better chance at the goal. The complexity of the game also motivates communication between team players and teamwork when making decisions.

How to Set Up

• Use cones to set up a playing grid measuring 30x40 yards.
• Place a goal post on each width. Put 5 balls in each goal.
• Group the players into small teams of 4-5 people each.
• Only 2 groups can play.
• Decide on how long each round will take. 2-3 minutes per round is standard. 

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Players complete three separate running patterns (A, B, and C) with each pattern covering 150 yards. Players rest in-between each pattern before starting the next.

Desired Result:

Builds player’s endurance and agility in this high intensity conditioning activity. Players are required to cover the same distance in each pattern but use different cone paths to complete each run. This makes the players use different steps and agility for each run.

How to Setup:

• Set up pattern A and B. Set up at least two sets of six cones on the outside of the running area. The cone lines should be parallel to each other with about 20-25 yards between them. There should be five yards between each cone along the cone lines.
• Set up pattern C by adding a cone 25 yards directly behind the two top cones of pattern A and B. The two cones should be in the same parallel lines as the cone lines already setup.
• Divide the players into 2-4 groups with about 6-10 players per group. Make sure there is enough running space between the two cone lines for the players to run.
• Increase the distance between the cone lines, or add a third cone line, to give the players more space.

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Players switch between jogging and sprinting around a full soccer field using the outside field lines as markers. The field is divided into six sidelines for this activity.

The two end lines, and then the long sidelines are counted as two sections on each side of the field for a total of six sections, or lines. The players start by jogging most of the lines, but finish by sprinting long portion of the lines.

Desired Result:

Focuses on developing recovery time between sprints. Players increase their stamina and lung capacity with these increasing sprints in this activity.

Setup:

• A full soccer field is needed for this drill.
• Explain to the players that there are six lines, or sections around the field. The two end lines and then the long sidelines are divided into two lines on each side by the half line for a total of six, almost equal length lines.
• Split the players into two, evenly numbered lines. Position the two lines diagonally across from each other in the corners of the field. 

Players partner up and alternate working through a series of dribbling patterns at full speed working. The partners involve turning, cutting, and running with the ball around cones.

Desired Result:

Develops a player’s ability to dribble, under control, at high speeds while improving their fitness. Good activity for players to get many touches on the ball and increase their control of the ball as their legs tire from running.

Setup:

• Players partner up with one ball and four cones.
• Each pair of players spreads out across the field and sets up their four cones.
• The four cones will be set up as two cone gates about 8-12 yards away from each other. The gates should be 2-3 yards wide and should be immediately across from each other.
• One player works while the other rests. The first player working will start with the ball behind one of the gates.
• Decide on a time limit that the players will work. 30-60 seconds is the range that the players should work for each round. 

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A rectangle is setup inside the field using six cones. The six cones represent a station and an exercise. The players start at cone #1 and work their way around the rectangle performing an exercise at each cone. Players sprint between each cone and start the next exercise as soon as they arrive at the next cone. Players will perform push-ups, sit-ups, and jump squats at the cone stations.

Desired Result:

Work on players’ fitness using short sprints and total body exercises to target the players’ lungs and major muscle groups. Players increase their lung capacity as well as their muscular strength.

Setup:

• Use 6 cones to create a rectangle, with at least 15 yards between the cones.
• Increase the distance between cones to increase the distance of the sprints.
• The cones are numbered from 1 to 6 in a clockwise direction.
• Depending on the number of players present, divide the players into 4-6 groups of 3-4 players.
• Have the group stay together and form a line behind cone #1.
• All the players in group #1 will start first with the exercise at cone #1.

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Players run the length of a full field at 80-90% their max speed and then jog, slowly, across the width of the field before repeating the same process.

Desired Result:

Develop players’ fitness levels in a less injury prone method. These longer runs without quick cuts, or changes of direction help decrease the chances of injury when trying to improve players’ fitness levels. Players decrease the amount of time it takes them to recover between runs.

Setup:

• Full-size field is needed.
• If there are more than 12 players performing this activity, divide the players up evenly and have them start on opposite corners of the field.
• The activity can be run just inside the field if there is not enough space to run along the outside.
• Decide on the number of long runs and rounds the players will complete. For example, 4 rounds of 6 runs, 3 rounds of 8 runs, 2 rounds of 10 runs, etc. For players with a lower fitness level, start with more rounds of less runs per round and then build up to less rounds with more runs per round. 

How the Drill Works:

Players sprint back and forth between a tic tac toe setup trying to place their team’s jersey color in a winning formation. Two teams compete at each setup and take turns running out to the box to move their team’s jersey markers until one team gets three in a row.

Desired Result:

Fun activity for players to compete against each other while also building fitness through repeated sprints. Players increase their max speed and quickness.

Setup:

• Divide the players into teams of 3-4 players. If possible, use an even number of teams so that no team must sit out.
• Depending on the number of teams create a tic tac toe box for every two teams.
• Use cones, or agility hopes to create the game.
• Set up a cone gate, 3-4 yards wide, 25-35 yards away from each tic tac toe box. This will be the gate players must start at before sprinting to and from the box.
• Assign two teams to each cone gate and have each team form a line behind each cone on the gate.
• Give three colored jerseys to the first three players in each team line.
• The two teams competing against each other must have different jersey colors.
• Players keep the jerseys in their hands and will place them inside the box when it is their turn. 

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How the Drill Works: 

Players divide into two groups and race (relay style) by dribbling the ball in a zig-zag formation to the halfway line and back. After each player returns to the line, the next person begins. The first team to complete the relay with all players wins.

Desired Result:

This drill builds stamina and endurance while also focusing on a critical ball skill: dribbling. When players tire, they tend to get sloppy with their touches and often lose the ball. This exercise helps forge muscle memory, reducing the chances of this happening. Creating a competition keeps players accountable and ensures they give their all.

Setup:

• Set up identical zig-zag grids from the end line to the halfway line
• There should be approximately 20 yards between each of the cones.
• Players divide into even groups and line up on the end line behind the starting cones.
• If you have too many players, create as many zig-zag grids as you need and run a multi-team relay.
• Each group has a ball.

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How the Drill Works: 

Players dribble quickly around a cone and then back to the center, where they leave the ball. Next, they turn right and sprint around the next cone, and then back to the center. Then, they collect the ball again, and dribble around the next cone to the right. This process is repeated continually.

Desired Result:

This drill focuses on developing game-related conditioning by incorporating dribbling, turning, and short sprints. To boot, players must be able to concentrate as they tire by remembering what step is next and where they must go.

Setup:

• Create a small square grid with four cones spread approximately 10 yards apart from one another.
• Place one ball in the center of the grid.
• This drill works best with one player so set up multiple grids for all players.
• You can use one grid for two players if they run the drill in opposite directions (you’ll also need another ball).

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