Football drills
13Traffic Light
A playful warm-up where everyone has a ball. The children get lots of touches and learn to look up, stop, start and turn with the ball close to their feet.
Pirates
A dribbling game for the youngest. The ball is your treasure and the pirate wants to kick it away. Children practise shielding the ball, seeing space and dribbling away from pressure.
Passing Through Gates
Pairs pass through small gates of cones and then move on to a new gate. The drill trains passing accuracy, first touch and looking up before you play.
Passing Triangle – Pass and Follow
A classic passing drill where you follow your pass. Players practise passing and receiving on the move and get used to moving after they have played the ball.
Dribbling Slalom and Finish
Dribble through poles, set up the shot and finish on goal. The drill combines close control with a finish and gives the goalkeeper plenty of saves.
3v3 to Small Goals
A small-sided game on a small pitch without goalkeepers. Everyone gets lots of touches, finishes and duels, and game understanding grows by itself.
Floorball drills
13Freeze Tag with a Ball
A playful warm-up where everyone has a ball. The children dribble, look up and protect the ball – and help each other by rescuing frozen team-mates.
Technique Track
A track with a slalom, a hurdle and a turning cone that ends with a shot on the goalie. The children practise carrying the ball, playing it past an obstacle and finishing – in one flowing exercise with lots of repetitions.
Ball Control in the Square
Everyone dribbles in a square while the coach calls commands: forehand, backhand, round a cone, stop, swap balls and full speed. Lots of ball contact plus listening and looking up.
Passing Square – Pass and Follow
Five players and four corners: pass to the next corner and follow your pass. Players practise passing and receiving on both forehand and backhand, and moving after the pass.
Slalom and Shot from the Wings
Two lanes of cones run from the wings in towards the slot. Players dribble the slalom and shoot, alternating from right and left. After the shot the player changes sides so both directions are practised.
Wall Pass and Finish
Dribble towards the cone, play a wall pass with a player at the board, run past the cone and take the return pass in the slot to finish. Trains passing at speed, moving after the pass and shooting.
Ice hockey drills
13Puck Traffic Light
A playful warm-up where everyone has their own puck. Kids work on puck control, skating with their head up, and stopping and turning with the puck still on the blade.
Sharks and Minnows
A classic game where the minnows skate across the zone with a puck each while the shark tries to take one. Trains skating at speed, puck control under pressure and protecting the puck with the body.
Cross-Ice 3-on-3
A small-area game across the ice, as in cross-ice hockey for young players: a small surface, lots of puck touches, lots of shots and goals. Players learn to get open, pass under pressure and finish.
Skating Circuit – Crossovers, Stops and Backwards
A full-ice skating circuit that covers the key skating skills: crossovers both ways, sprints and hard stops, backward skating and tight turns. Good as a warm-up and for skating technique.
Stickhandling Slalom and Shot
Players stickhandle through the cones, skate out to a shooting spot and shoot on the goalie. Trains puck control at speed, going from stickhandling to shooting, and gives the goalie lots of shots from both sides.
Passing in Pairs Up the Ice
Pairs skate the length of the ice passing back and forth at speed; the last pass goes to the player driving the net, who shoots. Trains passing and receiving on the move, forehand and backhand.
Handball drills
13Bounce and Listen
A playful warm-up where everyone has their own ball. The children get hundreds of bounces, learn to control the ball with their fingertips and to look up while dribbling.
The Ball Thief
A dribbling game for the youngest. Everyone bounces their ball while a ball thief tries to steal one. The children learn to shield the ball with the body, bounce with their heads up and find open space.
Mini Handball 3v3
Small-sided match play: three court players and a goalkeeper per team on a smaller court. Lots of touches and shots, and the children learn to play freely and restart quickly after a goal.
Pass and Follow Square
A classic passing drill: pass to the next cone and follow your pass. Trains passing and catching with both hands and moving straight after you pass.
Bounce Slalom and Jump Shot
Bounce through a slalom, take three steps up to the 9 m line and finish with a jump shot. Trains bouncing with both hands, the step rhythm and shooting against a goalkeeper.
Running Passes in Threes
Three players run the length of the court in three lanes and pass at speed, middle–wing–middle, and the middle player finishes from 9 m. Trains passing and catching at full speed and the step rule.
Basketball drills
12Dribble Tag
A playful warm-up where everyone – the tagger too – dribbles their own ball. Children practise dribbling with their eyes up, changing direction and protecting the ball with their body.
Red Light, Green Light
The classic game with a ball: players dribble across the court on the coach's calls. It trains ball control, stopping under control (the jump stop) and starting and changing pace with the ball.
Passing Through Gates
Pairs pass to each other through small gates of cones, then move on to a new gate. Children practise the chest pass, catching with two hands and looking up before they pass.
Two-Line Lay-Ups
The classic lay-up drill with a shooting line and a rebounding line. Players practise dribbling to the basket, taking two steps and laying the ball off the backboard – and grabbing the rebound and feeding the next shooter.
Partner Passing Up the Court
In pairs, players run the full length of the court passing to each other on the move and finish with a lay-up. The drill trains passing on the run, leading the receiver and catching at speed.
3v2 to 2v1 Fast Break
Three attackers run a fast break against two defenders in tandem. When the defence gets the ball it goes straight back 2-on-1 the other way. The drill trains decisions at speed, filling the lanes and the quick switch from offence to defence.
American football drills
12Flag Tag
A playful warm-up for the youngest players, all wearing flag belts. Kids practise quick changes of direction, finding space and pulling flags – the basic skill of flag football – with no contact at all.
Ladder and Cone Relay
A relay for quick feet and coordination. Kids go through an agility ladder, weave through cones or step over mini hurdles and finish with a sprint – lots of movement and short queues.
Catch and Run
Kids catch a short pass on the move, tuck the ball away and run into the "end zone" for a touchdown. The drill trains catching with the hands and carrying the ball securely.
Hand-off and Ball Security
A relay in which the ball is passed on with a proper hand-off and carried through a gauntlet of team-mates who poke at it. Players learn to take the ball correctly and keep it secure under pressure.
3-Cone and 5-10-5 Shuttle
Two classic speed and agility tests run as stations: the 3-cone (L-drill) and the 5-10-5 pro shuttle. Players train acceleration, braking, a low centre of gravity in the turns and quick changes of direction.
QB Drops and Timing
The quarterback works on the snap under center, 3-step and 5-step drops and throwing in rhythm with the receiver's break. The receivers work on running the route at the right depth so the ball arrives as they break.