Teaching Youth Soccer Players to Juggle a Soccer Ball

From my last post on juggling a soccer ball, I touched on why you should teach your youth soccer players to juggle a soccer ball, and in this post I will explain you the progression in teaching juggling.

One thing I have noticed in coaching youth soccer over the past 16 years is that juggling a soccer ball is not one of the kids funnest things to do. This is mainly because at the early years they are not coordinated enough to be successful. Due to the difficulty a 6 and 7 year old has when learning to juggle a soccer ball, they lose interest in practicing something they are not good at. As a youth soccer coach, it is up to you to dedicate 5-10 minutes of the players warm-up to juggling each soccer practice.

When teaching youth soccer players to juggle a soccer ball, have the players pair up with one player sitting down with their legs in front of them. The seated player should gently toss a ball to their own feet in attempt to juggle with their instep (shoe laces). The second player will be the ball chaser if the ball gets away from the player seated. After a couple minutes, have the players switch roles.

For players just learning to juggle, have the players juggle by dropping the soccer ball to their feet or thighs in attempt to play the ball back to their hands. After the player can successfully play the ball back to their hands, have the player attempt to juggle twice before playing the ball back to their hands. As the player becomes successful, increase the number of juggles before catching the ball.

Next, have the players normal by dropping the ball to their feet or thighs. This time, do not allow the players to catch the ball when they make a mistake. Instead, if the ball is not playable before hitting the ground, instruct the players to allow the soccer ball to bounce once before being played again.

As the next learning progression, have the players start the juggling by lifting the ball with their feet. At this point, the players hands should not be used at all as all the play should happen with their feet, thighs, chest, and head. Once the players are to this point in juggling, hold a competition that encourages players to juggle the soccer ball on their own time.

Always encourage players to juggle on their own time and make it a routine to bring juggling into every training session. The soccer juggling competitions always makes juggling fun and brings out some positive competition.