Football drills at home for 11 year olds

At a glance

At 11

49 football drills the app opens for an 11 year old work at home, across 6 skills.

How long

One home session of about 30 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 45 minutes for an 11 year old.

How often

At most 4 training days a week, with rest days between. Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 11 hours for an 11 year old, with two rest days a week.

What you need

Most used: cones (25 of the 49 drills), football (11), chalk or tape (1), cones or bottle caps (1), game video (1), line or cones (1), line or tape (1), low playground bar or sturdy rail (1). 5 drills need nothing but space. 18 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

Safe at home

One child and one parent in a room, garage or yard. Never tackling, contact, diving or head-first falls, no stunts or loaded lifting, and nothing that needs a coach, rink, pool or court. Stop when anything hurts.

49 at-home drills

Football drills for 11 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for an 11 year old and one that works at home: a room, garage or yard, one parent as the partner, no venue. Each drill's page has the steps, a diagram where the setup can be drawn, three ways to make it a game and a log to print.

awareness

Awareness

• Key Read WalkthroughAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Name the GapsAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Pre-Snap ReadsAges 11 and up · 10 min

catching

Catching

• Bad Ball CatchesAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Comeback Route CatchesAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Over-the-Shoulder CatchesAges 11 and up · 12 min

footwork

Footwork

• Point and SlideAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Quick Feet SquareAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Shuffle and Stay SquareAges 7 and up · 8 min

speed

Speed

• Build-Up StridesAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Burst Through the HoleAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Chalk Ladder In-and-OutsAges 11 and up · 8 min

strength

Strength

• Low Bar RowsAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Push-Up LadderAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Split SquatsAges 11 and up · 10 min

A 26-minute session

A home football session for an 11 year old

A warm-up, 1 drill and a cool-down, 26 minutes in all. Do it up to 4 days a week, with rest days between.

1. 1Football Warm-Up, Ages 11 to 13A 10-minute moving warm-up for football players aged 11 to 13: running, moving stretches, plank, balance, landings and build-up runs, then football moves, with a note on growth spurts.10 min
2. 2Catching with Soft HandsEyes to the tuck. Hands, not body.10 min
3. 3Football Cool-Down Stretches, Ages 11 to 13A 6-minute cool-down for football players aged 11 to 13 after training: stretches for the legs, hips, shoulders and inner thighs, each held 15 to 20 seconds, never to pain, with growth-spurt notes.6 min

At 11

What changes in football training at 11

24 at-home drills join the list at 11.

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 11 hours for an 11 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting football into a week at 11

At 11 the limit is 11 hours of organized sport a week. If you count home sessions against it to be safe, 4 sessions of 30 minutes is 2 hours, which leaves 9 for team practice and games. Even 4 days at the app's longest, 45 minutes, is 3 hours.

The research behind it

• Ages 6 to 12 are the "sampling years": high play, low deliberate practice.

  Côté and Vierimaa 2014

• Organized sport should total no more hours a week than the child's age in years, with two rest days a week.

  NATA youth sport specialization recommendations

Questions and answers