Football drills at home for 12 year olds

A 12 year old can practice awareness, catching and footwork at home with 49 football drills picked for the age. Keep a session to about 40 minutes, up to 5 days a week, with rest days between. Why: 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).

A parent's page for a 12 year old: the drills that work at home, one session to follow, what changes this year and how much is healthy. Free, no account.

By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated November 5, 2026

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A parent's page. Free to read; no card to start; running a team is always free.

At a glance

At 12: 49 football drills the app opens for a 12 year old work at home, across 6 skills.
How long: One home session of about 40 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 60 minutes for a 12 year old.
How often: At most 5 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 12 hours for a 12 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 12 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for a 12 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

catching

Catching

footwork

Footwork

speed

Speed

strength

Strength

A 40-minute session

A home football session for a 12 year old

A warm-up, 2 drills and a cool-down, 40 minutes in all. Do it up to 5 days a week, with rest days between.

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
2Short SprintsDrive low, then rise.12 min
3Bodyweight Strength CircuitGood form beats more reps.12 min
4Football 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 12

What changes in football training at 12

From 12, a home session can run to 60 minutes and the plan can have 5 training days a week, up from 45 minutes and 4 days at 11.

The app opens the same 49 at-home drills at 12 as at 11; the ones below are a different selection from that list.

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 12 hours for a 12 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting football into a week at 12

At 12 the limit is 12 hours of organized sport a week. If you count home sessions against it to be safe, 5 sessions of 40 minutes is 3.33 hours, which leaves 8.67 for team practice and games. Even 5 days at the app's longest, 60 minutes, is 5 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

What football drills can a 12 year old do at home?

49 drills the app opens at 12 work at home. A few to start with: Pre-Snap Reads, Spot the Formation and Know Your Alignment. 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.

How long should a 12 year old practice football at home?

One home session of about 40 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 60 minutes for a 12 year old. At most 5 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 12 hours for a 12 year old, with two rest days a week.

What do you need to practice football at home at 12?

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.

What changes in football training at 12?

From 12, a home session can run to 60 minutes and the plan can have 5 training days a week, up from 45 minutes and 4 days at 11. The app opens the same 49 at-home drills at 12 as at 11; the ones below are a different selection from that list.