Football drills at home for 17 year olds

At a glance

At 17

81 football drills the app opens for a 17 year old work at home, across 6 skills.

How long

One home session of about 50 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 75 minutes for a 17 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 17 hours for a 17 year old, with two rest days a week.

What you need

Most used: cones (39 of the 81 drills), football (15), notebook (4), game video (2), line or cones (2), line or tape (2), big pillow or soft bag (1), chalk or tape (1). 8 drills need nothing but space. 32 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.

81 at-home drills

Football drills for 17 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for a 17 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

• Spot the FormationAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Know Your AlignmentAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Play to the WhistleAges 7 and up · 8 min

blocking

Blocking

• First Step RaceAges 14 and up · 6 min
• Hands Up ShapeAges 14 and up · 6 min
• Quick Feet SquareAges 7 and up · 8 min

catching

Catching

• Snap ExchangeAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Catch, Tuck, GoAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Catching with Soft HandsAges 7 and up · 10 min

safe tackling

Safe Tackling

• Tracking Angle WalkthroughAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Pursuit and Two-Hand TagAges 14 and up · 12 min
• Inside-Out Leverage ShuffleAges 11 and up · 10 min

speed

Speed

• Mirror DodgeAges 14 and up · 10 min
• Partner Resisted StartsAges 14 and up · 12 min
• Reactive Cut and SprintAges 14 and up · 12 min

A 46-minute session

A home football session for a 17 year old

A warm-up, 3 drills and a cool-down, 46 minutes in all. Do it up to 5 days a week, with rest days between.

1. 1Football Warm-Up, Ages 14 and UpA 12-minute moving warm-up for football players 14 and up: moving stretches, strength, single-leg control, cuts and build-up runs, then football moves at practice speed.12 min
2. 2Stance and StartLow and fast, push the ground back.8 min
3. 3Flying 10sFast and relaxed, cheeks loose.12 min
4. 4Wall Sit HoldsBack flat, breathe steadily.6 min
5. 5Football Cool-Down Stretches, Ages 14 and UpA 8-minute cool-down for football players 14 and up after training: stretches for the legs, hips, shoulders and inner thighs, each held 20 to 30 seconds, never to pain.8 min

At 17

What changes in football training at 17

The app opens the same 81 at-home drills at 17 as at 16; 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 17 hours for a 17 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting football into a week at 17

At 17 the limit is 17 hours of organized sport a week. If you count home sessions against it to be safe, 5 sessions of 50 minutes is 4.17 hours, which leaves 12.83 for team practice and games. Even 5 days at the app's longest, 75 minutes, is 6.25 hours.

The research behind it

• Ages 13 to 15 are the "specializing years", after the sampling years of 6 to 12.

  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