Free drill library · Soccer

At-home soccer drills for 14 year olds and older: striker

This is a free sample week of at-home soccer training for 14 year olds and older, for a striker: 3 of the 7 plans SSTracker has for this group, each 43.5 to 48.5 minutes, with every step and minute. Nothing here is written for this page alone; it is what the app gives a family.

Everything here can be done in a room, garage or yard. Drills that need a team are left out; a parent can be the partner in a pair drill.

Strikers are judged by finishing, and finishing is practice. At home a young striker can take hundreds of shots a week into small targets with both feet, practice turning with their back to goal, finish first time off a wall, and sharpen the short bursts and curved pressing runs forwards make in games.

How much: about 45 minutes (60 at most), 3 to 4 times a week, with rest days.

What a young striker can train at home

  • Finishing to the corners with both feet
  • First-time finishing
  • Back-to-goal turns
  • Short accelerations and curved pressing runs

A free sample week of soccer for 14 year olds and older

Session 1

Striker session 1: Volleys + Curved runs 43.5 minutes

  1. Warm-up: jog and skips, lateral and cutting moves, bounding, plank series, single-leg balance · 10 min
    Build from easy to fast. Quality landings: knees over toes, quiet feet.
  2. Beat your score: one-touch wall passes in 45 seconds · 2 min
    Sharp and clean. Your own best is the only target.
  3. Finishing variety: volleys from a toss, one-touch, turn and shoot (5 × 45 s, 75 s rest) · 10.5 min
    Body over the ball, lock the ankle.
  4. 5 to 11 yards (5 to 10 m) accelerations and a curved pressing run (6 × 6 s, 60 s rest) · 7 min
    Explode, curve the run, full rest. Not on a team-training day.
  5. Ball mastery combos at match speed, then random calls with head-up checks (5 × 50 s, 30 s rest) · 7 min
    Match speed, eyes up between touches.
  6. Game: match-speed challenge, receive, turn and finish into a small target · 4 min
    Game speed, full focus. Score your own round.
  7. Cool-down: walk, then hip, hamstring and calf stretches · 3 min
    Slow breathing, gentle holds. Drink water.

Session 2

Striker session 2: See the goal first + Volleys 48.5 minutes

  1. Warm-up: jog and skips, lateral and cutting moves, bounding, plank series, single-leg balance · 10 min
    Build from easy to fast. Quality landings: knees over toes, quiet feet.
  2. Beat your score: one-touch wall passes in 45 seconds · 2 min
    Sharp and clean. Your own best is the only target.
  3. Look at the target before receiving, then finish first time (5 × 45 s, 60 s rest) · 9.5 min
    Know where the goal is before the ball comes.
  4. Finishing variety: volleys from a toss, one-touch, turn and shoot (5 × 45 s, 75 s rest) · 10.5 min
    Body over the ball, lock the ankle.
  5. One-touch wall rhythm: weak-foot-only sets, half-turn receives, lofted passes to a high target (6 × 60 s, 30 s rest) · 9.5 min
    Every set, change the foot, the distance or the target.
  6. Game: match-speed challenge, receive, turn and finish into a small target · 4 min
    Game speed, full focus. Score your own round.
  7. Cool-down: walk, then hip, hamstring and calf stretches · 3 min
    Slow breathing, gentle holds. Drink water.

Session 3

Striker session 3: Curved runs + See the goal first 45 minutes

  1. Warm-up: jog and skips, lateral and cutting moves, bounding, plank series, single-leg balance · 10 min
    Build from easy to fast. Quality landings: knees over toes, quiet feet.
  2. Beat your score: one-touch wall passes in 45 seconds · 2 min
    Sharp and clean. Your own best is the only target.
  3. 5 to 11 yards (5 to 10 m) accelerations and a curved pressing run (6 × 6 s, 60 s rest) · 7 min
    Explode, curve the run, full rest. Not on a team-training day.
  4. Look at the target before receiving, then finish first time (5 × 45 s, 60 s rest) · 9.5 min
    Know where the goal is before the ball comes.
  5. Two looks before every receive, then play away from a parent’s pressure call (6 × 60 s, 30 s rest) · 9.5 min
    Check both shoulders before the ball arrives.
  6. Game: match-speed challenge, receive, turn and finish into a small target · 4 min
    Game speed, full focus. Score your own round.
  7. Cool-down: walk, then hip, hamstring and calf stretches · 3 min
    Slow breathing, gentle holds. Drink water.

Want the rest of the plan?

This sample is 3 of the 7 soccer plans SSTracker has for this group. In SSTracker every step is on the screen, your child logs the work, and you see it. No club needed: the family plan is $7.50 a month per player, or $12 a month for the whole household, and the first 14 days are free.

Get the full plan free for 14 days Coach or club director? Set up your team free Print a free week for another sport or age

The drills in this week

Volleys and Half-Volleys

Ages 14 and up · 12 min

Strike the ball out of the air and just after the bounce while staying over it.

  1. Drop the ball from your hands and volley it at goal from 12 yards.
  2. Next let it bounce once and strike the half-volley.
  3. Keep your knee over the ball so it stays low.
  4. Take 10 of each on both feet.

Coach's cue: Eyes on the ball, short backswing.

Bring: soccer ball, goal

Curved Sprint Runs

Ages 14 and up · 12 min

Sprint along a curve the way forwards and fullbacks really run in a match.

  1. Lay 6 cones in a wide arc about 25 yards long.
  2. Sprint the arc leaning slightly into the curve.
  3. Walk back and repeat going the other way.
  4. Do 4 runs each direction with full rest.

Coach's cue: Lean from the ankles, not the waist.

Bring: 6 cones

Safety: Full warm-up first. Stop at the first sign of a tight hamstring.

Ball Mastery Combos at Match Speed

Ages 14 and up · 10 min

Chain 3 or 4 moves at match speed, then random calls with head-up checks.

  1. Pick 3 or 4 combinations, for example step-over into la croqueta into a drag-back.
  2. Do each for 45 to 60 seconds at game speed, 30 seconds rest.
  3. Then 2 rounds of 60 seconds where your parent calls the move.
  4. Look up between touches.

Coach's cue: Match speed, eyes up between touches.

Bring: soccer ball, partner or parent

See the Goal, Then Finish First Time

Ages 14 and up · 10 min

Glance at the goal before the ball arrives, then finish first time.

  1. Stand 12 steps out at an angle to the goal, 5 steps from a wall.
  2. Pass to the wall; before it comes back, glance at the goal.
  3. Finish first time into a corner.
  4. Do 5 sets of 6, both feet.

Coach's cue: Know where the goal is before the ball comes.

Bring: 3 to 5 soccer balls, wall, goal or targets

Safety: Make sure nobody is standing near the goal, the wall or the target before you strike.

One-Touch Wall Rhythm

Ages 11 and up · 10 min

Keep a one- and two-touch rhythm off the wall, alternating feet; at 14 and over, weak-foot-only sets and lofted passes.

  1. Stand 4 to 6 steps from a wall.
  2. Pass with two touches, then with one, keeping a steady rhythm.
  3. Every other pass uses your weaker foot.
  4. Do 5 sets of 45 to 60 seconds. Older players add a lofted pass to a high mark on the wall.

Coach's cue: Keep the rhythm; weaker foot every other pass.

Bring: soccer ball, wall

Scan and Play Under a Pressure Call

Ages 14 and up · 12 min

Two looks before every receive, then play away from the side your parent calls as “pressure”.

  1. Set a gate on each side of you, 5 steps away.
  2. Pass to the wall. As it comes back, your parent calls “left” or “right” as the pressure side.
  3. Look twice, then receive and play out through the other gate.
  4. Do 6 sets of 60 seconds.

Coach's cue: Two looks, then the pass that breaks the line.

Bring: soccer ball, wall, 4 cones, partner or parent

Safety: No contact and no tackling: the parent or partner only moves, calls or rolls the ball.

Safety for ages 14 and up

  • Plans for this age group use beginner, developing and advanced drills only. Advanced drills open from age 13 in the app.
  • Home plans use only drills for a room, garage or yard. Stop if anything hurts.

Before you start: soccer

  • Shin guards under socks for every game and partner drill.
  • A ball the right size for age (size 3 for the youngest, size 4 from about 8, size 5 from about 12).
  • No heading the ball at age 10 and under (U.S. Soccer). Ages 11-13: light heading in practice only, with a coach.
  • No slide tackles in practice games; stay on your feet when you defend.
  • Goalkeepers learn to fall on soft ground first, starting from the knees.
  • A warm-up with balance, jumping and landing (like FIFA 11+ Kids) cuts injuries by about half.
For every sport and age (7)
  • Head knock or concussion signs (headache, dizziness, confusion, feeling "off"): when in doubt, sit them out. See a doctor, and no return the same day.
  • Back to sport only with a doctor's written OK, after a step-by-step return. Every U.S. state has a youth concussion law.
  • Heat: drink water before, during and after. Take shade breaks, ease into hot weather over about two weeks, and stop if dizzy, sick or headachy.
  • Lightning: if you hear thunder or see lightning, go inside a building or a closed car. Wait 30 minutes after the last thunder (the 30-30 rule).
  • Pain is a stop sign, not something to push through. Stop and tell a grown-up; pain that lasts or comes back each session needs a doctor.
  • Water and rest are part of training: 1-2 rest days a week, plenty of sleep, a meal or snack before and after, and other sports welcome.
  • Know where the nearest AED (heart defibrillator) is, and who calls for help in an emergency.

The research behind these plans

Which drills are shown at which age, and the safety notes, follow the 77 sources below: national governing bodies, medical associations and studies on youth sport (last reviewed October 2026). Where no study gives an exact number, the plans use cautious defaults, and we change them as the research does.

Age, development and practice design (22)
Positions, scanning and technique (11)
Goalkeeping (10)
Safety, load and injury (26)
Motivation and parents (8)

More plans