Another weakness of mine was dribbling. To improve this I suggest a practise called “markers.” Two players are needed one to attack and one to defend. The game is played inside of the penalty area and the aim is to stop the ball on the goal line by stepping on it. The defender starts with the ball and begins the practise by passing it to the attacker. The defender may challenge for the ball as soon as the attacker has received it.
If the ball goes out of the area, then the players switch roles and the drill starts again. This helps to develop the skill as the area where the attacker is allowed to dribble is very small. This means the attacker has to not only keep close control of the ball while running he also has to dribble past the defender without getting tackled in order to score as shooting is not an option. To add progression you could add more defenders making it harder for the attacker to score.
You can also add a rule where if the attacker dribbles past the defender twice before scoring, two goals are awarded. This encourages the attacker to take on the defender more than once, meaning the skill will be further developed. It also reflects a real game, as there is more than one defender in a real match, and they may also recover and try to tackle you again as the defender wouldn’t just give up after he had been taken on; he would try to tackle you again.
The other weakness I identified was tackling. For this I suggest a drill where two players are needed, again an attacker and a defender. The attacker begins with the ball and has to try and keep possession for 2 minutes. The object of the defender is to try and tackle them, preventing them from keeping possession. If the attacker keeps possession for 2 minutes, he scored 5 points, however if he is tackled the defender scores 5. In order for the defender to get extra points, he has to tackle the other player within 20 seconds. If he succeeds he gets 5 extra points, however if he fouls the attacker he loses 5 points.
The person, who has the most points after three tries, wins. This will help to develop my tackling as it practises the timing of the tackle as well as the technique. If the technique is poor and he gives a foul away, points are deducted, therefore this rule helps you think about the way you will tackle the opposition in order to not commit a foul. The 20 seconds bonus also encourages the player to tackle quickly and this would further improve this skill as you have to perform it under pressure, as in a real game you don’t have a lot of time to tackle someone. To add progression, more attackers can be added so they can pass to each other. This will make it harder for the defender to tackle as their will be more people trying to keep it away from him, and the 20 seconds bonus becomes virtually impossible. For further progression the 20 seconds limit and be reduce to 10.