5 Solo Soccer Drills for Reactions & Agility
As a former professional soccer player, I always looked for ways to improve reaction time, agility, and decision-making, especially when training alone. Unfortunately, most individual training involves performing pre-planned movements without reacting to a stimulus, which rarely translates to the unpredictable nature of an actual match. In games, every action depends on your ability to scan the field, pick up key information (like player positioning and space), process it to make a decision, and then react as quickly and efficiently as possible. This cognitive component is critical, and research backs it up: soccer players have been found to demonstrate significantly faster reaction times than non-athletes (Ando et al., 2001).
5 INDIVIDUAL REACTION TRAINING DRILLS FOR SOCCER PLAYERS
Here are my 5 best drills for training reaction time and decision-making with soccer-specific movements (e.g., agility, dribbling, shooting, passing, etc.) using just your mobile device, so you can react faster during games.
Press the “TAP TO TRY IN APP” button below any of these drills while on your mobile device to go directly to the drill in the SwitchedOn app.
1) Reactive Recovery First Step
Benefits: Improve reaction time, lateral agility, and defensive positioning against both left- and right-footed attackers.
Execution: Start in a defensive stance, react to the arrow cue by performing a recovery step toward the correct cone, and then return to your starting position.
Coaching Tips: Stay low, keep your chest up, and push off explosively with your back foot to maximize speed and control.
Sets, Reps, & Rest: 3-4 sets, 20-30 seconds work, 30-45 seconds rest between sets.
2) Hexagon Reaction Dribbling
Benefits: Improve reactive decision-making with the ball, directional agility, and ball control under pressure.
Execution: React to the arrow stimulus by dribbling around the correct cone—green means go that direction, red means go the opposite.
Coaching Tips: Keep your head up, stay light on your feet, and use quick, controlled touches to change direction smoothly.
Sets, Reps, & Rest: 3-4 sets, 30-45 seconds work, 30-45 seconds rest between sets.
3) Hexagon Agility or Dribble
Benefits: Improve reaction time, agility, decision-making, and ball control in tight spaces.
Execution: React to the arrow cue—dribble toward the cone if it’s red, or move without the ball (run, shuffle, or cross-step) if it’s green.
Coaching Tips: Stay in a low athletic position and light on your feet, and perform each rep with 100% focus and intensity.
Sets, Reps, & Rest: 3-4 sets, 30-45 seconds work, 30-45 seconds rest between sets.
4) Pass and Scan Decision-Making
Benefits: Enhance your scanning, reaction speed, and first-touch control under pressure.
Execution: Pass the ball off the wall, switch which shoulder you check after each pass, and when the stimulus appears, dribble to that cone and back as quickly as possible.
Coaching Tips: Check your shoulder as the ball returns to you, take a clean first touch, and explode into your dribble when the cue appears.
Sets, Reps, & Rest: 3-4 sets, 30-45 seconds work, 30-45 seconds rest between sets.
5) Air Control to Decide and Shoot
Benefits: Enhance your first touch, reaction speed, and finishing accuracy.
Execution: Kick the ball to yourself, control it, scan the screen for the arrow and color cue, then dribble in the arrow’s direction and shoot to the correct side (red = right, green = left).
Coaching Tips: Keep your first touch close, lift your head immediately after control, and stay composed when executing your shot.
Sets, Reps, & Rest: 3-4 sets, 8-12 reps, 60-90 seconds rest between sets.
If you liked this and are looking for a systematic training program to develop faster reaction time, better decision-making, and more composure with the ball, check out our 6-week Brain Speed + Ball Mastery Program, now available in the SwitchedOn app! Use the buttons below to download it for free.