Soccer Cones
Soccer cones are one of the most versatile pieces of soccer training equipment, whether you need to create obstacles for running around them, for various agility training drills. Or for marking off areas for any other type of drills. Either you are a coach or a player looking to hone your individual skills, there are myriad ways to use them. They are versatile that almost all athletes can incorporate them into their training. And they are always considered an expendable piece of equipment. Especially because there are so many inexpensive soccer cones for sale that will not break your bank.
Soccer Cones Reviews
You can find a wide variety of soccer cones available, big, small, tall, short, orange, blue, even green, those that combine with other equipment, and much more. Here I have compiled a list of some of the best ones. Hopefully, the short reviews will help you find the very best for yourself.
FORZA Training Marker Cones
This FORZA soccer or football training cones are your good old plain orange cones. They are the most basic type. There are three different sizes to choose from depending on your needs, 9, 12, or 15 inches tall. They are made of sturdy plastic material and can really take the beating, whether being hit by a ball or accidentally kicked. With the flat and decently wide top, they can also be used for making impromptu hurdles for your training drills. They are suitable for almost any type of running or passing drills. Though they are of excellent quality, don’t expect these to last you a lifetime.
They are still a plastic object and of a type that is not likely to last very long. But that is an issue with training cones in general, not with this particular product. They are of top quality, and that commands a top price. And also, for some strange reason, they come in a pack of ten. Though very often, you will find yourself in need of dozen or so, depending on your drills.
Pros
- High quality
Cons
- High price
- Only ten in pack
Franklin Sports 9’’ Flexible
Most people, when seeing or hearing about flexible cones, first think about their durability. And make no mistake, these are durable and will take a beating. But durability is a serendipitous consequence of their design. The first and foremost intention of their flexible design is safety. As someone who has a few times fell on rigid cones can tell you that it is a not very pleasant experience. And this safety feature is useful to have in general, but critical if you are coaching the youngest selections. Kids, when tripping and falling, usually cry out of fear and pain, but if they fall on one of these, it’s only their pride that would get injured.
Because of the way they are made flexible, special bendy plastic and large cut parts, these are very light soccer cones. Fortunately, they each have four holes on the base for metal spikes to secure them in the ground. They are quite affordable and very safe. Additionally, the flexibility does increase their longevity besides making them very safe.
Pros
- Flexible thus safe for kids
- Very durable
Cons
- Come in pack of four
Workoutz Heavy Duty Orange
If you wish to buy soccer or football cones that will last you for years and years, your only option is Workoutz rubber cones. They are strikingly orange and even more so resilient. They come as packs of six cones in six different sizes, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, or 28 inches tall. Being made of rubber instead of plastic makes them extremely resistant to damage. But very safe too. So they are also appropriate for coaching youngest soccer players. But with the use of rubber comes another excellent and desirable characteristic.
They are hefty, so you can be sure that when using them outside, not even a gusting wind will flip them over. These soccer training cones do come at a considerable price, which makes them only a considerable initial investment. If you take into account their longevity, compared to plastic cones, they are actually very affordable. And they will last you more than a decade unless you run a truck over them on a daily basis. Their only real flaw is that they are just simple cones and that there are products with a bit higher versatility.
Pros
- Extreme durability
- Extreme longevity
Cons
- High initial investment
QuickPlay 9’’ Pop-Back Marker
QuickPlay is a sporting equipment maker known for many innovative designs and high quality of its products. And these soccer practice cones are the example of those two facts. On one hand, they are a somewhat similar design to Franklin Sports’ Flexible Soccer Cones. Using a very flexible plastic and a number of cut out slots, they achieve a high degree of flexibility while maintaining resilience. But while Franklin’s feature four large vertical straight slots, Pop-Back has a large number of wavy horizontal slots.
The consequence of this is that more material is removed from these cones. Intuitively, this would sound bad by making them lighter and easier to be blown by the wind. But, this also makes them very bottom-heavy, as most of the material is in the base. Which significantly improves stability. On the sides, they also have vertical slots that are intended for use in combination with other QuickPlay’s products for use as the base of low hurdles. The only potential issue is that their color can pale a bit quicker than expected per some users.
Pros
- Flexible thus safe for kids
- Very durable
- Combines with other QuickPlay products
Cons
- Color pales quickly
FORZA Small Professional
While the previous FORZA product on this list were large soccer cones, this is a bit different product. With just 2 inches of height, they are very suitable for marking a spot or area. They are 8 inches wide, which makes them suitably big for almost any purpose. This low design also makes them more wind resistant than traffic-cone shaped ones. They are made of sturdy, high-quality plastic and feature a two-inch central hole which is used for stacking them on the holder they come with. This hole is convenient for picking them up with a unique tool sold separately. They are very affordable and come in packs of 50.
There are five different color options. While these cones are a great product, color options are a bit baffling. The five-color package comes with orange, yellow, red, blue, and green. With green being surprisingly visible. There is a dual-color option or orange and yellow, while a single color packs there are orange, pink, and white. FORZA should have made a better decision when combining colors. Or at least made all seven colors available as 20 or 25 pieces packs.
Pros
- High quality
- Very affordable
Cons
- Odd color availability
KEVENZ Soccer Disc Cones
This is a product similar to FORZA’s but with a few different features. It is the same type of low cones for soccer. And the most obvious difference is the shape of the central hole. On FORZA’s they are plain round holes. On KEVENZ’s, there are slightly recessed additional four cut-outs intersecting the central hole. This is very convenient for mounting any type of one-inch poles and thus making low hurdles. But, there are more differences than meets the eye.
These small soccer cones are 2.2 inches high and have a diameter of 6 inches. Also, they are incredibly flexible. Keep in mind that they are made of plastic. But it is some weird, almost rubber-like plastic. This makes them very durable and also very safe if you are coaching kids. Tripping and falling on one of these will only hurt their pride. They come as a 50-pack of five different colors. You will get ten of each orange, yellow, red, green, and blue. The only flaw they have is that the individual colors are not available as separate 50-packs.
Pros
- Flexible thus safe for kids
- Very durable
Cons
- Only available as a multi-color pack
How to Choose the Best Soccer Cone
While a cone and similar soccer marker can be considered as a piece of equipment, you will be changing and replacing very often. There are a few characteristics you should be mindful of when choosing the best ones for yourself.
Safety
Training cones for soccer are a piece of soccer equipment which very often gets underfoot. And thus, it is important that they do not cause injuries. Whether you are coaching kids, adult players, or you are a soccer player yourself, avoiding injuries is a prime concern. Falling on a rigid cone can be very painful. And if they break during fall, they form sharp edges that can cut. Safety is always achieved by making them flexible in some way. And this has added benefit of making them longer lasting.
Color
Color doesn’t sound like a fundamental characteristic, but there is a reason why orange soccer cones are the most common. They are highly visible on the green of the grass. There are sports cones for sale in many other colors. And you should be careful that they are not the same shade of green as your pitch.
Size
There are small soccer cones, and then there are big ones. Size usually ranges between 4 and 12 inches. Though there are bigger coaching cones also available. Big soccer cones have added benefit of making a bit of a vertical barrier. They can’t be just simply stepped over. And very often can be used for creating hurdles for various drills.
Price
Soccer drill cones are often a very inexpensive piece of equipment. And out in the wild, you can find some very cheap soccer cones and those that only appear to be affordable. Saving a couple of bucks on these can cause you a great deal of disappointment.
FAQs
- What are the soccer cones used for?
Soccer cones are one of the most versatile pieces of training equipment. Soccer is a very dynamic sport, and one of the qualities of players is the ability to quickly change the direction of movement, with or without the ball. And these you will use mostly for such drills. But, they are also an excellent way to spatial partition the training pitch and thus give a structure to drills.
- Should I buy big-name brand ones?
Yes and no. If you are looking at some of the biggest brand names, like Nike or Adidas, you could make a mistake. While such brands make excellent sports equipment, they often treat as an afterthought the practice and coaching equipment. Especially products that are considered inexpensive, such as soccer cones and markers. Which ironically can come with a big name recognition markup. But, you shouldn’t either pick some wholly unknown and unreliable brand. Your best choice is some upper mid-range brand that offers quality instead of the name recognition.
Conclusion
Some of the best players in the world, especially forwards, are known for great agility and ball controls. Just think of Messi’s making a fantastic run through the defense, or Iniesta doing his signature “1-2” move. Soccer cones are the tool used for achieving such technical skills. But besides training the ball control skills, they are also used for agility training drills. And for simple partitioning of practice pitch. In short, they are an irreplaceable tool in the arsenal of any coach. Whether you are coaching youth or senior side, even if you are a player planning for some additional individual training at home or park, the usefulness of soccer cones or markers cannot be overstated. If you are still unable to pick the best ones for yourself, my recommendation is QuickPlay 9’’ Pop-Back Marker Cones. They are an excellent product, checking almost all boxes, whether you are a coach or a player. But come with additional functionality by combining with other QuickPlay training equipment.