1 – Traffic Style

These are probably the most recognisable style for children and parents alike.

Reasonably priced and available in most sports shops, these football cones are frequently used by grass roots coaches as they’re easy for children to spot from distance and can be used to mark out areas to play small sided games in.

They’re also great substitutes if your child doesn’t have access to goals for their shooting drills or just wants to play penalty shoot-outs or little matches with their friends.

On the downside, the cheaper traffic style cones are often quite lightweight and will keep blowing over on a windy day plus they’re the most bulky type to store and transport.

They can also be a bit frustrating for younger children wanting to do dribbling drills if their control and coordination isn’t that good as the ball can get tangled up with the cone when it’s knocked down and, due to the size, your child could end up tripping over.

Aside from setting out a pitch area, I tend to use traffic style cones more in my 1 to 1 coaching than in group setting as they’re good good for quickly organising shooting drills and are also useful for passing accuracy games like Coconut Smash which you can see an example of in our fun football games article.

Conclusion - Best Option For Small Matches and Shooting Drills 

Rating 7/10

2 – Standard Flat Cones

These are probably the most common type of football cones used by coaches as they’re versatile and can be set up on all different surfaces.

They’re available in larger numbers at quite a low cost, and packs often include different colours which make them useful for children to practice quick reactions drills where they need to touch coloured cones in different orders.

Downsides, again, are that they’re very lightweight and blow all over the place in windy conditions.

They’re also pretty flimsy and can tear easily if stepped on which can cause sharp slits down the inside and lead to children catching their fingers when handling them.

The low cost and versatility of these football cones make them a great option for parents (and parent coaches) to use with their children. Just make sure that, as and when they split, you either throw them away or replace them with new ones to prevent your child getting any cuts or injuries.

Conclusion - Most cost effective and versitile option

Rating - 7/10

3 – Spot Cones

These football cones are generally used more by high level coaches and coaching businesses as they’re excellent for marking out grids and allow players to do all sorts of drills at speed and without any deviation of the ball.

You don’t need to keep resetting your areas as they grip well and don’t move about when hit and, because of the shape, they don’t tend to tear or rip regardless of how often they’re trampled on.

But, as with all types of cones they also come with some issues.

Firstly, because they’re completely flat, younger children may struggle to see or recognise the marked out areas especially if training is done in an area with long grass.

They’re also one of the most expensive type of cones and aren’t sold in all sports shops so you may need to order them online rather than in store.

Spot cones are probably my favourite type of football cones to use in 1-to-1 coaching sessions as they allow for your child to fully concentrate on the football drill they’ve been asked to do and not worry about the ball moving off in different directions when they hit one or more.

Well worth the extra expense if you’re able to stretch to it.

Conclusion – Best style for beginners and young players.

Rating - 8/10