Drills Soccer

Would you be surprised if I let you know that it’s really tricky for the young players to kick the ball with a straight leg? In coaching soccer drills, this is by far the biggest problem that a coach and the players face. It calls for the player to keep complete balance and bend the leg at the knee in order to kick the ball. Both poise and power to kick the ball comes from below the knee.

In soccer practice, this is the opening pose for just about all types of kicks. The increase of rate of the foot from below the knee puts together a powerful blow on the ball. This offers great amount of power to players for carrying out different types of kicks. Still, the style of kick that would emerge would depend upon the nature of contact of the ball with the foot.

For example; it could be knocked very high, driven low, turn left, or sway to the right.

In soccer, the three critical passes are the instep drive, a side foot pass, and the outside of the foot pass. We’ll now chat about them further.

Soccer Coaching

The side foot pass: In teaching soccer, this is the most widely used and the simplest pass. This is by and large applied to make short distance passes. Although this pass is slightly slow and almost predictable, it’s very simple to teach the kids and perform accurately. The ball makes a contact on the inside of the foot and ankle, and the foot is turned outward.

When you are in the midst of coaching soccer drills, teach the players to be at ease with respect to their body. The most essential rule pertaining to various kicking action is this. The ankle and the foot need to be stiffened only at the time when the players is about to get in contact with the ball.

Subsequently, as players are convinced of their ability to perform it, the action should come out smooth, natural, and relaxed.

Outside of the foot pass: Al though a little tricky to learn, this pass needs to be taught to the kids correctly as it’s quick, unpredictable, and accurate. The ball gets in touch between the outside edge of the foot and the laces with the foot extended and turned inwards. The pass is then transformed into a quick throw for short distances by using the foot.

During all these coaching drills, the body posture should be relaxed.

The Instep Drive: Both the lofted version and the low driven version of the instep drive are used to pass the ball over longer distances. There is also an option to adapt this style to make a “chip pass” or an “in swinging pass”. Since the approach of the instep drive is slightly angled and the non kicking foot is placed about 12 inches to the side of and behind the ball.

The ball makes a contact with the laces and inside of the foot, which should be firm and extended.

So, go forward and make the kids try different things with the ball by teaching them the basic kicking techniques as well its variations.

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Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. Learn  how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun by downloading your free ebook at: Soccer Training Drills.

Before you get on with coaching soccer drills to kids, let me share with you some teaching ideas that are sure to help you, whether you agree or not. Let’s say that the soccer practice has one broad goal for both the coach and the player and it is to have fun while participating in the practice sessions.

At this time, it’s essential to follow your goal and not feel distracted by other things. I therefore recommend that you decide on more specific objectives for yourself and your soccer team. For instance; constantly remind the players to remain physically fit, develop them into sporting players with a positive attitude towards the game, and concentrating on skills unique to them.

When it comes to sportsmanship, the onus lies on you to set a high standard for the players. Cheer them to have an attitude of fair play, sportsmanship, and team spirit. When teaching soccer, you have the option to include any number of relevant objectives along with the ones stated above.

The theory of winning is one concept that I’d like to stress upon when it comes to coaching youth soccer. Infuse an open concept of winning in your player’s minds when you are coaching them. Let them know that to be tagged as winners, they must focus on playing their best game and not worry about the results.

Soccer Coaching

This will take away the pressure off the kids and they’ll focus more on playing their best game rather than just winning it.

Coaching soccer drills requires you to give clear and precise instructions to your team so that they get the desired results. Before you start coaching your team, educate your players on some specific do’s and don’ts in the game of soccer. The difference in coaching and teaching is that the former is done with a group of players who are already familiar with the basic skills and concepts of the game.

While coaching drills, it is preferable to first demonstrate the drill to the kids and then give them a free hand in executing it themselves. It is because kids have a tendency to learn quickly by watching than by listening. If you endeavor to explain in instructions, they will not understand it. However, they are good at replicating things.

Hence, make it an imperative exercise to give a demonstration at every possible opportunity.

Finally, but still very important is your ability to keep the kids engaged in important activities. This holds even bigger importance when the weather is not conducive to a regular session. It’s a fact that all kids love to play in the rain. Therefore, in place of cancelling the training session, rearrange it in a way that the players make the most of their energy and time.

Ensure that in situations like these, the kids are wearing proper soccer gear as well as additional protection.

Go ahead and make these tips a part of your plan. You’ll be amazed to see the results.

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Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide visit: Coaching soccer drills.

It is well known that in coaching soccer drills, every skill and teamwork imparted to the players has only 1 objective; to shoot the goal. It takes both skill and instinct to develop the art of good shooting. But other than this, winning attitude is also equally important.

It is the responsibility of every player but more importantly that of the forward players to shoot the ball. When teaching soccer, shooting should be at the top of your list.

There are so many things that may be a consequence of shooting. Shots can be positioned towards a goal. It might be that the goalkeeper drops the ball at the foot of your forward player. Wild shots can turn into great passes. Ground shots may bounce back. You may even hit a goal through a straight shot.

During the soccer practice, attacking players are always on a lookout to shoot the ball into the goal at every possible opportunity. They are accustomed to think only about scoring a goal when in the field. These attacking players are referred to as sniffers in England. This is because they are always sniffing out scoring chances.

Soccer Coaching

They consider every chance the last chance to score a goal and hence shoot accordingly. They are always present when the opportunity is right. They have the skills to even convert negative situations into positive ones. Hence, in coaching soccer drills, you must instruct the players to hit the ball whenever they get a chance.

Normally, anytime the ball is kicked with an intention to put it inside the goal is taken as a shot. Yet, one technique that is most effective is driving the ball through the middle by use of the laces of the foot. While performing this, head of the player should be over the ball, his upper body be steady, and his toes should be extended.

The players should be taught in coaching drills to shoot the ball low and wide of the goalie. Here, low ground shots are preferred over high shots. This is because goalies find it difficult to stop the ground shots as they have to stretch their hands relatively more.

While practicing with regulation sized goals, players get to score more by hitting the ball over and above the goalkeeper’s head. You must discourage your players to do this as it instills the habit of shooting high goals. This practice can be put to stop in coaching soccer drills by not allowing players to adult sized goals.

So go ahead and make your players expert in shooting the ball to score goals by confirming the position of the goalkeeper once before shooting.

You can lay your hands on loads of relevant information pertaining to coaching young players in form of newsletters, articles, and videos by subscribing to our youth soccer coaching community.

Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn  how to explode your players’ skills and make coaching sessions fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Youth Soccer Drills.

If you think the way I do, I’m sure you’ll agree that in coaching soccer drills, zeroing down the best method to organize conditioning programs is by far the most difficult part. The reason I say this is because in the last few years, the fine line between coaching and educating has gradually dissolved.

I’m sorry to say that even today, there are many coaches who fail to recognize the importance of designing player specific coaching plans in teaching soccer. At the same time, they should focus not only on professionally coaching the kids but also educating them. Many a times, this educational characteristic of soccer gets totally neglected in almost all scenarios.

Still, we must not forget one theory on which the coaching drills for the layers should be based. Any player who wishes to become a great soccer player of huge prominence should first attempt to grow as an individual. The coach must therefore base his strategy on the above stated principle.

It’s easy to find out the reason that pushes a player to take on the duty of a coach.
His desire to remain associated with the game even after his days as a team player are over. This results in many successful soccer players settling down as coaches. But they fail to seriously consider the nature of this job.

Soccer Coaching

Majority of them attempt to get inside the arena of coaching adult players by becoming kid’s coach initially. Some others decide to take up this role due to their love towards the sport and an intention to instill the same passion in the kids. Both these reasons are valid and well accepted. But it’s not only these duties but additional principles too that need to be taken into consideration.

Communication is main aspect in coaching soccer drills, but unfortunately it’s very complicated for almost everyone to acknowledge. It is not enough to have a great career history spanning many years of top rated success and achievements to qualify as a professional coach.

In order to be accepted as a great coach, certain standards need to be set and followed. It’s for the coach to encourage kids to look at soccer as a constructive and an inspiring experience in their lives so that they tend to love the game. During the soccer practice, the players should feel at ease all the time so that their feelings are conveyed openly in course of the game.

All players in the team vary in terms of strength, style, and individual skills unique to them. It is not important whether each of them has great potential and skills of a winner or not. What is actually important is that each player ultimately reaches his own potential.

This needs to be understood that every soccer player, no matter how skilled, renowned, and competent he may be, is not capable of coaching young players. He must possess a unique ability to connect easily with kids; a natural gift for individual contact and emotional relations.

Some food for thought; serious consideration of one’s real motivations should always be a precondition in this context.

Register to our youth soccer coaching community that has loads of knowledge on coaching soccer drills available in form of newsletters, articles, and videos relevant to coaching young players.

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make practice sessions fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Soccer Drills.