Soccer Coaching

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, it’d not just the players but also the coaches who have a problem here. 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.

This is the starting point for almost all styles of kicks in soccer practice. The rushing of the foot from below the knee creates an immense impact on the ball. This offers great amount of power to players for carrying out different types of kicks. Nevertheless, it depends upon the type of contact that the ball has with the foot which concludes the kick’s style.

For example; it could be chipped very high, driven low, swerved left, or swung 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: This is the easiest and the most widely used pass in teaching soccer. This is by and large applied to make short distance passes. Despite the fact that this is somewhat slow and predictable, it’s easy to learn and simple to execute. The ball makes a contact on the inside of the foot and ankle, and the foot is turned outward.

In coaching soccer drills, players should know that their body need not be tense during the movement with the ball. When it comes to different kicking actions, this rule is the truly indispensable. The ankle and the foot should be stiffened only at the time of 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: This is a little difficult to learn but is extremely important to master because it is accurate, quick, and cannot be predicted. The ball makes a contact between the laces and the outside edge of the foot, when the foot is extended and turned inward. By using the foot, the pass is converted into a quick toss for short distances.

In coaching drills, it’s imperative that the players maintain a comfortable posture.

The Instep Drive: Here, the two versions; lofted versions and the low driven version are utilized to pass the ball to longer distances. Once the players are confident in executing it, make a “chip pass” or an “in swinging pass” by introducing some changes in it. 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.

Here, the ball gets into contact in between the inside of the foot and the laces which is extended and very firm.

So, go ahead and teach your players these basic kicking techniques with variations to make the ball do slightly different things.

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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. Work out a common objective for the team as well as yourself as a coach, for instance; during soccer practice the players must enjoy the game while they are a part of it.

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 example; develop a sense of team spirit and a sporting attitude in your players, help them identify their individual soccer skills, and emphasize on improving their physical fitness.

Since you are the coach, you only are responsible for setting high standards of sportsmanship for players. Cheer them to have an attitude of fair play, sportsmanship, and team spirit. There are several objectives important in teaching soccer that can be incorporated in your list along with these.

Winning is another important concept that I’d like to emphasize in 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

It has the effect of encouraging the players to give it their best shot and play the game without unnecessary pressure to win anyways.

Coaching soccer drills requires you to give clear and precise instructions to your team so that they get the desired results. There are some clear dos and don’ts in soccer on which the players must be taught before you go ahead with your coaching sessions. 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.

In the process of coaching drills, it is nice to first impart 5 to 6 demonstrations about a drill to the kids and then let them practice it themselves. It is due to the fact that kids grasp visualizations more effectively than simple instructions. If you attempt to explain an action in words, they won’t understand it. However, they are good at replicating things.

So, as a general rule, demonstrate the skills yourself whenever possible.

Last but by no means the least; keep your players active with several purposeful activities. This is more valid if the weather prevents you from having a regular session. It is well known that the kids love playing in the rain. So, rather than just telling them to go home, it is more beneficial to find ways so that they can still enjoy soccer in some form.

Just be sure that the kids have additional layer of clothing and proper shoes in situations like these.

Go ahead and make these tips a part of your plan. You will be surprised by 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 requires both skill and character to produce quality 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 you are teaching soccer, give shooting top priority.

So many things may come out of a shoot. Shots can be positioned towards a goal. It is a possibility that the goalkeeper may very well drop the ball at the foot of your forward player. Unruly shots can turn into brilliant passes. Ground shots may bounce back. You may even hit a goal through a straight shot.

At the time of soccer practice, the attacking players always try to make the most of every goal-scoring opportunity. They are accustomed to think only about scoring a goal when in the field. These attacking players are known as sniffers in England. This is because they are always sniffing out scoring chances.

Soccer Coaching

To them, every opportunity is the last one they will get and hence shoot ferociously. They are always present at the right time at the right place. They’ll even make the most of being in the wrong place at the right time. Hence, in coaching soccer drills, you must instruct the players to hit the ball whenever they get a chance.

As a general rule, any kick that causes the ball to go towards the goal is considered as a shot. But driving the ball through the middle using the laces of the foot is by far the most effective technique for shooting. Make sure that the player’s head is over the ball, his toe remains extended, and his upper body keeps steady.

In the course of coaching drills, teach your players to shoot the ball wide and low to the goalie. At this point, low ground shots are favored over high shots. This happens due to the fact that goalies have to stop the low ground shots by stretching their hands a lot more in comparison to high shots, thus making it difficult.

While practicing with regulation sized goals, players get to score more by hitting the ball over and above the goalkeeper’s head. As a result of it, the players develop the tendency to shoot high goals so this must be discouraged. In coaching soccer drills, don’t allow the kids to play in adult sized goals to stop this practice.

Now get out there and start teaching your players to look up once before they shoot the ball with a view to check the position of the goalkeeper.

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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. That’s probably because the similarity between coaching and educating the players has been getting some recognition in past few years.

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. In certain situations, it has been observed that this educational side in soccer takes a backseat.

Yet, there is just one code that must be adhered to while determining the coaching drills for the kids. Any player who wishes to become a great soccer player of huge prominence should first attempt to grow as an individual. Therefore, the coach should act strictly as pre the above mentioned principle.

The main reason why an individual decides to become a coach is fairly simple to make out.
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 don’t realize the seriousness of taking up this role.

Soccer Coaching

Majority of them attempt to get inside the arena of coaching adult players by becoming kid’s coach initially. Some look at this opportunity as a way to be able to share their passion for the game of soccer with the budding players. Both these reasons are valid and well accepted. It’s not just these responsibilities that follow your choice but also certain ethical duties that must be looked at while making a choice.

In coaching soccer drills, the key factor is communication and sadly it’s the one that people find most difficult to recognize. It is not necessary that anyone who has achieved great success for ten consecutive years in various age groups can be regarded as a skilled youth coach.

In order to be accepted as a great coach, certain standards need to be set and followed. Being a competent and skillful coach requires helping young players to love soccer and consider it as a positive and an exciting experience in their lives. During the soccer practice, a coach should ensure that the players can openly convey their feelings through the game.

Each player in the team has individual talents, resistance, and competence. What’s not important is that every player must possess the competence and talents of a great player. But what’s really important is that every player must reach his own competence in the due course.

It is therefore of great importance for us to realize that only brilliant players having successful careers make excellent and expert coaches. He must possess a unique ability to connect easily with kids; a natural gift for individual contact and emotional relations.

Some food for thought; try and figure out the true motivations that cheer you to follow this prospect since it’s a pre requirement in this context.

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

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.