Youth Soccer Drill

Permit me a straight question. To coach youth soccer, what are the 3 things for the coach to do? Before you answer this question, it is important to know that youth soccer is all about letting the kids have fun. The spotlight should be on making the exercises exciting and enjoyable so that the kids always look forward to them.

Therefore, to teach youth soccer, take care of the following instructions. These will allow you to guide the kids to become advanced players.

Allow the players to enjoy themselves: As mentioned earlier, youth soccer means to enjoy the game thoroughly. As a coach, you must plan each session well in advance. As an example, ask them to do warm up drills before moving to the regular drills. Once completed, make the kids move to more advanced drills, for example, passing dribbling, and controlling the ball.

To add to that, encourage the players to think creatively. Motivate the kids to attempt new things and when they make mistakes, which is natural, do not disrupt them. Chat about it after the end of the session. Parents need to be actively involved if the game has to be made enjoyable for the children.

Coaching Youth Soccer

To coach youth soccer, it is critical because the kids stay at home more than they are on the field. Request the parents to help you in monitoring their diet, motivate the kids, and maintain regularity in trainings.

Get familiar with the age of the kids: Teaching soccer to kids is between the age of 7 to 14. At this age, it is a challenge to define the drills that actually catch their attention. So, you must think proactively to consider drills that are fun for the kids. And then, make sure that you communicate in a very casual manner and instruct them in simple terms.

It makes sense to split the group into two and name them differently. This inculcates a sense of team spirit. Also, do not experiment a lot. The idea of a well-balanced session is to have both tried as well as new activities in it.

Write the exercises: It always pays to write the exercises on paper along with the results that you are expecting from them. It aids in providing a direction to the team effort. A written document is always useful in determining the objectives of the team. If something needs a change, written plan will assist you in assessing it.

Also, with everything documented, it is easy to track your goals. It is perfectly usual for a few things to go wrong and in that case, you can always get back to the original plan.

It can be safely said that youth soccer is an enjoyable and ever changing job. However, with proper planning and these essential tips handy, you will succeed at it without a doubt.

Examine these tips immediately. These tips on coach youth soccer are sure to bring positive results for your team. Subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community where there is a wealth of resources on youth soccer.

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: Soccer Coaching Drills.

Let’s face it! In order to coach youth soccer, it is always difficult to think and create new drills that are interesting as well as useful for the kids. The biggest challenge in teaching soccer is being creative enough to come up with great ideas so that the interest of the kids is sustained in the game.

Read through some tips below that you can teach youth soccer players. These drills help the kids focus on the game, get good at soccer, and enjoy it to the core.

Employ the players to do dribbling and shooting: This is an easy drill that helps all the players practice at the same time. Ask the players to queue on a single goal line. Now distribute the balls all over the soccer field. Once done, tell the kids to play with the balls as if they are moving towards the opponent’s goal. They should also shoot the ball as soon as they have an opportunity.

This workout helps the kids build their stamina, confidence and also improves their dribbling skills. As the players do not have any resistance, they move forward without any inhibitions and this brings out their unique style.

Coaching Youth Soccer

Passing the Ball: In this game, make the kids stand in a queue at a distant corner of the field. Tell them to run towards you as fast as possible as soon as you have finished counting till 3. While they are running towards you, they also need to steal the ball from the other player who is kicking the ball. When you shout stop, the ball must be passed by the player who has it to someone else.

In order to coach youth soccer, these games help the kids display their abilities in passing and dribbling. They also learn the art of stealing the ball from other players which is very important.

Touch and Go: It’s a very interesting game which kids love to play. The kids should get in two lines distant from the goal post which is less than 40 meters away. And in addition to this, the goalie should guard the goalpost. Situate yourself in between these two queues.

Pass the ball to either of the queue and with only one tap teach them to shoot or pass the ball to another. The purpose must be to convert it into a goal. Once the goalie returns the ball, carry on with the practice.

Swap your goalies in between the practice meetings if there are more than two goalkeepers. This sport enables players to perk up their shooting skills through team effort. The game also provides the opportunity to learn the skill of saving the ball from getting to goalpost.

Keeping the control of the ball: This exercise allows the players to learn to advance with the ball while retaining its control. Take two players, one acts as the defender and the other attacker. Guide them to play their respective roles and win points every time any player wins over the other.

These are the easiest ways to coach youth soccer. You can make your kids perform these as they help them learn along with having loads of fun. If you would like more such tips and know about drills, join our youth soccer coaching community.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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.

Have you ever imagined the amount of complexity involved to coach youth soccer team? Honestly, it’s not that difficult for anyone having a style to handle the kids, right approach, and useful tips.

It is always logical and best to start with the basics. This is the stage where they their interest in the game will develop and they’ll start to think and act professionally. Moreover, complete knowledge of the basics of the game will make players not only confident but also more positive about the game.

In an effort to teach youth soccer, don’t do anything to begin with. Let the kids’ act the way they want and observe them keenly. Don’t attempt to be hugely organized or teach a great deal. In this way, kids will only take pleasure in the sport which is of essence.

Give them indispensable feedback to help them improve their performance. However, these feedbacks should not be given during the session, but only after them. Always keep in mind that it is important to interact with the kids in the language that they know.

Coaching Youth Soccer

Parents are more involved in their kid’s improvement. It is therefore helpful in involving them early on. This is the best way to ensure that kids don’t lose their interest in the game when they are not in the field. Make sure that you understand their queries and answer them appropriately.

Keep all the communication channels open. Personal meetings, telephones, email are all acceptable and effective modes of dialog. However, a word of caution! Do not instruct the kids or allow parents to do the same on the field. Besides, make it a point not to give negative feedback to any young player in the presence of everyone.

To coach youth soccer successfully, one must communicate regularly with the fellow trainers. The event opens up new modes of communication for all coaches involved who share their special experiences and their advice.

Organize the drills beforehand. This essentially means that you do your homework well in advance. Sometimes coaches take an easy approach thinking they are dealing with kids. It this attitude is wrong. In youth soccer also, proficiency and politeness have the same relevance similar to that in professional soccer.

Make the kids do drills that are enjoyable and yet teach them the basics of soccer. At times, it is also advisable to take them out on excursions and small picnics. Provide sufficient time to kids so that they can communicate their feelings and thoughts with each other. It helps them gel with each other and promotes unity among them.

While teaching soccer, try to impress upon them the need to develop order in their lives. It is critical that the kids follow what are called the best practices in soccer.

In conclusion, help the kids understand and learn the game while at the same time enjoying it. These tips can be applied in training your team to get remarkable results.

For more such tips to coach youth soccer, subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community. Here you will find several resources on coaching youth soccer as well as a strong and helpful coaching community.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

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: Coach youth soccer.