Youth Soccer Drill

Let me tell you that stretching is an vital part of soccer training tips and professional coaches highly recommend it along with almost every player in every sport practicing it daily? Soccer is one of such sports that is always growing and developing in its complexity.

When it comes to kid’s training for soccer, two types of stretching i.e. static and dynamic stretching are included in it.

Static stretching requires the kids to extend their muscles as far as they can and hold for a given duration of time. Dynamic stretching involves rhythmic bouncing, rebounding and recurring motions. In comparison with static stretching, it is more risky and less useful.

In this article, you’ll find some good points of stretching that can help average players become great players.

Soccer Training

Stretching reduces injuries: Continuous stretching during the day and performed over a period of time may promote muscle growth that, consecutively, could reduce the risk of injury. Stretching also provides a way of increasing the muscle size and strength.

Stretching shapes flexibility: Stretching puts a stop to any loss of flexibility. Still, the effects of stretching are way better when it is done for a long period of time than for a shorter duration.

Stretching increases flexibility when it is performed for a few minutes before any soccer activity. When it comes to soccer training tips, the best bet is to distribute a stretching program over a predetermined length of time to continuously increase the range of motion.

Stretching betters’ performance: When the stretching program is planned after considering the player’s soccer specific needs, their performance improves.

Stretching can be a lot of fun: For this, you need to add variety in your soccer drills and focus a lot on performing them. Keep varying the warm-up activities you do before stretching. Try various activities like tag games, ball tag, and keep away.

Focus mentally on the stretching and feel and understand each stretch, checking for stiffness or soreness.

For almost all players, one single 15-30 minute stretch for each muscle group is sufficient but some may need longer stretches and more repetitions.

The reason is that when the temperature of muscles is higher than normal, tension decreases and extensibility increases. Players who want to maintain or increase their flexibility can partly achieve this goal by stretching. It is better, safer, and more productive to do stretching exercises when the body temperature is higher than normal.

This is the reason why some coaches make kids stretch even after a workout. To prevent muscles for tightening too fast, make your players do some stretching after they’ve practiced soccer skills.

Usually, players who practice an active warm-up ahead of stretching get a superior range of motion than those kids who just stretch. So if injury prevention is your aim, stop stretching before exercise and increase the warm up time.

One of the most important soccer training tips to keep in mind is that stretching, if done hurriedly, does not help kids gain any flexibility, and becomes worthless and repetitive, so give them sufficient time to warm up before stretching. Join our youth soccer coaching community and enhance your knowledge about soccer through loads of articles, videos, and podcasts available there.

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.

The importance of soccer training tips for goalkeepers can be easily made out from the fact that a goalkeeper is the only player on the field who can touch the ball with both arms and hands.

That’s why a goalie’s soccer skills put him/ her in an advantageous position from rest of the ream members. But this makes the job of training goalkeepers for soccer even more difficult.

Based on the method of play in soccer, goalkeepers are the first line of offense and last line of defense. They will not hesitate in putting their bodies in harms way to stop or block a shot into the goal. They are all so set to proceed in any direction when it comes to getting the possession of the ball.

A goalie’s training for soccer can be very challenging, keeping in view their specific role requirements and their level of play. At the same time, his or her mental state should be kept in mind while teaching him various skills.

Soccer Training

Only one player in the team can be compared to a goalkeeper and that is the goal hungry striker. Actually some of the best goalies have already been great strikers at some point in their career. You’ll be able to encounter frequent one on one battle between the goalie and the forwards at different levels of competition.

In soccer training tips, it’s necessary for a goalkeeper to stay balanced and know the center for gravity of the body. This will benefit a game setting by enhancing the activity of a goalkeeper and the promptness of other players.

Though most goalkeepers in soccer are tall with long arms and big hands, but even if otherwise they easily compensate for the need of physical built with good vertical and lateral mobility.

It is important for a coach to realize that goalies have a great sense of worth but still need to be motivated on a regular basis. Soccer Goalkeepers need to do their regular warm ups with the team, but then separate from the team and perform the specific soccer drills that will prepare them for the game.

Because goalkeepers have a dominant personality and a sense of control, they are leaders of the team. So they must be supported by the rest of the team to successfully execute their role by being placed in a vocal and demonstrative capacity.

The goalie can handle the ball only in the 18 yard box. When the ball gets touched by the arm of any player other than the goalie, the opponent team gets a free kick. In the case of the goalie’s team mate, it is a penalty shoot from “the spot”.

So your job now is to use these soccer training tips to improve goalkeeper’s performance on the field as they are the leaders inside the 18 yard box and should be valued by their teammates. For more such training tips and coaching skills, subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community and get access to thousands of videos.

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.

I’d like to ask you something. A majority of coaches plan training programs for players without taking soccer training tips into account with the idea of making up the numbers and just going through the numbers. Do you find yourself doing the same thing?

Before you design your next training programs, make sure you set some specific goals for your team. Establish what you wish to achieve from the training program and take the necessary steps to achieve your target.

Include new, innovative, and exciting soccer drills in the training programs to introduce variety. It will allow the players to try something new instead to repeatedly doing the same drills every day. Once players start enjoying their practice sessions, you’ll notice that their performance will improve consistently.

Make your players understand the value of respecting and listening to you, their coach, no matter what their age or level at which they play. Appreciating each other’s feelings creates an environment that is pleasant for both the coach and the kids.

Soccer Training

A high level of flexibility greatly benefits every soccer player. It’s been categorized into 3 parts.

Dynamic flexibility: It refers to a player’s capability to perform fast movements within the full range of motion in the joint, like twisting from side to side.

Static active flexibility: It’s the skill to stretch an intricate muscle employing the tension within that muscle. Holding one leg out in front of you as high as possible is an example of this. The hamstrings are stretched while the quadriceps and hip flexors hold your leg up.

Static passive: It’s the skill of using the body weight or some external force to hold a stretch. For example; imagine holding your leg out in front of you and resting it on a chair.

Let’s now move on to the next step in following soccer training tips. Here, you need to check if the kids are clad in appropriate clothes that suit the weather conditions.

Training for soccer needs to be supported with a fitness program that will help the areas where your team needs most help. One should keep the following factors in mind while designing such a training program.

Age of the player: With age, there is a decrease in the flexibility of soft tissues in the body that is directly related to the reduced range of movement, no matter what the gender. Even though, the more we remain active, the lesser are the chances of flexibility decreasing.

Gender: Girls show greater movement, no matter what their age.

Movement: In demonstrating soccer skills, active kids show a better range of movement that the inactive kids.

Injury: Injuries also impede the range of motion in a joint.

Pain: Flexibility decreases as pain increases, resulting in muscle spasms. On the other hand, strength training does not affect flexibility if you are doing the exercises correctly and in full range of motion.

Genetics: The amount of flexibility that a player possesses also depends upon his genetics.

What’s stopping you from incorporating these soccer training tips into your training program and make it more effective and productive? You can perk up your coaching skills by joining our youth soccer coaching community that has a lot of articles, newsletters, and pertinent videos.

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 Drills For Kids.