Youth Soccer Drill

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 skill as well as gut feeling to produce quality shooting. But there is something more that is equally important and that is a persuasive attitude.

All the players must be involved in this but more importantly; it is up to the forward players to shoot the ball. While teaching soccer, put shooting on the top of your priority list.

There are so many things that may be a consequence of shooting. Shots can be converted into goals. The goalkeeper might drop the ball exactly at the feet 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 trained in a way that they think of nothing else but scoring goals. These attacking players are known as sniffers in England. This is because they are always sniffing out scoring chances.

Soccer Coaching

They take every chance for a shot as if it is the last chance that they’ll ever get. They are always present when the opportunity is right. They’ll even make the most of being in the wrong place at the right time. So, in coaching soccer drills motivate the players to kick the ball whenever they can.

In most cases, when the ball is knocked with a view to get it through the goalpost, it is termed 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 coaching drills, your players should learn to shoot the ball low and wide of 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.

When kids practice inside the regulation sized goals, they are likely to score more by striking the ball above the goalie’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.

So now go teach you kids to become master shooters when it comes to scoring goals by checking the goalie’s position once before they are ready to shoot.

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. There is a reason why I’m saying this and it’s because the thin line between educating and coaching the players has somehow vanished.

Sadly, in teaching soccer, a majority of the coaches still don’t realize that it’s pertinent to devise the coaching plans as per the needs of the players. The players must be taught about the game as a person along with their professional conditioning and training. In some situations, it is seen many a times that the educational aspect in soccer is neglected totally.

Still, we must not forget one theory on which the coaching drills for the layers should be based. A player should first grow as an individual before he grows and becomes a prominent soccer player of great repute. A coach should therefore act according to the above 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

It is considered by some as the first step that’ll take them towards the prospects of coaching adult players. 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. But at the same time, the person should also be aware of the moral responsibility that his choice implies.

Communication is main aspect in coaching soccer drills, but unfortunately it’s very complicated for almost everyone to acknowledge. 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.

To become a youth soccer coach, the goals that one needs to set for himself are well defined. It’s a capable and an expert coach who alone can cheer his players to fall in love with soccer so much so that they begin to experience it as an upbeat and a stimulating practice. 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. The important thing is not that each one of them should have skills and potential of a champion. 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. Working with kids must come naturally to him; an inherent gift to get in touch with their human side and emotional feelings.

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.

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 the trickiest part as far as the players and the coaches are concerned. The player is required to maintain absolute balance and the leg with which ball is to be kicked at is bent at the knee. Both posture and strength to kick the ball comes out from below the knee.

In soccer practice, this is the starting position for almost all types of kicks. The increase of rate of the foot from below the knee puts together a powerful blow on the ball. The players get immense power from this to perform several styles of kicks. However, what type of a kick would it be is determined by the precise contact of the foot on the ball.

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 usually employed 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, guide the players to keep their bodies totally relaxed throughout the entire movement. The most essential rule pertaining to various kicking action is this. The ankle and the foot should be stiffened only at the time of contact with the ball.

After the players are confident in it’s execution, their action should appear comfortable, smooth, and natural.

Outside of the foot pass: Since this pass can never be predicted, is pretty accurate and quick, players must be trained on this even though it’s a little tough to master. 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 the course of these coaching drills, players should keep their stance relaxed.

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. Because the approach of the instep drive is angled to some extent, the non kicking foot is positioned about 12 inches toward 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.

If you would like to enhance your knowledge on coaching soccer drills for kids, subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community that has a huge amount of information in form of articles, newsletters and 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 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. During soccer practice, focus on a specific objective like kids must have loads of fun in the game as it benefits both the coach and the players.

Herein, you must remain careful otherwise you’ll not be able to follow the fun part. Consequently, identify such objectives that are particularly important for you as a coach and also equally important for the team. A few examples are promoting the physical fitness of the players, developing a good sporting attitude towards competition, and focusing on the individual soccer skills.

When it comes to sportsmanship, the onus lies on you to set a high standard for the players. Support them in developing a sporting attitude, a feeling of team spirit, and an attitude of fair play. However, in teaching soccer, you can have numerous other objectives that you can add to those mentioned above.

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.

When coaching soccer drills, always keep in mind the importance of giving clear and correct instructions if they are to be helpful. 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 coaching drills, it’s best to give the players 5 or 6 fine demonstrations of some specific skill and then let them perform it themselves. It is because kids have a tendency to learn quickly by watching than by listening. If you attempt to explain an action in words, they won’t understand it. Instead, they take demonstrations more enthusiastically.

Therefore, consider giving demonstrations wherever you can.

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. You must understand that kids are just thrilled at the prospect of 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.

Now, it is time to add these tips to your training program and make the most of them. You will be surprised by the results.

To know more about coaching soccer drills, subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community that offers effective and practical knowledge to help you excel in your career as a soccer coach.

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.