You might disagree, but hear me out on this. When it comes to soccer drills, it is important that kids are first trained on the basic skills of the game so that they can get a feel of the game. This soccer training should take place before you begin coaching them on more complicated elements of the game or the right way of playing the actual game.
You as a coach must make it a point that players take their first step in the right direction. As such, they must be taught all necessary soccer skills that are very basic to the game. Let’s discuss some basic skills in the game that are important for every player to understand.
Coaching the players to dribble and shoot the ball: Shooting and dribbling are the two most basic soccer skills to master. To become a successful player, these skills have a major role to play in their game. Nonetheless, training these soccer exercises must be arranged for in advance.
Starting from one end of the field put more than a few players over the field and line up all players in a straight line.
Now signal the players to start. The players must then run around and attempt to catch the ball using their foot while dribbling and shooting it inside the goal on opposite side of the field. When they practice these two soccer drills on a daily basis, they’ll be able to learn them fast.
Passing the ball and following directions: These soccer skills will help the players to learn the value of playing in a team. In any case, soccer being a team sport should be uniformly spread among all team mates. The players will find it really difficult to play as a team if they lack good passing skills and fail to understand and follow simple guidelines.
You can use a simple exercise to make the players learn the passing skills and understand your directions. In the beginning, make the entire team line up in a single row at one side of the field. One team member should be then made to stand in front of the row almost 5-10 feet away.
When you give them a green signal, the first one in the row will try to get the ball from other players present on the field. As soon as they are told to stop, the player who has the ball would pass it to the player who is first in the line. This soccer practice will teach the players to listen as well as follow your instructions.
Handling the Ball: Being the coach, decide and take time to teach players how to handle the ball using other parts of their body besides their feet. This will result in players being more natural in their performance on the field. This can be done when players practice throwing the ball using their knees or head and to use their back to stop the ball.
Soccer drills like these help in developing players that become match winners and make their way to learning more difficult components of the game. You can have your hands full by joining our youth soccer coaching community which offers an unlimited amount of latest updates on soccer coaching techniques. So register now!
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: Soccer drills.