Free Soccer Training 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? Both coach and the kids feel that this is by far the greatest trouble in way of coaching soccer drills. 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 acceleration of the foot from below the knee creates a powerful impact 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 thumped very high, driven low, turn sharply to the left, or move to the right.

In soccer, the three critical passes are the instep drive, a side foot pass, and the outside of the foot pass. Let’s talk about them further.

Soccer Coaching

The side foot pass: This is the easiest and the most widely used pass in teaching soccer. It is generally used for making short distance passes. Though it is a little slow and quite predictable during the game but is very easy for the kids to learn and execute accurately. The foot turned outward, ball comes into contact on the outside of the ankle and the foot.

When you are in the midst of coaching soccer drills, teach the players to be at ease with respect to their body. This is by far the most critical rule applicable to all types of kicking actions. The ankle and the foot need to be stiffened only at the time when the players is about to get in contact with the ball.

The moment players feel confident about carrying out this task well; their action should seem relaxed, simple, as well as smooth.

Outside of the foot pass: This pass is a little complex to teach and learn but it must be learnt well as it’s the quickest, most accurate, and unpredictable pass. A contact is made with the ball between the laces and outside edge of the foot with the foot extended and turned inward. With the use of a foot, the pass is transformed into a speedy throw for short distances.

In the course of these coaching drills, players should keep their stance relaxed.

The Instep Drive: Both the versions of instep drive i.e. the low driven version and the lofted version are brought into play to pass the ball over 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 now coach your kids the various techniques of kicking the ball and with variations to let them do different things with the ball.

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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. In your soccer practice, identify one goal that is common to both the team and the coach for example; to have a lot of fun while playing the game.

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.

You, being the coach are solely responsible to set high standards for sportsmanship. 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.

One more concept that needs to be highlighted in youth soccer coaching is the notion of winning the match. Infuse an open concept of winning in your player’s minds when you are coaching them. Make them understand that so long as their play is up to the mark, they are the winners, irrespective of the final outcome.

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.

In coaching soccer drills, make sure that your instructions are very precise for them to be effective. Before coaching, you need to teach your players about some explicit do’s and don’ts in soccer. The variation between coaching and teaching is prominent because coaching deals with a bunch of players who already play soccer pretty well.

While coaching drills, it is preferable to first demonstrate the drill to the kids and then give them a free hand in executing it themselves. It is effective because young players are more receptive to seeing than listening. If you endeavor to explain in instructions, they will not understand it. Relatively, they imitate perfectly.

Consequently, at all possible times, give a demonstration.

In the end, but still important is to keep the kids involved in several activities. This is all the more important when it rains or the weather is extremely cold. You must understand that kids are just thrilled at the prospect of playing in the rain. Hence, instead of simply cancelling the session, it makes more sense to have them play soccer games or something like that.

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.

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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 is both a matter of skill and intuition to cultivate the art of 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.

There are so many things that may result from a shoot. Shots can be converted into goals. The goalkeeper might drop the ball exactly at the feet of your forward player. Rowdy shots can turn into accurate passes. Ground shots may bounce back. You can even score a goal by 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 conditioned in a way that the only thought that keeps roaming inside their mind is getting the ball into the nets. In England, these attacking players are called sniffers. This happens because they are always reviewing scoring chances.

Soccer Coaching

They consider every chance the last chance to score a goal and hence shoot accordingly. You will see that they are always available when the situation is favorable. They have the skills to even convert negative situations into positive ones. Therefore, in coaching soccer drills you must ask the players to hit the ball at every opportunity.

As a rule, a shot is whenever the ball it hit in the direction of the goal with the intent to score. One of the most effective techniques of driving the ball is through its middle with the help of laces of the foot. To carry this out, the player should have his head over the ball, his toe should be extended, and his upper body should keep steady.

In coaching drills, your players should learn to shoot the ball low and wide of the goalie. In such a scenario, high shots are less preferred that low ground 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, stop this practice by not letting your players to practice in adult sized goals.

So go ahead and make your players expert in shooting the ball to score goals by confirming the position of the goalkeeper once before shooting.

There is a lot more that you can get to know by just subscribing to our youth soccer coaching community which has tons of information on coaching young players in form of newsletters, articles, and videos.

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. This is because in the past few years, the distinction between educating the players and coaching them has diminished.

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.

However, we should always remember one principle while working out the coaching drills for kids. 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.

If we try to figure out something that cheers a former player to become a coach is pretty easy.
His desire to remain associated with the game even after his days as a team player are over. This is the reason that a lot of soccer players end up as soccer coaches. But they don’t realize the seriousness of taking up this role.

Soccer Coaching

Some look at youth coaching as a stepping stone to coaching adults. There are still others who take this up because they truly love working with kids and wish to share with them their passion for soccer. Both are compelling and very well acceptable reasons. But it’s not only these duties but additional principles too that need to be taken into consideration.

Communication is the main feature with respect to coaching soccer drills, and unfortunately it’s the trickiest for a majority of people to understand. It is not enough to have a great career history spanning many years of top rated success and achievements to qualify as a professional coach.

There are a few standards that a youth soccer coach is expected to not only set but also meet. It requires a proficient and a skilled coach to push young players in loving soccer and regard it as an encouraging and an exciting incident in their lives. As a coach, make sure that during the soccer practice, players feel comfortable in openly expressing themselves by way of the game.

In a team, different players have their different styles of playing and a varying potential. The important thing is not that each one of them should have skills and potential of a champion. What is most important is that every single player must be able to reach his own ability ultimately.

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.

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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.