In coaching high school soccer, the first and the foremost quality that the players need to have or develop is confidence if they wish to become complete players. Often when you say that the players have to play under pressure in a game, it indicates your player’s lack of confidence to handle any situation. I say this because only confident players expect to win and get successful.
The players must promise themselves and accept confidence as an attribute to develop. When coaching youth soccer, illustrate this point by telling them the behaviors of two parrots sitting on either shoulder.
One is a positive parrot that pushes the player to accept and conquer every challenge coming his way by repeating “You can do it.” Then there is the other parrot who is full of negativity and keeps telling the player “You can’t do this.” And clearly they have to choose which parrot to listen to.
Also teach them to take full responsibility of the consequences that follow their choice. This decision could also be an everyday task. Develop brilliant players in your team by constantly reminding them of their participation in past successes to boost their confidence levels.
Train the players of the fact that in soccer coaching that putting the blame on something or someone else is a mark of insecurity. In fact they should be taught to see setbacks as a part of the learning curve and not let it shake their confidence.
Likewise in coaching high school soccer, it’s imperative to teach the players to repeat the phrase “I’ll get the next one” whenever they miss out on any opportunity.
The distress of the miss instantly motivates, hence ensuring no effect on confidence for the next strike.
A team is said to be successful if you have the ability to make quick judgments regarding a player’s ability to survive in competition. In football coaching, there is always a close call between judging physical and mental readiness, but in the end, physical readiness wins the battle.
Understandable and apparent messages are required to make such judgments possible. It is necessary to deeply go through the player’s spoken and unspoken messages about his or her knack to succeed in the game.
Confidence is the fruit of success. Self-belief, hard work done and the mental preparation to face tough situations, hold the key to success in soccer. “If you are not preparing to win, you are preparing to fail” is a phrase often used to motivate players.
Confidence grows up with experience. Players must be conditioned to take in their stride all fears, mistakes, defeats, and criticism to build the foundation of experience they need. It is the feeling that he or she has the knowledge, has been there before, and knows what to look forward to.
Know this. Building of confidence is an everyday task in coaching high school soccer, so players ought to reflect on positive and main steps for their realization.
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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 Coaching.
Tags: Coaching high school soccer, coaching youth soccer, football coaching, soccer coaching