Soccer Coaching

You may have heard that in coaching soccer drills, all skills have only 1 goal and that is to take a shot at the goal. It is both a matter of skill and intuition to cultivate the art of shooting. But apart from this, there is something else that is equally important and that is forceful attitude.

It is the responsibility of every player but more importantly that of the forward players to shoot the ball. While teaching soccer, put shooting on the top of your priority list.

So many things may come out of a shoot. Shots can be redirected into the goal. It may happen that the goalkeeper drops the ball right in front of your forward. Rowdy shots can turn into accurate passes. Ground shots may return. You may even hit a goal through a straight shot.

During the soccer practice, attacking players are always on a lookout to shoot the ball into the goal at every possible opportunity. They are trained in a way that they think of nothing else but scoring goals. In England, these attacking players are called sniffers. It is so because they are always looking for scoring opportunities.

Soccer Coaching

To them, every opportunity is the last one they will get and hence shoot ferociously. They are always present at the right time at the right place. Amazingly, they have the ability to be 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.

During the coaching drills, teach the players to shoot the ball low and wide of the goalie. Here, low ground shots are preferred 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.

Young players while practicing inside regulation sized goals, tend to score more by kicking the ball over the head of the goalkeeper. 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 get going and train your team members to see and confirm the goalkeeper’s position before they shoot the ball into the goalpost.

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.

In coaching soccer drills, there are certain training tips that I’d like to share with you before you initiate your training program even if you have been doing this for quite a long time. 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 point, it’s important to stay alert or else you’ll get distracted by other things. I therefore recommend that you decide on more specific objectives for yourself and your soccer 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.

Since you are the coach, you only are responsible for setting high standards of sportsmanship for players. Encourage attitudes like fair play, team spirit, and sportsmanship. In addition to the above goals, you are free to set as many goals as your feel necessary while teaching soccer to your team.

One more concept that needs to be highlighted in youth soccer coaching is the notion of winning the match. During the training sessions, introduce the open concept of winning and try to place it in their minds. 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

This will take away the pressure off the kids and they’ll focus more on playing their best game rather than just winning it.

When coaching soccer drills, always keep in mind the importance of giving clear and correct instructions if they are to be helpful. Before coaching, you need to teach your players about some explicit do’s and don’ts in soccer. The disparity between coaching and teaching is obvious in the fact that coaching deals with the bunch of players who already know the game to some extent.

In the process of coaching drills, it is nice to first impart 5 to 6 demonstrations about a drill to the kids and then let them practice it themselves. It is due to the fact that kids grasp visualizations more effectively than simple instructions. If you try to explain everything as a lecture, they may not get 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. It is very well acknowledged that the kids find it enjoyable to play in the rain. Therefore, in place of cancelling the training session, rearrange it in a way that the players make the most of their energy and time.

Just be sure that the kids have additional layer of clothing and proper shoes in situations like these.

Now get out there and start incorporating these teaching suggestions into your practice sessions. 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.

How would you react to the fact that one thing that young players find truly hard is to use a straight leg to kick the ball? Both coach and the kids feel that this is by far the greatest trouble in way of coaching soccer drills. The player keeps overall balance and the leg to be used to kick the ball is bent at the knee. Both poise and power to kick the ball comes from below the knee.

In soccer practice, this is the starting position for almost all types of kicks. The rushing of the foot from below the knee creates an immense impact on the ball. This gives players the power to execute a variety of kicks. Yet, it is the kind of contact of the ball with the foot that decides what type of kick would originate.

For example; it could be thumped very high, driven low, turn sharply to the left, or move to the right.

The three essential passes in soccer are a side foot pass, instep drive, and the outside of the foot pass. We’ll now chat about them further.

Soccer Coaching

The side foot pass: In teaching soccer, this is the most widely used and the simplest pass. This is usually employed to make 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 contact with the ball is made on the inside of the ankle and the foot with the foot turned outwards.

In coaching soccer drills, players should know that their body need not be tense during the movement with the ball. When it comes to different kicking actions, this rule is the truly indispensable. Players should strengthen the ankle and the foot only at the time of making 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.

Throughout the coaching drills session, the posture of the players should be relaxed.

The Instep Drive: Both the lofted version and the low driven version of the instep drive are used 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. The approach of the instep drive is slightly angled and the non kicking foot is placed about 12 inches to 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.

You can also get your hand 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 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.

In coaching soccer drills, there’s no doubt that perhaps the most complex part is that of finding out the most appropriate method of managing the conditioning schedules of the players. This is because in the past few years, the distinction between educating the players and coaching them has diminished.

Regrettably, many coaches still don’t understand that when teaching soccer, drawing a coaching plan based on the player’s needs is of paramount importance. At the same time, they should focus not only on professionally coaching the kids but also educating them. In some situations, it is seen many a times that the educational aspect in soccer is neglected totally.

Yet, there is just one code that must be adhered to while determining the coaching drills for the kids. A young player becomes an elite player of great renown only when he grows as an individual first and then as a soccer player. It is therefore the duty of the coach to act along with the lines of this principle.

If we try to figure out something that cheers a former player to become a coach is pretty easy.
It’s the feeling to stay with the game in either ways after he has stopped playing for the team. This results in many successful soccer players settling down as coaches. But they fail to seriously consider the nature of this job.

Soccer Coaching

It is considered by some as the first step that’ll take them towards the prospects of coaching adult players. 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 the reasons are equally acceptable and convincing. It’s not just these responsibilities that follow your choice but also certain ethical duties that must be looked at while making a choice.

In coaching soccer drills, the key factor is communication and sadly it’s the one that people find most difficult to recognize. The absolute qualification of a youth soccer coach is not necessarily his successful career as a brilliant player consecutively for some good number of years.

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 fact that every single player in the team has the qualities and talents of a champion is not of much value. What is actually important is that each player ultimately reaches his own potential.

It is therefore of great importance for us to realize that only brilliant players having successful careers make excellent and expert coaches. He should have a special bent for working with young players; an innate gift for human contact and emotional relationships.

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.