I can’t say if you’ll agree with me on this but in youth soccer drills, defense is the foundation on which the game depends. Both sides in the game are said to have played best defensive soccer, when the score remains 0-0.
However, in kids soccer drills, there are two aspect to winning a game. First is by exhibiting a wonderful defense. The second feature is the ability of the offensive players to rise above the other team’s defense.
In order for the players to score, they must be able to catch the ball. Some coaches follow the practice of training their kids in just one aspect; offense or defense. But, a player must be given complete training in both playing defense when the ball is in other person’s custody and offense when it is with him or her.
During youth soccer practice, the players who fail to keep the ball in their possession should go after the ball at once. This is very important and makes sense because the one who loses the ball is nearest to the ball. As a result, this player should try to put pressure on the one who has the possession of the ball now.
To put it in another way, he or she should try to get the ball as fast as possible. This will also give an opportunity to his co-players to recover and get into their defensive positions. In this way, the player from the opposite team who has the custody of the ball will not be able to run freely on the field.
You can teach the players these skills by demonstrating the following techniques.
Immediate chase: When taken care of effectively in youth soccer drills, the opposition feels a lot of pressure from all sides. And it ultimately causes him or her to make a bad pass or lose the possession of the ball.
Fall back and delay: This necessitates the remaining team members to fall back, and challenge the opponent with the ball and delay him or her from getting into their team’s goal area.
The riskiest place on the field being the center, ask your players to force the opponent with the ball towards the touchline. This will restrict his or her ability to pass the ball, and also limits the directions that he or she can go to.
Arc of Concentration: When we talk of scoring, the Arc of Concentration is the riskiest area. The players make the most number of goals in the arc of concentration. So it becomes very important to teach the players in youth soccer coaching to try and take the ball out of this area.
This arc is right ahead of the goal. It sets out from one corner post of the goal all the way through the corner of the goal box and goes on to the touchline. The chances of a goal being scored are high when the ball is in this area.
When it comes to teaching youth soccer drills and game strategies, these are the most effective and easiest ways.
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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: http://www.soccerdrillstips.com.