What follows is a simplistic way of bearing in mind the essential soccer coaching factors ate determine the team philosophy and moving along with it. We can apply this philosophy to our youth team very easily as it is easier than we can imagine.
The elements which are essential for an effective youth coaching philosophy are 6; parents, coaches, excitement, selection, time, and success windows.
Consistent Parental Support: When we talk about soccer training the influence of parents is vital in the mental and physical development of your players, most importantly on the day the match is taking place. It’s not enough just to provide the parents with the brochure, “parental responsibilities” at the beginning of the term. Meetings with the parents should be set to discuss the concerns and reminding them the important points.
New soccer coaches: An important part of the philosophy is that you should not only concentrate on development of the players, but also the coaches. The kid’s parents can also be considered for soccer coaching. They are the ideal candidates, not necessarily to start immediately, but may be in the future.
Selection: One of the biggest reasons why players with great soccer skills drop out is non-selection. Studies reveal, that the players think that they would not get selected for a good team so they opt for a bad team. Thus a logical system which provides the players equal game time should be used.
Time: Observe punctuality and tell the parents to be punctual as well. Clearly established start times and finish times allow you to plan and deliver the session effectively.
Excitement: Is it imperative that every soccer coaching session has to be enjoyable? Try to make every session an enjoyable one but also remember that you cannot do it all the time. So adopt “excitement” as a substitute for this.
When training the kids, it is certain that the coach will have problems with ideas on how to make practice drills interesting. Hence, the biggest challenge is to be so good with your thinking that you can come up with several great ideas to make drills fun for kids.
In soccer drills, it is a good idea to keep increasing the level of difficulty every time. A way of doing this is to begin a game, take note of a problem, and then remove it with the help of a soccer drill.
Success windows: Try and include a success window for the season as a vital part of your training sessions. This necessitates for you to determine a lower limit and an upper limit of time with a view to measure the level of success that needs to be achieved.
For instance, time frame of minimum four and maximum eight weeks. This can be achieved for both the team and individual members.
In your interest, embrace a soccer coaching philosophy like this become a part of the development phase of your kid’s training once the basics have been covered. For more information, join our youth coaching community which has a collection of relevant material and resources on youth soccer.
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: Soccer Coaching Drills.
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