Soccer Drills For Youth

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. There is a reason why I’m saying this and it’s because the thin line between educating and coaching the players has somehow vanished.

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. They should concentrate on their professional grooming and simultaneously educate them about the game. In some situations, it is seen many a times that the educational aspect in soccer is neglected totally.

Still, we must not forget one theory on which the coaching drills for the layers should be based. 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 is what makes some successful players take a plunge and become kid’s 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. Many of them consider this as their only chance to get one with the sport and contribute to the game by sharing their experience and techniques and helping the kids grow. Both these reasons are valid and well accepted. But at the same time, the person should also be aware of the moral responsibility that his choice implies.

In coaching soccer drills, the key factor is communication and sadly it’s the one that people find most difficult to recognize. The fact that someone has been a successful soccer player for a long time and has countless achievements does not hold well when it comes to being a successful coach.

There are a few standards that a youth soccer coach is expected to not only set but also meet. It’s for the coach to encourage kids to look at soccer as a constructive and an inspiring experience in their lives so that they tend to love the game. During the soccer practice, the players should feel at ease all the time so that their feelings are conveyed openly in course of the game.

In a team, there are players with varied talents, stamina, and caliber. What’s not important is that every player must possess the competence and talents of a great player. But what’s really important is that every player must reach his own competence in the due course.

This needs to be understood that every soccer player, no matter how skilled, renowned, and competent he may be, is not capable of coaching young players. 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; you should seriously consider what truly motivates you as it is a major 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.

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 takes skill as well as gut feeling to produce quality shooting. But apart from this, there is something else that is equally important and that is forceful attitude.

Every player should take care of this but it is more upon forward players to shoot the ball. While teaching soccer, put shooting on the top of your priority list.

There are so many things that may be a consequence of shooting. 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. A goal might result out of 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 known by the term sniffers. This is because they are always sniffing out scoring chances.

Soccer Coaching

They take every chance for a shot as if it is the last chance that they’ll ever get. They are always present at the right time at the right place. They always make the most of every situation even if it is not favorable. Therefore, in coaching soccer drills you must ask the players to hit the ball at every opportunity.

Normally, anytime the ball is kicked with an intention to put it inside the goal is taken as a shot. Yet, one technique that is most effective is driving the ball through the middle by use of the laces of the foot. The player’s head should be over the ball, his toe extended, and his upper body should remain steady.

In the course of coaching drills, teach your players to shoot the ball wide and low to the goalie. At this point, low ground shots are favored over high shots. This is because goalies find it difficult to stop the ground shots as they have to stretch their hands relatively more.

When kids practice inside the regulation sized goals, they are likely to score more by striking the ball above the goalie’s head. This must be discouraged otherwise players form the habit of shooting very high goals. This practice can be put to stop in coaching soccer drills by not allowing players to adult sized goals.

Now get out there and start teaching your players to look up once before they shoot the ball with a view to check the position of the goalkeeper.

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.

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. During soccer practice, focus on a specific objective like kids must have loads of fun in the game as it benefits both the coach and the players.

At this point, it’s important to stay alert or else you’ll get distracted by other things. So, it is suggested that more specific objectives are decided upon that benefit not only the team but also the coach. 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.

When it comes to sportsmanship, the onus lies on you to set a high standard for the 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. Make it clear to the players that it is the level of their performance that makes them a winner no matter what the final decision is.

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. It’s imperative that your kids are aware of the dos and don’ts that are critical to the game of soccer before you go any further with their training. The difference in coaching and teaching is that the former is done with a group of players who are already familiar with the basic skills and concepts of the game.

In coaching drills, it’s best to give the players 5 or 6 fine demonstrations of some specific skill and then let them perform it themselves. It is due to the fact that kids grasp visualizations more effectively than simple instructions. If you decide to give them plain instructions, they will not appreciate it very much. Relatively, they imitate perfectly.

Hence, make it an imperative exercise to give a demonstration at every possible opportunity.

Finally, but still very important is your ability to keep the kids engaged in important activities. This becomes even more important when the weather is windy, wet, or cold. It is well known that the kids love playing in the rain. So, rather than just telling them to go home, it is more beneficial to find ways so that they can still enjoy soccer in some form.

Ensure that in situations like these, the kids are wearing proper soccer gear as well as additional protection.

Now, it is time to add these tips to your training program and make the most of them. The results will make you happy.

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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? In coaching soccer drills, this is the trickiest part as far as the players and the coaches are concerned. The player keeps overall balance and the leg to be used to kick the ball is bent at the knee. Both position and control to kick the ball appears from below the knee.

In soccer practice, this is the starting position for almost all types of kicks. The increase of rate of the foot from below the knee puts together a powerful blow 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. Let’s now discuss them some more.

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. While this pass can be easily predicted and is a little slow, it is extremely simple to learn and easy to carry out. The ball makes a contact on the inside of the foot and ankle, and the foot is turned outward.

In coaching soccer drills, guide the players to keep their bodies totally relaxed throughout the entire movement. When it comes to different kicking actions, this rule is the truly indispensable. Teach the players to stiffen their ankle and the foot only when they need to get into 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: Al though a little tricky to learn, this pass needs to be taught to the kids correctly as it’s quick, unpredictable, and accurate. The ball gets in touch between the outside edge of the foot and the laces with the foot extended and turned inwards. With the help of the foot, the pass is modified into a quick flick for short distances.

In coaching drills, it’s imperative that the players maintain a comfortable posture.

The Instep Drive: Here, the two versions; lofted versions and the low driven version are utilized to pass the ball to longer distances. There is also an option to adapt this style to make a “chip pass” or an “in swinging pass”. 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.

The contact with the ball is made between the laces and the inside of the foot and it should be stiff and extended.

So, go forward and make the kids try different things with the ball by teaching them the basic kicking techniques as well its variations.

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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.