Soccer Field Positions

What if I told you that young players find it really hard to kick a soccer ball using a straight leg? Both coach and the kids feel that this is by far the greatest trouble in way of coaching soccer drills. The player is required to maintain absolute balance and the leg with which ball is to be kicked at is bent at the knee. Both power and stance to kick the ball emerges from below the knee.

This is the starting point for almost all styles of kicks in soccer practice. The rushing of the foot from below the knee creates an immense impact on the ball. This provides the players with a lot of power to act upon a range of kicks. Nevertheless, it depends upon the type of contact that the ball has with the foot which concludes the kick’s style.

For example; it could be chipped very high, driven low, swerved left, or swung right.

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

Soccer Coaching

The side foot pass: In teaching soccer, this pass is considered as the most extensively used and the simplest. This is by and large applied 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 foot turned outward, ball comes into contact on the outside of the ankle and the foot.

In coaching soccer drills, the players should be trained to keep their bodies relaxed all through the action. This is the most basic rule with all types of kicking actions. The ankle and the foot should be stiffened only at the time of 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: This pass is a little complex to teach and learn but it must be learnt well as it’s the quickest, most accurate, and unpredictable pass. The ball gets in touch between the outside edge of the foot and the laces with the foot extended and turned inwards. The pass is then transformed into a quick throw for short distances by using the foot.

In the course of these coaching drills, players should keep their stance relaxed.

The Instep Drive: Both the versions of instep drive i.e. the low driven version and the lofted version are brought into play to pass the ball over 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.

Here, the ball gets into contact in between the inside of the foot and the laces which is extended and very firm.

So then, go on and train your players on these basic techniques of kicking along with the variations so that the ball does little different things.

If you would like to enhance your knowledge on coaching soccer drills for kids, subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community that has a huge amount of information in form of articles, newsletters and videos.

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.

If you are like me, you probably feel the same way that the biggest problem that a coach faces in coaching soccer drills is to decide on the best way of organizing conditioning schedules for its players. This is because in the past few years, the distinction between educating the players and coaching them has diminished.

Sadly, in teaching soccer, a majority of the coaches still don’t realize that it’s pertinent to devise the coaching plans as per the needs of the players. They should make an effort to develop them professionally together with educating them on the game. In certain situations, it has been observed that this educational side in soccer takes a backseat.

Yet, there is just one code that must be adhered to while determining the coaching drills for the kids. Any young player must first endeavor to grow as an individual and only after that he can become the best and a high ranking soccer player. Therefore, the coach should act strictly as pre the above mentioned principle.

The main reason why an individual decides to become a coach is fairly simple to make out.
His desire to remain associated with the game even after his days as a team player are over. This results in many successful soccer players settling down as coaches. However, what they don’t understand is the seriousness that this role requires.

Soccer Coaching

Majority of them attempt to get inside the arena of coaching adult players by becoming kid’s coach initially. 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 are compelling and very well acceptable reasons. But along with this, there are some ethical responsibilities as well that come hand in hand with being a coach.

When it comes to coaching soccer drills, communication is the key concept and unfortunately, it is still very difficult for people to accept. It is not necessary that anyone who has achieved great success for ten consecutive years in various age groups can be regarded as a skilled youth coach.

There are a few standards that a youth soccer coach is expected to not only set but also meet. It requires a proficient and a skilled coach to push young players in loving soccer and regard it as an encouraging and an exciting incident in their lives. 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.

All players in the team vary in terms of strength, style, and individual skills unique to them. The important thing is not that each one of them should have skills and potential of a champion. What is most important is that every single player must be able to reach his own ability ultimately.

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; try and figure out the true motivations that cheer you to follow this prospect since it’s a pre requirement in this context.

There is lot more that you can equip yourself about coaching soccer drills by just subscribing to our youth soccer caching community that offers a great amount of knowledge by way of articles, newsletters, and videos.

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’ve probably heard it a hundred times that in coaching soccer drills, all tactics, skills, and teamwork taught to the players ultimately lead to a shot on the goal. It is both a matter of skill and intuition to cultivate the art of shooting. But there is something more that is equally important and that is a persuasive attitude.

Even though, all players must do this but it is more onto the forward players to shoot the ball. When you are teaching soccer, give shooting top priority.

So many things may come out of a shoot. Shots can be directed towards a goal. It is a possibility that the goalkeeper may very well drop the ball at the foot of your forward player. Unruly shots can turn into brilliant passes. Ground shots may bounce back. You may even hit a goal through a straight shot.

When in soccer practice, attacking players are always looking for a chance to shoot the ball right into the goal. They are accustomed to think only about scoring a goal when in the field. In England, these attacking players are called sniffers. This happens because they are always reviewing scoring chances.

Soccer Coaching

They take every shot as if it was the last chance to score a goal. You’ll always find them at the right place at the right time. They’ll even make the most of being in the wrong place at the right time. Therefore, in coaching soccer drills you must ask the players to hit the ball at every opportunity.

As a rule, a shot is whenever the ball it hit in the direction of the goal with the intent to score. Yet, one technique that is most effective is driving the ball through the middle by use of the laces of the foot. While performing this, head of the player should be over the ball, his upper body be steady, and his toes should be extended.

In coaching drills, your players should learn to shoot the ball low and wide of the goalie. In such a scenario, high shots are less preferred that low ground 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. As a result of it, the players develop the tendency to shoot high goals so this must be discouraged. When coaching soccer drills, put a stop to this activity by not permitting kids to play in adult sized goals.

So now go teach you kids to become master shooters when it comes to scoring goals by checking the goalie’s position once before they are ready to shoot.

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.

I don’t know a thing about you, but I’ll bet that it is necessary that you look at some common teaching suggestions before starting out with the coaching soccer drills. 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.

Herein, you must remain careful otherwise you’ll not be able to follow the fun part. For this reason, I suggest that your goals should be as precise as possible both for your own good and for the good of your team. For example; develop a sense of team spirit and a sporting attitude in your players, help them identify their individual soccer skills, and emphasize on improving their physical fitness.

Since you are the coach, you only are responsible for setting high standards of sportsmanship for players. Promote the feeling of sportsmanship, team spirit, and fair play amongst team members. There are several objectives important in teaching soccer that can be incorporated in your list along with these.

Winning is another important concept that I’d like to emphasize in coaching youth soccer. Infuse an open concept of winning in your player’s minds when you are coaching them. 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

The players as a result will feel totally relaxed but much more responsible to play the game sensibly with the team’s objectives in their mind.

Coaching soccer drills requires you to give clear and precise instructions to your team so that they get the desired results. Before coaching, you need to teach your players about some explicit do’s and don’ts in soccer. The variation between coaching and teaching is prominent because coaching deals with a bunch of players who already play soccer pretty well.

In coaching drills, it is great idea to first demonstrate to the kids about 5 to 6 times a specific drill and then let it di it themselves. This is because young players generally do not respond to oral instructions very well. If you attempt to explain an action in words, they won’t understand it. Relatively, they imitate perfectly.

Consequently, at all possible times, give a demonstration.

Finally, but still very important is your ability to keep the kids engaged in important activities. This holds even bigger importance when the weather is not conducive to a regular session. You must understand that kids are just thrilled at the prospect of playing in the rain. Hence, instead of simply cancelling the session, it makes more sense to have them play soccer games or something like that.

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. 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.