Soccer Passing Drills

Would you answer this simple question? Not following the soccer training tips, most soccer coaches blindly design training programs for their players just to make up the numbers and simply go through the motions. Do you fall in the same category?

Set some distinct goals for the team next time when you decide to plan a training program. Ascertain what you specifically wish to achieve from the training session and do everything required to get that done.

With a view to add variety in your training program, add new and innovative soccer drills that are fun to perform. It will break the monotony of doing the same drills day in and day out. Once the kids enjoy participating in the training sessions, their performance will improve drastically.

Make your players understand the value of respecting and listening to you, their coach, no matter what their age or level at which they play. Valuing each other’s opinions and feelings creates a healthy environment for both players and the coach.

Soccer Training

Soccer players can greatly benefit from having a high level of flexibility. The same is classified into 3 parts.

Dynamic flexibility: It refers to a player’s capability to perform fast movements within the full range of motion in the joint, like twisting from side to side.

Static active flexibility: This is the aptitude of a player to stretch a hard muscle by using the tension from within that muscle. Let’s take an example; holding one leg in front of you and keeping it as high as you can. When you do this, your hamstrings are stretched whilst the quadriceps and hip flexors hold your leg up.

Static passive: It’s the skill of using the body weight or some external force to hold a stretch. For example; imagine holding your leg out in front of you and resting it on a chair.

Let’s now move on to the next step in following soccer training tips. Here, you need to check if the kids are clad in appropriate clothes that suit the weather conditions.

Training for soccer should be complemented by a fitness program that is designed to identify and improve upon the weak areas. When designing this training program, keep the following factors in mind.

Kid’s age: There is a direct connection between decrease in the flexibility of soft tissues and the reduced range of movement, as one grows older, notwithstanding the gender. But, if we remain active, the flexibility will always remain.

Gender: Girls show greater movement, no matter what their age.

Movement: In demonstrating soccer skills, active kids show a better range of movement that the inactive kids.

Injury: Injuries also hinder the range of motion in a joint.

Pain: Flexibility decreases as pain increases, resulting in muscle spasms. However, strength training does not hamper flexibility unless you don’t do the exercises correctly and not in full range of motion.

Genetics: A player’s genetics also decide the amount of flexibility that his or her body has.

So make sure you incorporate these soccer training tips into your training programs with a view to improve their effectiveness and productivity. You can improve your coaching skills by subscribing to our youth soccer coaching community that has tons of articles, newsletters, and relevant 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 Drills For Kids.

Does it sound familiar when I say that stretching forms an integral part of soccer training tips and is widely recommended and practiced by almost all sportspersons? Soccer is a sport which is continuously growing and developing in its intricacy.

In kid’s training for soccer, there are two types of stretching, dynamic and static stretching that are integrated.

When doing the static stretching, players draw out their muscles to a given point of resistance and hold it right there for a given amount of time. Rebounding, rhythmic bouncing, and recurring motions are involved in dynamic stretching. In general, it is not considered as effective as static stretching and more dangerous than static stretching.

This article discusses some benefits of stretching that go a long way in making a good player great.

Soccer Training

Stretching reduces injuries: Stretching helps bring down the risks of injury when performed over a period of time by stretching the muscles daily, thus promoting their growth. Stretching also provides a way of increasing the muscle size and strength.

Stretching affects flexibility: Stretching does prevent loss of flexibility. However, the support is more convincing for a long-term stretching line up than for shorter periods of time.

Stretching for some minutes prior to any occasion is liable to improve flexibility. When it comes to soccer training tips, the best bet is to distribute a stretching program over a predetermined length of time to continuously increase the range of motion.

Stretching enhances performance: Player’s performance improves when stretching exercises are designed to be soccer specific.

Make sure that the kids enjoy stretching: Make stretching fun for the kids by including a variety of soccer drills into your session. Keep altering the warm up exercises that you do before stretching. Try various activities like tag games, ball tag, and keep away.

Focus mentally on the stretching and feel and understand each stretch, checking for stiffness or soreness.

For almost all players, one single 15-30 minute stretch for each muscle group is sufficient but some may need longer stretches and more repetitions.

The reason is that when the temperature of muscles is higher than normal, tension decreases and extensibility increases. Those players who wish to sustain or increase their flexibility can partially attain this goal by stretching. When their body temperature is higher as against normal, it makes it safer and more productive to stretch.

This is why some coaches tend to make their kids perform stretching exercises after a workout as well. If your kids stretch for 5-10 minutes after performing soccer skills, their muscles will not tighten too fast.

Usually, players who practice an active warm-up ahead of stretching get a superior range of motion than those kids who just stretch. So if injury prevention is your aim, stop stretching before exercise and increase the warm up time.

Some food for thought; one of the most important soccer training tips is that hurried stretching is meaningless and boring and doesn’t help your players gain flexibility, so allow them some extra time when they are feeling inflexible or stiff. Join our youth soccer coaching community and enhance your knowledge about soccer through loads of articles, videos, and podcasts available there.

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.

A coach need to the essential soccer training tips in order to be able to train the kids properly especially, when he or she is playing the role of a coach while playing the game. These ideas can then be easily incorporated in your soccer drills sessions carried out 4 or 5 times in a week depending on the standard of your game.

When you train your players on these tips and techniques, you can allow them to improve upon their performance. Following are the techniques;

Coach your kids to keep moving the ball with one or two touches: It is also called inter-passing in case of a team setting. Tell them to play with speed and make crunchy solid passes, whether it’s a 3 meter or 20 meter pass.

Play the ball and move about: Playing and moving envelops the basic idea behind making runs. But you must ensure that these runs lead to effective goal scoring opportunities and open up spaces for the other team mates.

Soccer Training

The basis of all soccer skills is the ability to pass accurately in order to create opportunities. It works well to set up your defender here. Your players almost need to close in the defender towards them, as though he or she is going to be able to catch the ball, then give it and go, stepping up into the open space to receive or return the pass.

Your players should be taught to change their pace once they’ve made a move to beat their opponent. Teach your kids to swiftly attack and attempt to keep moving the ball as fast as they can. Whenever they get the opportunity to break, they should get even with a couple of accurate passes.

Teach your kids to retain the ball close to their feet when trying to control the ball: As one of the important soccer training tips, they should keep their head up and keep an eye on other player’s movements on the field. They should try and make contact with the ball on every step when dribbling it. This has the effect of having close control over the ball and improving a player’s ability to take away the ball from defenders.

Get the cross in: Take shots on the goal and examine the goalkeeper time and again during the first part of the game. If the player is going to create a space and run between them, they should let the other team members know. It is necessary for the young players to learn this type of communication to become better players.

When it comes to training for soccer, guide the players to seek into the area amid the 6 and 18 yard boxes. This will make the goalkeeper come out in an attempt to collect the ball. This will have the effect of making the open and unguarded.

Keep an eye on the ball: Keep an eye on every player’s movement on the field at all times. Condition your players such that they don’t lose their way from the team’s strategy for the day.

So you should start incorporating these soccer training tips into your training sessions so that your players are able to execute it naturally while on the field. For more such tips and ideas, subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community and get access to innumerable articles, videos, and periodic newsletters.

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: Soccer training tips.