Soccer Practice

Let me tell you that stretching is an vital part of soccer training tips and professional coaches highly recommend it along with almost every player in every sport practicing it daily? Soccer is a sport which is continuously growing and developing in its intricacy.

There are two types of stretching that can be incorporated in kid’s training for soccer; static and dynamic stretching.

Static stretching requires the kids to extend their muscles as far as they can and hold for a given duration of time. Recurring motions, rebounding, and rhythmic bouncing are performed by the players while doing dynamic stretching. It is generally considered as more dangerous and less effective than static stretching.

In this article, you’ll find some good points of stretching that can help average players become great players.

Soccer Training

Stretching reduces injuries: Continuous stretching during the day and performed over a period of time may promote muscle growth that, consecutively, could reduce the risk of injury. Stretching also provides an effective way of enhancing the muscle size and strength.

Stretching influences flexibility: Stretching puts off the loss of flexibility. Nevertheless, stretching works best when performed for a greater length of time than for shorter periods of time.

Performing stretching for a few minutes before starting any playing activity is likely to enhance flexibility. But, of all the soccer training tips, the best is where stretching program is extended over a longer period of time that constantly improves the player’s range of motion.

Stretching improves performance: Stretches, when designed to be soccer specific can greatly improve a player’s performance.

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 tag games, ball tag, and keep away.

Contemplate on the stretching, sense and know each stretch, along with checking for stiffness in the body.

For a majority of kids, one stretch of15-30 minutes is sufficient for each muscle group but some kids may take longer stretches or more repetitions.

The reason is that when the temperature of muscles is higher than normal, tension decreases and extensibility increases. Kids who hope to retain or boost their flexibility can somewhat reach 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.

Generally, players who exercise an active warm-up prior to stretching get a better range of motion than those who only stretch. So if injury prevention is your aim, stop stretching before exercise and increase the warm up time.

I again reiterate that the most important of all soccer training tips is to remember that hurried stretching does not help kids become flexible, gets monotonous and pointless, so let them take their own time to warm up before stretching. 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.

When you are a soccer coach, it’s necessary for you to be aware of the important soccer training tips to teach the game to your players. 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.

By teaching your players some important tips and techniques, you can help them better their performance. They are as follows;

Educate your kids to keep moving the ball with one or two touches: This is known as inter passing in a team setting. They should play the ball with speed and make crisp solid passes, whether it is a 3-meter or 20 meter pass.

Play the ball and be in motion: Playing and moving contains the basic idea behind making runs. But the important thing to keep in mind is to make these runs dangerous leading to goal scoring opportunities or opening up space for a team-mate.

Soccer Training

The idea of teaching soccer skills to players is to develop their ability to create goal scoring opportunities. You can work well by setting up the defender here. Teach your players to close in the defender towards them, as if he or she is going to be able to catch the ball, then give it and go, advance into the open space to receive or return the pass.

Once your kids make a move to beat the opponent, tell them to change their pace. They should attack fast and make sure they keep moving the ball as fast as possible. When they get a chance to break, train them to retaliate with a few 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 ensures a close control of the ball and then enhances a player’s ability to take the ball away from defenders.

Get the cross in: During the first half of the game, take shots on the goal and observe the goalkeeper throughout. The player should ensure that the other team members are informed about his/ her intentions to make runs into open spaces. It is necessary for the young players to learn this type of communication to become better players.

When training for soccer, teach players to try and aim for the area flanked by 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. Train players in a way that they stick to the team’s strategy and tactics 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. You can subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community and get your way 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.