Soccer Instructions

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 poise and power to kick the ball comes from below the knee.

In soccer practice, this is the opening pose for just about all types of kicks. The rushing of the foot from below the knee creates an immense impact on the ball. This gives players the power to execute a variety of kicks. However, what type of a kick would it be is determined by the precise contact of the foot on the ball.

For example; it could be knocked very high, driven low, turn left, or sway to the right.

There are three vital passes in soccer i.e. a side foot pass, the outside of the foot pass, and the instep drive. Let’s discuss them further.

Soccer Coaching

The side foot pass: In teaching soccer, this is the most widely used and the simplest pass. This is by and large applied to make short distance passes. Although this pass is slightly slow and almost predictable, it’s very simple to teach the kids and perform accurately. The ball makes a contact on the inside of the foot and ankle, and the foot is turned outward.

In coaching soccer drills, players should know that their body need not be tense during the movement with the ball. This is by far the most critical rule applicable to all types of kicking actions. 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 makes a contact between the laces and the outside edge of the foot, when the foot is extended and turned inward. With the help of the foot, the pass is modified into a quick flick for short distances.

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

The Instep Drive: Both the versions of the instep drive namely, lofted version and the low driven version are applied to pass the ball to longer distances. Once the players are confident in executing it, make a “chip pass” or an “in swinging pass” by introducing some changes in it. 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 now coach your kids the various techniques of kicking the ball and with variations to let them do different things with the ball.

You can also get your hand on loads of relevant information pertaining to coaching soccer drills in form of newsletters, articles, and videos by subscribing to our youth soccer coaching community.

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.

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. I therefore recommend that you decide on more specific objectives for yourself and your soccer team. For instance; constantly remind the players to remain physically fit, develop them into sporting players with a positive attitude towards the game, and concentrating on skills unique to them.

Since you are the coach, you only are responsible for setting high standards of sportsmanship for players. Encourage attitudes like fair play, team spirit, and sportsmanship. However, in teaching soccer, you can have numerous other objectives that you can add to those mentioned above.

The theory of winning is one concept that I’d like to stress upon when it comes to coaching youth soccer. Try to infuse an open idea of winning the game inside your player’s minds while training them. Teach them that as long as their performance is out of ordinary on the field, they are winners, no matter what the final result.

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.

Coaching soccer drills requires you to give clear and precise instructions to your team so that they get the desired results. Before you start coaching your team, educate your players on some specific do’s and don’ts in the game of soccer. 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 the process of coaching drills, it is nice to first impart 5 to 6 demonstrations about a drill to the kids and then let them practice it themselves. It is effective because young players are more receptive to seeing than listening. 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.

Last but by no means the least; keep your players active with several purposeful activities. This becomes even more important when the weather is windy, wet, or cold. You must understand that kids are just thrilled at the prospect of playing in the rain. So, instead of revoking the session, it makes more sense to find alternative ways to let them have fun.

Just be sure that the kids have additional layer of clothing and proper shoes in situations like these.

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.

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.

It is the responsibility of every player but more importantly that of the forward players to shoot the ball. When teaching soccer, shooting should be at the top of your list.

So many things may come out of a shoot. Shots can be redirected into the goal. The goalkeeper might drop the ball exactly at the feet of your forward player. Wild shots can turn into great passes. Ground shots may spring back. You might even score a goal directly from the 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 accustomed to think only about scoring a goal when in the field. These attacking players are referred to as sniffers in England. This is because they are always sniffing out scoring chances.

Soccer Coaching

To them, every opportunity is the last one they will get and hence shoot ferociously. You will see that they are always available when the situation is favorable. 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. But driving the ball through the middle using the laces of the foot is by far the most effective technique for shooting. The player’s head should be over the ball, his toe extended, and his upper body should remain steady.

In coaching drills, your players should learn to shoot the ball low and wide of the goalie. Herein, low ground shots take priority over high shots. This happens due to the fact that goalies have to stop the low ground shots by stretching their hands a lot more in comparison to high shots, thus making it difficult.

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. In coaching soccer drills, stop this practice by not letting your players to practice in adult sized goals.

So get going and train your team members to see and confirm the goalkeeper’s position before they shoot the ball into the goalpost.

You can lay your hands on loads of relevant information pertaining to coaching young players in form of newsletters, articles, and videos by subscribing to our youth soccer coaching community.

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’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. At the same time, they should focus not only on professionally coaching the kids but also educating them. Many a times, this educational characteristic of soccer gets totally neglected in almost all scenarios.

Yet, there is just one code that must be adhered to while determining the coaching drills for the kids. A young player becomes an elite player of great renown only when he grows as an individual first and then as a soccer player. A coach should therefore act according to the above principle.

It’s easy to find out the reason that pushes a player to take on the duty of a coach.
After the player is no more a part of the team, he wishes to continue being associated with soccer. As a result, many successful players become soccer coaches. But they fail to seriously consider the nature of this job.

Soccer Coaching

Majority of them attempt to get inside the arena of coaching adult players by becoming kid’s coach initially. Some others decide to take up this role due to their love towards the sport and an intention to instill the same passion in the kids. Both these reasons are valid and well accepted. It’s not just these responsibilities that follow your choice but also certain ethical duties that must be looked at while making a choice.

Communication is the main feature with respect to coaching soccer drills, and unfortunately it’s the trickiest for a majority of people to understand. 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, a coach should ensure that the players can openly convey their feelings through the game.

In a team, there are players with varied talents, stamina, and caliber. The important thing is not that each one of them should have skills and potential of a champion. What is truly important is that each one of them eventually reaches his own aptitude.

It is therefore of great importance for us to realize that only brilliant players having successful careers make excellent and expert coaches. 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.