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Thursday, November 5, 2009


Soccer Coaching Drills - How To Make Soccer Passing Drills Interesting



In soccer coaching drills, one cannot believe how a coach can ignore the passing drills. In soccer, passing the ball is the most vital thing to master because it’s the only skill that will help you become a match winner. Youth soccer drills which include different games and events are more helpful in bettering the passing skills of the boys.

Teach the Basics: Start with the fundamentals. Break the team up into two and give a ball to each team. Tell them to practice passing the ball within themselves.

This activity offers the players, the opportunity to identify their strong and weak points. At the same time, it will also reflect the ability that each player has in passing the ball. It allows you to have an easy assessment of every team member’s development.

The Moving Circle: Variety of events can be of use in teaching ball passing to players. There is one soccer coaching drill where all players create a circle except for two people who stay inside it.

Two players inside the circle will then try and catch hold of the ball when it is thrown amongst those in circle. After the ball is caught by any one player in the circle, he will be replaced by a player forming the circle. These kinds of soccer practice drills have the advantage of teaching great skills in a fun way.

The Three Soccer Balls: This is a game that has the potential to teach kids tons of amazing things. Again, split the team into two parts. There are 3 balls and both teams try to catch 2 or 3 balls to become a winner but they can only start after the coach tells them to.

Both the teams will not stop this game till the time the coach wants them to. The more the sessions played, the better are the results of the game. Since the number of balls is less, the game brings out the best in both the teams as they play to win the possession of the balls. You can make out the flaws of the losing team and focus on their problem areas.

In addition to passing the ball, this game also teaches several other tactics. One example is the ability to stay responsive in the field and take a calculated decision in marking the correct position to seize the ball. They also learn how to keep the ball in possession through passing and dribbling. Finally, they develop the ability to think instantly which is crucial to success in real matches.

Make regular practice your mantra to grow into a champion. Another name for soccer is strength, quickness and exceptional talent. When teaching soccer to the kids, inspire them to continuously practice these games.

Once you’ve learned these soccer coaching drills, you must make it a point to teach these to your kids and enable them to benefit from them while in field. Go on and subscribe to our online youth soccer coaching community which offers you loads and loads of valuable information on soccer.

Andre Botelho is the author of "The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide" and he's a recognized expert in the subject of soccer coaching drills. Learn how to explode your players' skills and make training fun in less than 29 days! Download your free soccer drills guide at: http://www.soccerdrillstips.com - Coaching Youth Soccer Drills.

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Monday, November 19, 2007


Soccer Coaching Techniques Of Young Players

Soccer coaching techniques of an under-7 group of young players are different than other age groups. They usually have a limited span of attention so you shouldn't cram them with too much information. In fact, they will only absorb one thing at any given point in time.


  • Young Players' Characteristics
With young children, coaching youth soccer drills can be a real pleasure and challenging task, if you keep in mind some things that are natural to this age group. When you would like to explain rules related to the game, it is better to make it short and simple and demonstrate what you are talking about.

You'll have to be really patient with your young players, as you may need to explain the same thing several times over, for example, the layout of the field and the team they belong to.

Some of them manage to wander off on the soccer field diagram. It is always safer to be voluble about the things they do well. But be careful about pointing out mistakes. Follow these guidelines:

- It's better to make suggestions for improvement.
- Criticism can easily hurt them and this point must be borne in mind.

If you notice your players in a group, you'll realize that they're happy, but don’t always connect with the rest of the team. Be prepared to see everyone going for the soccer ball simultaneously, since they're focused on themselves. You'll never have a problem keeping them on the move, but they'll get tired quite fast, and become refreshed equally fast.

Teaching youth soccer, especially a variety of soccer coaching techniques, it's important so that you keep your players interested and focused in training.

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Thursday, October 25, 2007


Youth Soccer Drill Video - How To Turn Up The Ball

As a soccer player your success depends on how good you are at kicking the ball. This is where a youth soccer drill video comes into play. These kind of videos will help you "see" what you may be doing wrong and what you need to improve.

There is a long list of skills and soccer techniques that soccer coaches must help their players acquire. And believe me, it's not "practical" to get perfection in all the skills, but it is very important for a soccer player to develop each of them in order to use them during the game.

How To Turn Up The Ball

One thing that coaches must teach is how to spin around with the ball using the inside of the foot. It is a very effective soccer technique because it helps the players have a better control of the ball and to pull the same around to open up into the direction where they want to take the ball.

- If the defender is very close and he's trying to steal the ball from you, the first thing you must do is to play the ball at right pace. Have the ball run through your legs and instantly turn the ball to beat your direct opponent.

A soccer training video will not only teach you how to develop soccer skills in general, but it will also pave the path for you to have perfection in a particular skill by watching it again and again.

Obviously, you will have to practice. Nothing is achieved without effort, desire and dedication. So practice a little... and then practice some more! Watch a youth soccer drill video as an example and then try to implement your own youth soccer drills and variations.

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Sunday, October 21, 2007


Youth Soccer Coaching - How To Reduce Injury Risks

As a youth soccer coaching essential element, you cannot prevent injuries completely from occurring. You're not "God" and I think you agree that it's not in your hand. But there are certain precautions and steps that you can take in order to reduce injury risks.

Try to incorporate the following things with the soccer practice session and it will possibly keep your players away from the most common injuries:

Tip 1: Make sure that you implement a soccer conditioning program with every training session. This kind of program should focus on building muscle strength for the young players.

Tip 2: You must have your players do some stretching soccer exercises on a daily basis.

Tip 3: Instruct your players that all of them have to wear properly fitting shoes.

Tip 4: Suggest a well-balanced diet to your players, which could nourish their muscles.

Tip 5: Whether it is a training session or a game itself, you must have your players go for a warm up session.... ALWAYS!

Remember that your task as a soccer coach also includes recognizing an injury when it happens, stabilizing the same as best you can, and summoning medical assistance if required.

Regarding youth soccer coaching, it is vital for the coaches to be well prepared beforehand for any kind of emergencies as and when it appears.

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Saturday, August 25, 2007


Youth Soccer Drills - How To Strike A Soccer Ball

It is important that the players learn the correct way to strike a ball. The right way of striking the ball is something that can make the ball to go straight in the air with velocity. It is the duty of any youth soccer coach to teach the players about this technique in a correct way.

One of the best methods that the coaches can use to show this technique to the players is to show them NFL place kickers or MLS goalkeepers taking a goal kick. However, these soccer techniques can be listed as follows:

The players must keep in mind that the ball should be out of their feet. The obvious reason is that they will not be able to kick the soccer ball over distance if it is underneath them. The player’s approach must be slightly from the side.

A long hop or driving step is the final step, which places the support foot alongside the ball. The coaches should teach the players that their support foot must point towards the target. What is more, head must be steady, and eyes must be on the ball. Further, the player’s left hand should point at the target.

Coaching youth soccer drills is an important task and it must be taught the correct way.

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Youth Soccer Drills: Receiving The Ball

When it comes to teaching youth soccer drills, there are several things that the coaches need to keep in mind while giving soccer lessons to the players during.

  • Receiving The Ball

It is essential that all soccer coaches keep in mind that regarding youth soccer coaching, there are several key teaching points in receiving the ball. These key points are as follows.

1. The coach must teach the players about how to get in the line of flight of the ball.

2. The players should learn to present the body part to the ball the right and the impressive way.

3. One of the most important things for the coaches is to teach the players that they must have their eyes on the ball at the moment of contact.

4. The coach should teach the players that they should cushion the body part while receiving the ball, just as if they are as in catching an egg.

These are some guidelines you should follow when teaching youth soccer drills. Feel free give them a try and implement them in training, and don't forget to post your feedback and comments.

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Friday, August 17, 2007


2 Soccer Drills For Youth - How To Be More Aggressive In Soccer

Aggression plays an important role in soccer drills for youth. Here are some of the soccer coaching techniques that can help improve aggressiveness in youth players:

1. Protect Drill

This effective method can improve the drilling soccer skills of the players largely and requires the players to work one on one. The coach should have one player stand next to a ball, having his feet shoulder width apart.

Now, have another player stand on the outside shoulder of the first player. The main task of the second player is to get his foot on the ball, by any means necessary. The job of the first player is to keep balance, protect the ball, and respond to open aggressiveness by a defender.

2. Getting Closer

The setup is the same, as they require in the above method for protecting the ball. There are two players. The only difference is that the main task of the player furthest from the ball to try to wedge his body between the inside player and the ball any way he can.

Try these soccer drills for youth and send me some feedback.

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Teaching Youth Soccer Coaching Drills Properly

Here are some good practice tips that can be used when teaching youth soccer coaching drills:

Tel them to intentionally muff, drop or parry any shots. In this method, it is not prudent to use your regular goalkeepers. If you do so, the regular goalkeeper will only catch the bad habit of parrying or muffing shots.

The attacker who is ready to shoot knows that the “bad” keeper will drop the shot somewhere in front of the net. Now, this is the catch. The main objective of the attacker here will be to put that muff into the goal.

  • Going To The Goal Every Time The Players Shoot
This is an important soccer coaching tip. Some attackers are skillful but lazy and they have the tendency to watch their shots when they “know” that the shot is going in. This most of the times results in missing the opportunity to score when the ball hits the posts or bar or is batted down by the keeper.

Whenever an attacker takes a shoot, that attacker should have three seconds after shooting to enter the goal and touch the net. If he does not do so, the goal should be disallowed. Once the players make it a habit, the defenders will learn to count out-loud at every shot.

This does not improve perfection in hitting the goals in the players, but it also teaches the defenders to follow up and clear missed shots.

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Wednesday, July 11, 2007


Coaching Soccer Drills Effectively

When you're coaching soccer drills, there is variety of fun, yet effective ways to teach the players about the same. These methods will not only improve the soccer practice attendance but your team will also play better and win more games. One of such methods is dribbling across a square.


  • Dribble Across A Square (U-6 and Up)

    This is the best way to teach dribbling and how to use the bottom of the foot, the inside & outside of the foot to stop the ball, and turn. This is something that the U6-coaches must read and learn about. This method will effectively teach the players how to dribble in traffic.

    As per this method, first, make the square 5 or 6 adult steps wide. Now tell the players just to dribble across and stop. Do not let them turn and dribble back. The moment they have all dribbled across, have them all face inward and dribble back across to the opposite side and stop.

Coaching soccer drills can be rewarding if you make it fun and interesting.

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Wednesday, July 4, 2007


Youth Soccer Drills - Receiving The Ball

There are several things that the coaches need to keep in mind while giving lessons to the players during youth soccer drills:

  • Receiving The Ball

When it comes to teaching soccer, there are several key teaching points in receiving the ball. These key points are as follows. The coach must teach the players about how to get in the line of flight of the ball. The players should learn to present the body part to the ball the right and the impressive way. One of the most important things for the coaches is to teach the players that they must have their eyes on the ball at the moment of contact. The coach should teach the players that they should Cushion the body part while receiving the ball, just as if they are as in catching an egg.

In general, effective youth soccer drills are very important to improve the soccer skills of your players.

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