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Friday, February 19, 2010


Kids Soccer Drills - Winning Tactics For Youth Soccer Coaching



In conducting kids soccer drills, there is always someone to guide you all the time, no matter where you are. Don’t fret. Coaches all over the world face this situation where everyone gets to them with a tip or trick. The problem is that these tricks are unreliable and haven't been tested. As such, it is really boring and a wastage of time to listen to such stupid suggestions.

It’s very important for the coaches to take youth soccer drills sincerely. It’s obvious that you must make use of only such methods that sound practical and are already tested. Mentioned below are some effective ways to help you convey instructions to the players.

Be very specific in your instructions. The biggest mistake coaches make is to mix a lot of instructions in one session alone. This not only results in confusion for the kids but hampers their learning. When the kids don’t understand the instructions, they cannot perform as required, and therefore feel frustrated. It’s therefore failure on your part as a coach.

So, devise a plan. Include a limited and clear cut lessons in it. These instructions should be easy to understand and even easier to execute. In soccer drills for kids, doing individual training sessions is also possible. It therefore gets simple for the kids to understand the game’s fundamentals. It also gives them a feeling that they belong to the team.

But it’s important for you to include both individual and group activities in the training sessions because soccer is a team game.

Keep the training sessions short in kids soccer drills. If the sessions are too long, the kids will lose all interest in the game and also feel weary. Short and simple is the key here. Preferably, keep the duration within 2 hours. All this time, keep the kids involved with drills and games that are fun and keep the interest alive.

While imparting soccer drills for youth, make the kids progress from simple to advanced drills slowly. You will learn that all the kids pick up skills at different degrees. Some learn quickly, others take time. There is no problem with it. If you need to divide them into groups to make training more consistent, even that is acceptable. What is not right is to either rush through the sessions or penalize the slow learners.

Know that boys play soccer because they want to enjoy it. It is the key to help them learn the game while they enjoy playing it.

To conclude, soccer drills should focus on controlling the ball, passing, receiving, dribbling, shooting and so on. You can always include a variety in drills but the important thing to note is that the attention always remains on soccer.

Have faith in me! When you use these tips in kids soccer drills, you will be surprised at the pace at which the kids learn. Our youth soccer coaching community will empower you with great deal of knowledge on soccer coaching tips and techniques. Join today and benefit from it.


Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in Kids Soccer Drills and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. To explode your players' skills and make training fun, download your free Youth Soccer Drills ebook at: Youth Soccer Drills.


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Thursday, February 18, 2010


Kids Soccer Drills - Winning Tactics For Youth Soccer Coaching




It seems like every time you turn your head, there is someone to advice you on how to conduct kids soccer drills. You’re not the only one. Almost all coaches have to handle situations like these where they receive tips and tricks for free. The problem is that these tricks are unreliable and haven't been tested. So it becomes all the more irritating to hear such nonsense.

Youth soccer drills is serious business and it is imperative that coaches take it seriously. Only when you are confident of the practicality and purposeful application of the technique, use it. Following lessons shall aid you in finding the right way of imparting instructions to the kids.

Be very specific in your instructions. It’s a bad idea to impart too many instructions in a single session. This not only results in confusion for the kids but hampers their learning. When the kids don’t understand the instructions, they cannot perform as required, and therefore feel frustrated. It’s therefore failure on your part as a coach.

So, devise a plan. Incorporate in it a few clear cut orders. These orders should not only be simple to understand but easy to perform as well. With soccer drills for kids, it is easy to conduct individual sessions also. This way, kids get to learn the basics of soccer very easily. It helps them to assimilate with the team with a feeling that they form an important part of it.

However, you must not forget that soccer being a team activity, your practice sessions must be a perfect blend of group and individual activities.

Do not keep the training sessions very long in kids soccer drills. If it is otherwise, it is probable that the interest of the kids is lost and they are also tired. Short and simple is the key here. In an ideal world, such a session should not be more than a couple of hours. During this time, include a lot of drills and fun games that sustain the interest of the kids.

When you are teaching soccer drills for youth, keep the progress slow between basic to advanced drills. You will learn that all the kids pick up skills at different degrees. Some learn quickly, others take time. That is OK. If it requires that you divide the boys into batches to make things even, it is good enough. What is not right is to either rush through the sessions or penalize the slow learners.

Understand that kids play soccer for the love of it. It is crucial that you make them learn while enjoying the game.

To conclude, soccer drills should focus on controlling the ball, passing, receiving, dribbling, shooting and so on. You can always include a variety in drills but the important thing to note is that the attention always remains on soccer.

Believe me! As soon as you start to apply these tips to kids soccer drills, you will see how quickly the kids understand the game. Our youth soccer coaching community provides several resources on youth soccer such as articles, videos, newsletters etc. Become a member today and get the leading edge.


Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in Kids Soccer Drills and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. To explode your players' skills and make training fun, download your free Youth Soccer Drills ebook at: Youth Soccer Drills.


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Tuesday, February 16, 2010


Kids Soccer Drills: Secrets Revealed




You must be aware of the fact that in kids soccer drills, it’s essential for the kids to have great fun in playing the game. Make sure you plan and carry out the drills in a fashion that results in increasing their interest.

Youth soccer drills are usually simple to improvise but really tough to carry them out. The tips given below will allow you to derive maximum advantage from the training sessions. It’s a good idea to make the kids learn soccer by making them practice it regularly.

1. Include practice game as well as drills in the training sessions. It would be rational to ensure a fine balance of drills and games that concentrate on thinking, agility, and pace.

2. Keep a close watch on the actions and ensure that one and all are participating. When in the sports ground, it’s not required to have individual equipment for each drill. This leads to time wastage. In order execute drills, select simple or disk cones as a substitute.

3. It’s very important to ensure that there are maximum contacts made using the ball in one day or session. You will be bale to make out their weaknesses and strengths by observing their play and tackling of the ball. As a result you will be able to make individual assessment.

4. When coaching soccer drills for kids, the technique should be your centre of focus. To avoid the players from getting used to wrong practices, it’s necessary that they practice using the correct technique. Additionally, it’s wise to keep the lectures short so that kids remain interested in it.

Usually, with kids soccer drills, what happens is that kids are full of energy but when the pre-session briefing is long, they tend to loose that momentum. As a coach, this can prove to be costly. So keep your instructions short and simple.

5. Choose the exercises that put some strain on the kids. In addition, try to recreate a scenario where the kids feel that they are playing in a real match. This will help them get accustomed.

6. The best way to take soccer drills for youth is to create teams out of groups and have them compete with each other. This develops team spirit, sense of winning, and brotherhood.

7. Pen down the performances of the players both on the team level as well as individually. Gauge the factors such as time, heath, and team spirit between players which affect the team performances.

8. Make it certain that there is no bad blood between players due to competition. How do you accomplish this? There is no need for drills that knock out players. This causes dejection among the players. In these drills, everyone does well and wins. This keeps them on a high, psychologically.

9. It is good to have a ball for each player. This is vital due to the fact that the kids need to practice with the ball a lot.

10. Ultimately, it is about keeping the exercises simple and straight forward so that kids find them interesting and when that happens, you’ve done well as a coach.

Now, make these kids soccer drills work for you. In order to be more resourceful, full of knowledge, and gain tips and techniques, enroll for our youth soccer coaching community.


Andre Botelho is the author of "The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide" and he's an expert in the subject of Kids Soccer Drills. To explode your players' skills and make coaching fun in less than 29 days, download your free Youth Soccer Drills guide at: Kids Soccer Drills.


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Thursday, February 11, 2010


Kids Soccer Drills: 5 Ways To Plan Drills

If there is something common between all coaches, it is the fact that they are all under pressure to design an effective kids soccer drills system. It can include training sessions, parent-coach interactions, and then using them to create world class players.

This is a common confusion when you teach soccer drills for kids; you know techniques that are less likely to be successful with the young players. You have scanned through books for drills that are not worthy or been through videos that do not contain any practical instructions for the kids.

Here's the key. What should be done before constructing a house? It is to ensure that the base is well-built. In soccer drills for youth, the basis is the physical fitness. If you are looking to coach your team in a way that they get the basics right, then this article is for you.

While coaching youth soccer drills, you must make it a point to prepare for the sessions in advance. It is a good idea to decide the training drill a week in advance. This also ensures that the training sessions are without any hassles. Put down the plan on a piece of paper so that you can reference it when required.

The secret recipe for developing a champion team is very simple. Kids soccer drills must be a pleasure for the kids. Scoring, dribbling, and shooting make up for enjoyable exercises. To be on the field with a gang of other kids running around in the playing field is a lot of fun. If the players fall in love with something, they do it again and again.

For instance, players will never clean their rooms unless they are forced to. But on the other hand, you don't have to fight with them to play more video games and you don't have to ask them time and again to eat more sweets or watch their favorite movies. Anything that kids enjoy, they’ll do it at every opportunity.

We know that one has to practice regularly to get good at something. Practice it a lot. It is near impossible to motivate kids to practice soccer unless they find it interesting. More importantly, when they don’t practice soccer regularly, their performance wouldn’t improve.

It is therefore very important that the drills are carefully selected because how you design your training sessions will have a direct influence on their interest in soccer. You must design the training sessions with the objective of arousing kids interest in the game by way of training sessions.

This accounts for the best method to manage kids soccer drills. Besides, there can never be a pre-determined game plan for a team. You should always attempt to try out now things. So you’ve got yourself equipped with the thought of designing drills that kids can enjoy. For more such tips and resources, become a member of our youth soccer coaching community.

Andre Botelho is known online as "The Expert Youth Soccer Coach" and his free Kids Soccer Drills ebooks and reports have been downloaded more

than 100,000 times. To skyrocket your players' skills and make practice fun in record time, download your free subsilo ebook at: Soccer

Coaching
.


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Monday, February 8, 2010


Kids Soccer Drills: A Guide To Planning Soccer Drills

The similarity between all the coaches is that they find it difficult to create an effective kids soccer drills system. It might comprise of many things such as practice sessions, involvement of the parents and so on and then using them to create good soccer players.

This is a general dilemma when you coach soccer drills for kids; you've learned techniques which have little or nothing to do with the kids you are coaching. You have been through books that have drills that do not benefit anyone or seen videos that do not contain anything to teach to young kids.

Here’s the solution! What should be the first thing to do before starting a house? It is to ensure that the base is well-built. In soccer drills for youth, this base is strong physical well-being. If you are looking to build a great team that enjoys soccer and has the basics right, ensure that you skim through this entire article.

When coaching youth soccer drills coach you must always find time to plan and prepare your practice sessions. It is advisable to finish the planning of training sessions in advance. This will bring about a regularity bin the training sessions. Your practice plan should be a single page containing short notes for ready references.

It is no big deal to create a champion team. Kids soccer drills should be enjoyable. Drills such as dribbling, scoring, and shooting are fun to do. Kids enjoy a lot being with fellow players on the soccer field playing around with soccer balls. If kids love to do something, its natural that they would do it more and more.

For example: you have to force your kids to clean their room because it isn't entertaining for them. But on the other hand, you don't have to fight with them to play more video games and you don't have to ask them time and again to eat more sweets or watch their favorite movies. The kids will not let go of any chance to do what they enjoy doing.

It’s a well known fact that practice is what leads us to master any skill. You need a lot of practice. If your kids don't enjoy soccer, then they won't like to go out to play the game and practice. Consequently, if they fail to practice the game on a regular basis, they wouldn’t progress.

So carefully choose the drills because the way you devise your practice sessions will directly impact kid’s interest in the game. Attempt to organize your practice sessions in such a way that kids look forward to these sessions.

This accounts for the best method to manage kids soccer drills. Also, no single strategy applies to all the one team at all times. You should always attempt to try out now things. Now you know what it takes to plan drills for kids and making them fun and exciting. Take advantage of the information available at our youth soccer coaching community by becoming a member.


Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in Kids soccer drills. 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 Drills guide visit: Soccer Training Drills.


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Tuesday, November 3, 2009


Soccer Coaching Tips: How To Make The Right Moves



Let's face it, without expert soccer coaching tips; it is difficult for your players to master the soccer skills. If the team gets to the field without knowing even the basic moves, they are very likely to have a tough time dominating the other side. Here are 3 fundamental yet powerful maneuvers that will keep your team in total control of the game.

Dribbling: In a soccer practice drill, it is the first and foremost move a coach must teach his players. The trick of moving the ball all over the field to keep it away from the other side is called dribbling. Players must try to keep the ball with them for a maximum time to take be in charge of the game. It is important to learn critical tricks like thrusting the ball and use of the sole of the foot in driving the team towards victory. Educate the team members of the consequences of dribbling a lot when any colleague is in close proximity to them. It is a good idea to practice with a ball that is small in size to enhance ones ability to find out an advantageous position in the game. Use soccer coaching tips and add to your chances of developing experts in dribbling.

Push passing: It is referred as the natural ability of the players in addition to long pass. Whereas in dribbling, the player keeps the ball to himself, passing helps the players attack the opponent team through passing of the ball from one player to another towards the goal post. The method of transiting the ball is called push passing and it is the most admired talent. This is why almost every player uses it. Tell your kids to maneuver the ball in such a way that they can strike it in the middle using the inside of their feet. Also, passing the ball to your nearest teammate is always appropriate. It should be a coherent feature of the football coaching drills.

Long Passing: There are situations when the players may be scattered all over the field. In such a case, the player with the ball will need to execute a long pass to pass the ball to his teammate. To achieve this, make the players keep the ball at a certain angle and position their feet behind the ball in a fashion so that they can kick the ball while keeping it low and with full force. You must ensure that when the ball is passed, the foot follows in the same direction in which the ball is intended to be passed. Kids soccer practice sessions should majorly concentrate on this and push passing.

This is it! These soccer coaching tips are basic and yet pillars of an effective game plan on the field. It is impossible to display a match-winning performance without perfecting these skills. For more on such moves and strategies as well as sharpening your coaching skills, join our youth soccer coaching community where we provide several articles, tips, and techniques.

Andre Botelho is known online as "The Expert Youth Soccer Coach" and his free soccer coaching tips ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players' skills and make training fun in record time. Download your free soccer coaching ebook at: http://www.soccerdrillstips.com - Youth Soccer Training Drills.

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Saturday, October 31, 2009


Soccer Coaching Tips For Power-Packed Performances

A youth soccer coach can always benefit from soccer coaching tips. The reason is that learning never stops and there is always room for improvement as far as making the drills interesting for kids goes. Understand that you can make the soccer training drills motivating in several forms.

• Make a list of weekly drills: Planning is the key to fruitful training sessions. It is important to figure out the drills that the kids shall be carrying out through the week. Share this with the players so that they know what to expect and are prepared mentally as well as physically. Allocate time between different drills so that you are able to identify whether the activities are bringing desired results. It is essential that you know where your kids stand in terms of their physical and mental attributes and when you know it, how to go about improving their weak areas.

• Warming up is essential: It is now well known among the sporting fraternity that warm-up session before soccer fitness training is a must. Without these, the players are at a higher risk of injuries and cramps, which in some cases can be extremely serious. These sessions need not be extensive or carefully planned. Even as little as a light jog or playing with the ball will warm up their bodies and also make their soccer skills sharper.

• Introduce variety in your drills: One of the surest ways to make players disengaged from practice sessions is repeating the same drills over and over again. One of the best soccer coaching tips is to keep the kids focused and help them enjoy each session. It is important that you keep the drills as diverse as possible. You can make them do different activities such as jogging sessions, biking, or weight/fitness training in addition to their regular drills. You do not need to practice this for every single player. It is a great idea to make groups and encourage the kids to outdo each other in performances.

• Keep the groups small: As a youth soccer coach, when you are training a lot of players at the same time, it is important to divide them into small groups. This has immense benefits. It becomes way easier for you to monitor the kids, give them individual attention and also helps them share things with each other. It is important to ensure that every group remains focused on their drills and therefore, you should give each group their own exercises. It will keep the kids happy and also benefit from the drills.

• Make your kids stretch after workouts: Stretching is usually missing from the training schedules but it must be understood that it is the most important. Coaches must convince the players to stretch because it will help them. Stretching opens up your body, makes it more supple and the heart gets back to normal.

As a coach, it must be your goal to turn soccer fitness training an enjoyable experience for your kids. These soccer coaching tips will help your kids make great use of their skills and also enjoy the drills. If you would like to know more about soccer training, join our youth soccer coaching community. By using these resources, you will ensure a rising career for yourself as well as make soccer training a unique experience for your team.

Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in soccer coaching tips. He's the creator of the "Ultimate Soccer Drills System" and influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching style. To download your free soccer coaching guide visit: http://www.soccerdrillstips.com - Youth Soccer Coaching Drills.

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Wednesday, September 24, 2008


Coach Youth Soccer: Stick To The Fundamentals

You want to coach youth soccer with the sole objective to build a winning soccer team, but that is possible, only if you work on a proper strategy and keep in mind certain factors associated with the same.

• The secret to coaching youth soccer drills is nothing, but just to stick with the basics. If you are following the fundamentals, while teaching soccer to your players, you are simply making your task much easier.

• While you are training your soccer players, your basic approach must be to keep the lectures short and let the players do more. This acts as a very strong motivation and helps you keep the interest alive in your players.

• Feedback is important, but make sure that you are not giving lengthy and boring feedback. Keep it short and to the point. Do not try to criticise much on your players’ mistakes, as it may work against your efforts and may demodulate the players.

• Whatever you do, it is very important for you to understand that you have to communicate, keeping in mind the specific age group of the players.

• What is more, since you have to coach youth soccer, you also need to communicate effectively, with the parents of your players.

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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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Sunday, September 9, 2007


Soccer Coaching - Offensive Positioning System

In teaching youth soccer, there are important aspects to consider regarding soccer coaching. One is to teach about the offensive strategies.

Offensive Positioning System

One of the best and most effective positioning systems is the four-four-two system. As a soccer coach, you should keep in your mind the following when forming your team.

  • Defense: use largest players.
  • Midfield: use those players who have impressive crossing ability.
  • Upfront: use the fastest players of your team.

When it comes to soccer coaching drills, note that this is no hard and fast rule, but such formations usually work and eventually increase the chances of winning a match. If such a formation of your team is not working, you may go ahead and utilize the following formation, based on the size of the players.

At the back: Largest Players
Midfield: Fastest Players
Upfront: Smallest Players

When it comes to soccer coaching, when you put players with small heights upfront, it can be very helpful when your team is looking for a penalty or a free kick. This is because it has been observed that referees are usually on the side of players with little heights.

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Monday, August 27, 2007


Coaching Youth Soccer - Heads Up Dribbling & Ball Closer Dribble

Coaching youth soccer requires that you train your players to attempt for the ball only when they have enough room with it. The players should not say, “It’s mine”. Rather, they should mark it out clearly. For example, they can call their own name, such as “John’s call” or “John’s ball”.

  • Keeping Their Heads Up: Cone Head

Here's an effective dribbling technique, in which you have to get your players put cones on their head. Once the cone is on their head, have them dribble the soccer ball, but only within the twenty-into-twenty square area. A thorough soccer practice of the same will help your players learn to control the ball and dribble the same quite effectively.

  • Playing The Ball Closer: Controlling Dribble

Playing while keeping the ball closer maximizes the chances of your team’s winning a match. In order to have your players learn these soccer skills, it is always a great idea to break your players into small groups, such as groups of four or five. Now, let these small groups of players to race by dribbling the ball to the end of the field and then back to the starting point.

The above dribbling techniques are quite simple to implement but very effective. Coaching youth soccer can be fun if keep on innovating and keep on motivating the players. They will enjoy the game more and you'll be a happier coach.

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Sunday, August 26, 2007


Coaching Youth Soccer - Dribbling

Sometimes coaching youth soccer is not easy, and in order to train the players efficiently, it's important to train the players using the various dribbling soccer techniques. Remember that if you want your team on the winning side, you must have your players keep their feet moving.

Fast Way To Enhance Dribbling - Barefoot

This is one of the quickest ways to improve the dribbling skills of your players or kids. As per this method, you have to get your players play the usual dribbling around ten cones, but make sure that the players are doing so barefoot – no shoes, no socks. If playing barefoot causes any kind of problem, you can let them try with socks.

Teaching When, Where And How - Calling For The Ball

You should teach your players the right time and the right way to call the ball. When it comes to calling the ball, the right time is just before when the opponent player is about to pass the same and when your player is about to attempt for the ball.

Try to implement some of this soccer coaching tips in training and send me some feedback. Good Luck!

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