Soccer Footwork Drills

It is well known that in coaching soccer drills, every skill and teamwork imparted to the players has only 1 objective; to shoot the goal. It requires both skill and character to produce quality shooting. But apart from this, there is something else that is equally important and that is forceful attitude.

All the players must be involved in this but more importantly; it is up to the forward players to shoot the ball. When teaching soccer, give a lot of emphasis on shooting.

There are so many things that may be a consequence of shooting. Shots can be redirected into the goal. It is a possibility that the goalkeeper may very well drop the ball at the foot of your forward player. Rowdy shots can turn into accurate passes. Ground shots may bounce back. A goal might result out of a straight 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 known as sniffers in England. This is due to the fact that they are always on the lookout for scoring chances.

Soccer Coaching

They take every chance for a shot as if it is the last chance that they’ll ever get. They are always present when the opportunity is right. They always make the most of every situation even if it is not favorable. So in coaching soccer drills encourage your players to shoot the ball whenever possible.

As a general rule, any kick that causes the ball to go towards the goal is considered 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. While performing this, head of the player should be over the ball, his upper body be steady, and his toes should be extended.

In the course of coaching drills, teach your players to shoot the ball wide and low to the goalie. In such a scenario, high shots are less preferred that low ground shots. This is because goalies find it difficult to stop the ground shots as they have to stretch their hands relatively more.

While practicing with regulation sized goals, players get to score more by hitting the ball over and above the goalkeeper’s head. You must discourage your players to do this as it instills the habit of shooting high goals. This practice can be put to stop in coaching soccer drills by not allowing players to adult sized goals.

Now get out there and start teaching your players to look up once before they shoot the ball with a view to check the position of the goalkeeper.

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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.

If you think the way I do, I’m sure you’ll agree that in coaching soccer drills, zeroing down the best method to organize conditioning programs is by far the most difficult part. That’s probably because the similarity between coaching and educating the players has been getting some recognition in past few years.

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. The players must be taught about the game as a person along with their professional conditioning and training. There have been a number of situations where this educational facet of soccer has not been considered at all.

Still, we must not forget one theory on which the coaching drills for the layers should be based. A young player becomes an elite player of great renown only when he grows as an individual first and then as a soccer player. Therefore, the coach should act strictly as pre the above mentioned principle.

If we try to figure out something that cheers a former player to become a coach is pretty easy.
His desire to remain associated with the game even after his days as a team player are over. This is what makes some successful players take a plunge and become kid’s 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 look at this opportunity as a way to be able to share their passion for the game of soccer with the budding players. Theses reasons are both suitable as well as acceptable. But at the same time, the person should also be aware of the moral responsibility that his choice implies.

Communication is main aspect in coaching soccer drills, but unfortunately it’s very complicated for almost everyone to acknowledge. 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 some very important goals that a youth soccer coach needs to set for himself. Being a competent and skillful coach requires helping young players to love soccer and consider it as a positive and an exciting experience in their lives. During the soccer practice, a coach should ensure that the players can openly convey their feelings through the game.

All players in the team vary in terms of strength, style, and individual skills unique to them. What’s not important is that every player must possess the competence and talents of a great player. What is most important is that every single player must be able to reach his own ability ultimately.

This needs to be understood that every soccer player, no matter how skilled, renowned, and competent he may be, is not capable of coaching young players. He must possess a unique ability to connect easily with kids; a natural gift for individual contact and emotional relations.

Some food for thought; serious consideration of one’s real motivations should always be a precondition 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.

Before you get on with coaching soccer drills to kids, let me share with you some teaching ideas that are sure to help you, whether you agree or not. Work out a common objective for the team as well as yourself as a coach, for instance; during soccer practice the players must enjoy the game while they are a part of it.

At this point, it’s important to stay alert or else you’ll get distracted by other things. Consequently, identify such objectives that are particularly important for you as a coach and also equally important for the team. Some examples are; focus on player’s individual soccer skills, promote the importance of their physical fitness, and help them grow into mature, professional, and sporting soccer players.

When it comes to sportsmanship, the onus lies on you to set a high standard for the players. Encourage attitudes like fair play, team spirit, and sportsmanship. There are several objectives important in teaching soccer that can be incorporated in your list along with these.

One more concept that needs to be highlighted in youth soccer coaching is the notion of winning the match. Infuse an open concept of winning in your player’s minds when you are coaching them. Make it clear to the players that it is the level of their performance that makes them a winner no matter what the final decision is.

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. There are some clear dos and don’ts in soccer on which the players must be taught before you go ahead with your coaching sessions. The dissimilarity between coaching and teaching lies in the fact that coaching is concerned with a group of players who are already familiar with the game to a certain extent.

In coaching drills, it’s best to give the players 5 or 6 fine demonstrations of some specific skill and then let them perform it themselves. It is because kids have a tendency to learn quickly by watching than by listening. If you decide to give them plain instructions, they will not appreciate it very much. Rather they are pretty good at imitation.

So, as a general rule, demonstrate the skills yourself whenever possible.

Last but by no means the least; keep your players active with several purposeful activities. This holds even bigger importance when the weather is not conducive to a regular session. It is well known that the kids love playing in the rain. Hence, instead of simply cancelling the session, it makes more sense to have them play soccer games or something like that.

Ensure that in situations like these, the kids are wearing proper soccer gear as well as additional protection.

Go ahead and make these tips a part of your plan. You’ll be amazed to see the results.

To get more knowledge on coaching soccer drills, join our youth soccer coaching community that will help you get more of such immense knowledge.

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.

Would you be surprised if I let you know that it’s really tricky for the young players to kick the ball with a straight leg? In coaching soccer drills, it’d not just the players but also the coaches who have a problem here. The player keeps overall balance and the leg to be used to kick the ball is bent at the knee. Both posture and strength to kick the ball comes out from below the knee.

This is the preliminary position in soccer practice for almost all kinds of kicks. The increase of rate of the foot from below the knee puts together a powerful blow on the ball. This gives players the power to execute a variety of kicks. Nevertheless, it depends upon the type of contact that the ball has with the foot which concludes the kick’s style.

For example; it could be thumped very high, driven low, turn sharply to the left, or move to the right.

In soccer, the three critical passes are the instep drive, a side foot pass, and the outside of the foot pass. Let’s now discuss them some more.

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. Despite the fact that this is somewhat slow and predictable, it’s easy to learn and simple to execute. The ball touches the inside of the foot and the ankle with the foot turned outwards.

In coaching soccer drills, guide the players to keep their bodies totally relaxed throughout the entire movement. The most essential rule pertaining to various kicking action is this. Teach the players to stiffen their ankle and the foot only when they need to get into contact with the ball.

Once the players become confident, their overall action should seem relaxed, smooth and effortless.

Outside of the foot pass: This is a little difficult to learn but is extremely important to master because it is accurate, quick, and cannot be predicted. The ball makes a contact between the laces and the outside edge of the foot, when the foot is extended and turned inward. The pass is then transformed into a quick throw for short distances by using the foot.

In coaching drills, it’s imperative that the players maintain a comfortable posture.

The Instep Drive: Both the versions of instep drive i.e. the low driven version and the lofted version are brought into play to pass the ball over longer distances. There is also an option to adapt this style to make a “chip pass” or an “in swinging pass”. Since the approach of the instep drive is slightly angled and the non kicking foot is placed about 12 inches to the side of and behind the ball.

The ball makes a contact with the laces and inside of the foot, which should be firm and extended.

So, go forward and make the kids try different things with the ball by teaching them the basic kicking techniques as well its variations.

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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.