Lend me your ears even though you may differ with me on this. When it comes to soccer drills, it is important that kids are first trained on the basic skills of the game so that they can get a feel of the game. This soccer training should always come first in the training schedule before moving on to the more problematical aspects of training or the right approach to play the game.
As a coach, it becomes your responsibility to ensure that players begin with hitting the right chord. For this reason, coach your players on every important soccer skill forming the basis of the game. Given below are a few soccer basics which are essential for all prospective players to learn.
Training the players on dribbling and shooting skills: These are the two very basic skills that players must learn in the game. To become a successful player, these skills have a major role to play in their game. But, for teaching these soccer exercises, you should see that all preparations are made in advance.
Beginning from one end of the field, arrange all players in a straight line with a majority of players placed all over the soccer field.
After that indicate the players to kick off. They would then run onto the field, catch a ball with their foot, while dribbling and shooting it into a goal on the opposite end of the field. The players will improve on these two soccer drills soon after they continue practicing it on a regular basis.
Passing the ball and following directions: These are the two skills that help players to discover and practice unity in game. In the end, soccer is a team game that must be jointly shared by all the team members. It’ll be impossible for them to display team spirit if they don’t learn good quality passing skills or don’t understand simple directions.
For the purpose of teaching passing skills in the game and making them understand the guidelines, there is a really simple drill. In the beginning, make the entire team line up in a single row at one side of the field. One team member should be then made to stand in front of the row almost 5-10 feet away.
As soon as you tell them to start, the first player in the line will endeavor to grab the ball from remaining team mates on field. The moment you tell them to stop, the player with the ball should then pass it to the first one in row. This is a soccer practice that has the potential to teach the players the ability to listen and follow directions.
Handling the Ball: Being the coach, decide and take time to teach players how to handle the ball using other parts of their body besides their feet. This will result in players being more natural in their performance on the field. This can be done when players practice throwing the ball using their knees or head and to use their back to stop the ball.
Soccer drills like these help in developing players that become match winners and make their way to learning more difficult components of the game. You can get a ready access to tons of such information relevant to the game of soccer by registering yourself with our youth soccer coaching community. So join now!
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 drills.
