If you sport the same attitude like I do, you’ll have absolutely not problem getting to understand the value of soccer practice games when compared with drills. Firstly, it’s imperative that kids are more focused on acquiring the skills and working upon them to better their movement with the ball. But there are certain points that you must check when they advance in their soccer training.
As has already been talked about earlier, kids get an opportunity to develop their own special playing style with having fun when divided into groups. First and foremost, the kids must get the freedom to decide on various issues concerning them and this is possible only when the size of the group is small.
This way your kids find a lot of open space to move in the field, get to touch the ball many more times, and feel responsible for their decisions as the number of players in quite less in the group.
However, as players get accustomed to smaller groups and their skills improve, it is time to make some variations. You should now introduce progressions in soccer practice games. What it implies is that you should add more players, the rules should be made stricter, and the games be played in larger fields. You should also introduce more complex strategies that focus on not just player’s skills but also the larger team objectives.
There is something that I’d like to mention here and it calls for your special attention. A majority of coaches tend to put too much pressure on kids to make them ready to play live tournaments very early in time. Please remember that shortcuts don’t work here. It won’t help you to mechanize the process here as it does in soccer drills. It must progress in a natural way slowly.
The objectives may not be met if you rush with things, make a lot of rules, and expose kids to a lot of knowledge soon enough. This obstructs their process of learning and growth.
As the kids make a transition from small groups to large ones, they should instill in themselves a sense of camaraderie. It is vital to understand this change from developing your own skills to using these skills to make the team win.
At this stage, along with games, it also becomes important to hold regular discussions and team meetings. Remember that the players now understand soccer and various techniques and positions. So it would be a capital mistake to undermine their assessment skills in soccer exercises.
When you involve them in the decision making, it makes them responsible and they share their thoughts more openly.
The games should now challenge their thoughts about how to win matches. If they start believing in team spirit while playing matches, you have done marvelously as a coach.
Now make good use of this learning in your plan. Soccer practice games make for a valuable tool in soccer training and you must create them in a way so that they help the kids make natural progress. sJoin our youth soccer coaching community to gain more knowledge on such games and strategies.
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 Practice.
Tags: soccer drills, soccer exercises, Soccer practice games, soccer training