Let’s face it! To coach youth soccer, it is a challenge to be creative and come up with innovative tips and techniques to train the kids. In teaching soccer, it is a huge stress to keep innovating new tricks to make soccer drills enjoyable for kids.
Here are some exercises that you can teach youth soccer players. These drills help the kids focus on the game, get good at soccer, and enjoy it to the core.
Engage the boys in dribbling and shooting: This is a simple practice that engages all the players. Have the kid’s line up on the single goal line. Now, disperse the balls all over the ground. Once done, tell the kids to play with the balls as if they are moving towards the opponent’s goal. They should also hit the ball as soon as they get a chance.
This workout helps the kids build their stamina, confidence and also improves their dribbling skills. Since the kids do not have any opposition while they dribble, it also brings out their individual style.
How to pass the ball: Ask the kids to stand in a line at a far-away corner of the field. Start counting till 3 and when you finish, order them to run to you as fast as they can. When they are running for you, they also have to capture the ball from the other player who has the possession of the ball. When you shout stop, the ball must be passed by the player who has it to someone else.
In order to coach youth soccer, these games help the kids display their abilities in passing and dribbling. At the same time, they learn the skill of clinching the ball from others which is also vital.
Touch and Go: It’s a very interesting game which kids love to play. The kids should get in two lines distant from the goal post which is less than 40 meters away. And in addition to this, the goalie should guard the goalpost. Position yourself anywhere amongst the two lines.
Pass the ball to either of the queue and with only one tap teach them to shoot or pass the ball to another. The idea is to translate the ball into a goal. Once the goalie returns the ball, carry on with the practice.
Swap your goalies in between the practice meetings if there are more than two goalkeepers. This game has the dual benefit of instilling team spirit and bettering the shooting skills. The goalie also gets to learn the art of keeping the ball away from goalpost.
Keeping the ball with you: Players get to learn the skill of moving ahead with the ball protecting it from the opposite team. Take two players, one acts as the defender and the other attacker. Now let them both play their roles in the field and the one who succeeds to take over another wins a point.
These happen to be the simplest methods to coach youth soccer. When you have your kids do these drills, they’ll not only learn but enjoy as well. You can connect to our youth soccer coaching community to get more of these tips and information.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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.