Here's a really simple way to explain soccer practice; there is no set rule. You have the option to create drills based on your imagination and experience. Along with this, remain alert of every small thing happening around you to identify such practices that can be changed to match your schedule. These are some tips that can be helpful in conducting a fruitful soccer training calendar.
Put together some flexible plans. It’s natural that not all plans will bring results as per the desired outcome. The reason could be your bad health, kids not in a mood to show up, or ill-times rains. So be ready to face these situations with full force since they have the capacity to ruin your plans.
Try and arrange for a lot of soccer practice games ready with you. There would be few that prove to be useless and therefore get rid of them to go to next. Involve yourself in the training with an open mind to find out activities that kids can easily relate with.
Let the kids warm up their body prior to each session. Make soccer ball an added feature in the usual warm up drills that kids practice on a daily basis. Introduce some nice exercises such as an interesting game called Fetch. It’s a game wherein the coach begins with throwing the ball to the player and gets it in return by the player using one or both the feet.
Along with this, the kids can also be made to roll the ball using their feet, kick it backward and forward among the feet. There are loads of soccer drills like this that players use to warm up.
Every player needs to have soccer ball for himself. And in this case, come up with exciting individual games that require use of the ball. They should practice, shooting, dribbling, hitting the ball to the wall etc. You should see that no lines are involved and the movement remains as free as possible.
In soccer coaching, group activities should happen after the individual activities are done with. There are two amazing drills for practicing; passing and receiving the ball. It is essential that the kids behave as a team in group activities. As a rule, kids naturally take good amount of time from moving on to group from individual and thus adjusting to the notion of team play. You need to act like a leader at this stage. Stress on the fact that it’s each other’s support in the team that will help win matches.
In addition to this, guide the weak players suitably so they feel the need to be teamed up. Such activities encourage brotherhood and team spirit.
Allow the kids to play in teams, the game of soccer not including a goalkeeper. Have them hit the goals and do not set boundaries for this game. In addition, tell them to first attack and then defend. This lets them experiment on their own and play their natural style.
This is the simplest method to carry out a soccer practice. Just let go of your creativity and design methods that teach kids soccer in a natural way. The question of right or wrong drill doesn’t arise. The only thing to remember is to be flexible. Enroll for our youth soccer coaching community where you will find tons of resources on youth soccer and coaching.
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 practice.