Soccer Drills and Practice Plans for your youth soccer team
The game revolves around the ball, and teams that pass well are usually dominant. Here are a few general passing concepts you can drive home with your players at your next soccer practice.
Eye contact- As you look to pass or even receive a pass, keep your head up, and your eyes on your teammates. Realize where the defenders are, and look for space for which to exploit. A lot can be said between teammates through body language that could not be said with words. Full awareness. For some reason, an image of Carlos Valderrama looking around, scanning the field just popped into my head.
Check to the ball- When you are being passed to, check to the ball. Being stationary and waiting for the ball to come to you is not acceptable come game time, so don’t let them do it at practice, either. Run drills that enforce the concept in practice, and drill the point home with your players.
Lead the receiver- Soccer players are always moving. When you make a pass, you pass to where the man is going, not where he has been. If you can’t lead someone with a pass because there is too little space, another option may be best. Don’t force passes, sometimes holding the ball or making a back pass is the right answer. Possession and high percentage passes is what we are after.
3 simple ideas that will translate to big results if you can get your players to implement them at practice time. Here is a drill from Coerver coaching that emphasizes all three:
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Proper shooting technique can make the difference between a simple scoring opportunity and a goal. Here are some coaching points to make with your youth soccer team as you work on shooting drills at practice.
Shoot Low- Low shots have the highest probability of sneaking into the goal, while high shots are easily picked off by the goaltender. Don’t get fancy with your shots, hit the ball with authority, and keep it low, preferably away from the goalie.
Toe Down, Head Down- Striking the ball with the laces, and keeping your toe and head down should lead to a low, hard shot. As your players work on shooting drills in practice, make this point, and correct them when they falter. Bad habits in practice bleed over into the game, and you want to avoid this at all costs.
Spontaneity- As a soccer fan, nothing gets me angrier than watching a player on my team electing to take another touch, instead of an early, unexpected shot. As a coach, I never get angry and instead focus on educating my players at practice.
I like to drive the point home with my players that I want them to shoot on the goal as much as possible, whenever the opportunity arises. The longer you wait before shooting, the more time the goalie has to adjust and cut off your angle.
Follow through- Once you take a shot, stay engaged. If the ball bounces off the goalie, get yourself in a position to fire it again into the back of the net. Good players create their own luck around the goal, and it all starts with good technique and creativity.
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There are several qualities required to be a top coach. You must first find and acknowledge your niche. Are you better with girls or boys, younger or older, beginners or advanced players? They all require different personality traits, but a significant amount of knowledge if you want to be successful.
There are specific characteristics attached to age groups and genders. You must familiarize yourself with them if you wish to be an effective teacher of the game. If you are serious about your craft you will find time to acquire your coaching license through the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) or the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). This will help you with the organization of your practice sessions. It will teach you what players of certain age groups should be learning, as well as how to teach it.
This is just the beginning. The acquisition of a coaching license does not make you a good coach. There are many bad drivers with a valid drivers license. There are many certified teachers, who cannot teach. You still have so much to learn through experience and observation of those who have been coaching longer than you. There will be good days and bad, but you must learn from them.
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You are in the business of developing players, so you must do your homework. Do not show up to practice unprepared. It helps to have a practice session in writing, but have a back up plan. What you have in mind may not materialize, because of attendance, mood of players, field space or equipment issues.
The coaching style you adopt can have an impact on your players. This can be good or bad. There are three distinct types of coaches. The first is driven by his/her ego. Everything revolves around him/her. They spend a great deal of time talking to/lecturing players. The players play out of fear of consequence, as opposed to freedom of expression or guided discovery. This coach takes a loss personally and is not receptive to criticism from other qualified coaches. This coach is a dictator
Then there is the complete opposite. The facilitator. No discipline, limited or no quality instruction, and the players run the practice. This coach is a buddy to the players, so by the end of practice nothing has been learned.
The third type is the coach we all want coaching our players. He/she is very knowledgeable and earns the respect of the players through quality instruction and demonstration. He/she understands that the game is player-centric, so sessions are designed to foster creativity, imagination and game intelligence. Interjection is limited, but relevant. Players are engaged from start to finish. He/she is firm but fair. The players enjoy practice, and play with a heightened level of enthusiasm.
The most difficult thing to do is probably the most important to becoming a good coach. The ability to critique yourself or have someone else critique your practice is key. Ask yourself the following questions; did I have a plan? Was there a flow to the practice? Did the players sustain the required level of interest and enthusiasm? Did my mood hinder or enhance the practice environment? Did I have a positive impact on the soccer behavior of my players? Training yourself to be a better soccer coach includes answering the hard questions.
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Throughout my soccer career, I came across a number of soccer coaches who all had different styles, ideas and personalities. At the pinnacle of any sport, especially soccer, the top teams of any league are separated by the smallest of percentages. On any given day, the bottom team can in fact beat the league leaders. So how do we distinguish between a good coach and a great coach?
Some of the characteristics needed to be a good soccer coach are
- Good Man/ Individual Management skills
- Good Communication Skills
- Eliminating team or club politics
- and a good set of tactics or vision.
The best coaches I’ve worked with simply had all the above boxes ticked and placed great emphasis on Man Management Skills and Communication.
A great soccer coach is able to control his team and get his message to the players as a group or on an individual level. Back in the good old days when i was a lot younger, the coaching styles were totally different to what we have today. In the past coaches used intimidation and installed fear into the players to get their message across. These coaches who used to rant, rave and intimidate players wouldn’t survive in today’s modern soccer.
The great soccer coaches of today get to know their players. They talk to them and try to wok out what makes this individual tick. How can i get the best out of this player? Today’s coaches are more like father figures, obviously the coaches who are poor in this area tend to struggle.
After spending many years in soccer, the conclusion I draw is that great coaches had the ability to change direction and challenge the status-quo. They were not set in their ways or their training methods. Also the coaches that stood out for me were the ones who had a great personality and remembered that life is always bigger than the game.
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2 Objectives of a Youth Soccer Coach
Developing Solid Individuals
Part of the job of being a soccer coach is bringing structure to your players. In today’s world of hectic scheduling and busy parents, some kids may spend more time with their soccer coach at practice then their parents. In my opinion many of today’s youth need more structure in their lives, and soccer coaches (especially on competitive teams) are in a great place to provide it.
When I am discussing structure, what I am really trying to get at is having a plan for practice and a system that players follow. I essentially mean managing time and using it effectively, as well as teaching players respect for the game, their opponents, referees, spectators and more.
I just got finished spending an entire weekend volunteering as a Field Marshall at a local competitive tournament. During the weekend I came into contact with a number of different teams and players and I must tell you, the differences between teams and coaches as it related to respect and class varied greatly. Some coaches have control of their teams, and players remained respectful. Other coaches were at a loss for controlling players, as the “inmates were running the asylum,” as the saying goes (literally, as this was a u-18/19 game).
It is hard to argue that as players get older, they tend to get a lot mouthier, a lot less respectful, and a lot harder to control, that is if their coaches let them get away with it. Some competitive coaches need to pay more attention to developing their players both on the soccer field and in the game of life. Instead of letting players act like prima donnas /smart mouths/punks, coaches should teach players that they are representing their league, club, town and ultimately their parents job raising them.
A lot of great youth soccer players have been treated by their coaches and their parents as if they were gods gift to the soccer world. No matter how good a soccer player is on the field, they are only as good as they are off of it. I have been around a lot of people over the years and the kids that showed these type of inclinations are destined to fail or face a serious attitude adjustment later on down the road.
Building a Team Consciousness
In competitive leagues, teams often stay together and play multiple seasons. This is often not the case with semi-competitive or recreation leagues, which makes it more difficult because your players have not necessarily played together in the past.
Building a team like atmosphere is important for the success of any soccer team and should be a priority for any coach. Players can learn best in a non-threatening and constructive environment where they will not be chastised or made fun of when they make a mistake. They will be most successful in a positive environment where they receive support from their coaches and peers.
I’ve found the best way to promote team play and to a certain extent friendship, is to force everyone to play together.
When you break off into small-sided drills, don’t let the kids pick the teams! Do it for them because you can split up “problems” and make sure the teams are fair. Force kids that don’t talk to each other much to play on the same team together. Eventually their relationship, and the team’s togetherness should improve.
Over the span of the season you will likely have a few conflicts between players. Players often attend the same schools, or have played together previously and come in with a prior relationship. Sometimes people don’t get along. Also, it is important to note that there is usually a pecking order among teenagers, especially boys.
As a coach, make sure this never manifests itself in practice. Do not let players criticize or pick on one another! If you notice any conflicts pull both boys aside, treat them as equals and make sure they squash it. Send them on a run together, and if one kid is picking on the other make sure that he knows that his actions are not tolerable. You want all of your players to feel comfortable when they come to practice because it will be more fun for them. If soccer is fun, they will more likely be able to learn and improve.
Team togetherness is arguably more important in soccer than any other sport. Do not underestimate its importance to your success as a head coach.
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