SoccerDrillBook.com is looking for youth coaches interested in writing about their experiences coaching soccer.

If you like you write, coach soccer, and want an instant audience for your thoughts, this is the perfect opportunity. You will be given a webpage within our webpage to host your articles, plus a bio section that will tell everyone about your team, coaching experience, career info and more! This can be a spring-board into writing your own soccer books if you are interested.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK #1 SOCCER BLOOPER VIDEO MISSED CHANCES, OWN GOALS, & ONE AMAZING HEADER

Whether your players like it or not, running & conditioning are major components of the game of soccer. Where two teams may be equally matched skill-wise, conditioning is often the deciding factor. Therefore, if you are serious about winning, you cannot neglect the importance of getting your team into shape.

While some coaches feel that playing the game of soccer involves enough running and conditioning on it’s own, the fact is that these coaches are wrong. Certain drills may minimize the running aspect too much, where real games will involve a more steady element of running. You should put considerable efforts into running conditioning specific drills, and spice up the other drills you run to emphasis regular amounts of movement.

Take the example of a full sided scrimmage versus a small-sided 4v4 game. In the full sided game, your players will run less and receive fewer touches on the ball. Instead, play on a reduced field size with fewer players so that each player will have to be more involved in the game, running more and taking more touches on the ball.

So, it is finally time for the first practice of the season. Time to dust off the old clip board, grab the cones, balls, and pennies and head off to the practice field for the first of many training sessions.

The question becomes, what will you do when you get there?

Will you be the type of coach that just shows up to practice, dumps the equipment on the field and scrimmages the entire time? Or, will you be the type that puts together a practice schedule that improves players abilities?

If you have previously coaches a successful team, you already know the importance of running a quality practices that keep players engaged in the game, and evolving their understanding. If you have coached in the past, but didn't like the results, chances are it is your practice plans.

If you either don’t have the time or knowledge to plan effective soccer practices, your players will suffer. In today’s highly competitive youth soccer environment, you owe it to your players to run quality drills at practice because it is the only way they are going to improve. Your best bet is to put some time and effort into studying the game, or find a solid coaching practice program that has done the work for you.

I recently picked up a few old coaching that I have had lying around, and it simply amazes me just how bad some of the drills are. Apparently, those writing the book were either concerned with quantity or quality, or they didn’t have a clue.

Since someone thought it a good idea to give them a publishing deal, I am assuming they knew a little about the game, and their drills suck because they were trying to just list as many as they could. To avoid the common pitfalls of drill books, pay attention to

Standing around is the least productive thing your players can do in practice. Rather than having extra players standing around waiting for their turn, start another group doing the same drill or a different drill all together. If extra players are unavoidable, have them juggle while they are waiting their turn.

The more touches your players get at practice, the better! If your drills have too much downtime, your players will not get enough touches on the ball, and they may get bored and loose interest. Good drills involve lots of action, little down time, and multiple touches on the ball.