Even though I’m not very sure about how you work, I’d still like to discuss some simple yet effective teaching techniques in coaching soccer drills before you start your practice sessions. During soccer practice, focus on a specific objective like kids must have loads of fun in the game as it benefits both the coach and the players.
At this point, it’s important to stay alert or else you’ll get distracted by other things. I therefore recommend that you decide on more specific objectives for yourself and your soccer team. Some examples are; focus on player’s individual soccer skills, promote the importance of their physical fitness, and help them grow into mature, professional, and sporting soccer players.
You, being the coach are solely responsible to set high standards for sportsmanship. Cheer them to have an attitude of fair play, sportsmanship, and team spirit. When teaching soccer, you have the option to include any number of relevant objectives along with the ones stated above.
The theory of winning is one concept that I’d like to stress upon when it comes to coaching youth soccer. When you coach your kids, you must instill an open concept of winning in their minds. Make them understand that so long as their play is up to the mark, they are the winners, irrespective of the final outcome.
This ultimately takes away all the unnecessary pressure off the players and enables them to play their original game by carefully following the strategy.
In coaching soccer drills, make sure that your instructions are very precise for them to be effective. Before you start coaching your team, educate your players on some specific do’s and don’ts in the game of soccer. The dissimilarity between coaching and teaching lies in the fact that coaching is concerned with a group of players who are already familiar with the game to a certain extent.
In coaching drills, it’s best to give the players 5 or 6 fine demonstrations of some specific skill and then let them perform it themselves. This is because young players generally do not respond to oral instructions very well. If you endeavor to explain in instructions, they will not understand it. Rather they are pretty good at imitation.
Hence, make it an imperative exercise to give a demonstration at every possible opportunity.
In the end, but still important is to keep the kids involved in several activities. This is all the more important when it rains or the weather is extremely cold. It’s a fact that all kids love to play in the rain. Therefore, in place of cancelling the training session, rearrange it in a way that the players make the most of their energy and time.
Just make sure that in a situation like this, your kids have an extra layer of clothing and proper footwear.
Move forward now and start using these tips to your training sessions. You will be astonished to see the results.
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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: Coaching soccer drills.
Tags: coaching drills, coaching soccer drills, Soccer practice, teaching soccer