Soccer training drills are fundamental to any youth soccer program. They build strength, speed, and agility, and also make good practice and warm-up exercises. Here are a few basic drills that are will help to improve your players' skills.
Shooting Drills
Learning to aim the ball correctly is essential to passing and shooting well. Each of these soccer training drills presents a great opportunity to work on shooting:
Players should always aim for the upper corners of the goal net when kicking, because these are the most difficult places for goalies to reach. To reinforce this idea, tie two ropes to the right and left corners of the goal, and let them hang straight. Instruct players to try to hit the ropes when they shoot the ball into the net. Have them practice this from several different positions around the goal. Station players on both the left and right sides of the field. Have another player dribble down the middle of the field and practice passing the ball to the stationary players. This shooting drill teaches players to aim while dribbling.
Dribbling Drills
Moving down the field quickly and efficiently requires steady control of the ball. To teach your players how to direct the ball's movement while dribbling, try some of these techniques:
Set up a line of cones (spaced three to four feet apart) down the length of the field. Instruct players to weave the ball in and out of the cones while dribbling. As they get better, time them and encourage them to pick up speed. Players who have difficulty with this drill should practice weaving in and out of the cones without the ball. Divide players into teams of three, and then have two teams compete against each other in a game of keep-away. This will give players practice with dribbling in a competitive, fast-paced setting.
Trapping Drills
Trapping movements help players to intercept and gain possession of the ball during play. These drills will teach players how to use different parts of their bodies to capture and control the ball:
Have players throw a ball into the air and then catch it with their chest and legs. They must then kick the ball into the air and catch it with their body again. The object of the game is to never let the ball hit the ground. Have a contest to see which player can keep the ball in the air the longest! Take your players to a nearby indoor gym, and have them practice trapping by throwing soccer balls against a wall. When the ball bounces back at them, they should catch it with their body and maintain control of it with their feet.
These basic soccer training drills are a great way to teach players the fundamentals of the sport. Aim for making them repetitive but fun, and you'll be sure to instill the proper playing techniques in your athletes.
Soccer Training Drills - Shooting, Dribbling, and TrappingCoaching youth soccer is a challenging task, and in order to train the players efficiently in an impressive manner, it is important for a coach to train the players using the various dribbling techniques. Remember that if you want your team on the winning side, you must have your players keep their feet moving.
It is one of the quickest ways to enhance the dribbling skills of your players when you are coaching youth soccer. As per this method, you have to get your players play the usual dribbling around ten cones, but make sure that the players are doing so barefoot - no shoes, no socks. If playing barefoot causes problem, you can let them try with socks.
It is very important for you to teach your players the right time and the right way to call the ball. When it comes to calling the ball, the right time is just before when the opponent player is about to pass the same and when your player is about to attempt for the ball.
When you are coaching youth soccer, train your players to attempt for the ball only when they have enough room with the ball. The players should not say, "It's mine". Rather, they should mark it out clearly. For example, they can call their own name, such as "Harry's call" or "Harry's ball".
This is a quite effective dribbling technique, in which you have to get your players put cones on their head. Once the cone is on their head, have them dribble the ball, but only within the twenty-into-twenty square area. A thorough practice of the same will help your players learn to control the ball and dribble the same quite effectively.
It is important for the coach to teach the players about how to play ball closer. Playing while keeping the ball closer maximizes the chances of your team's winning a match. In order to have your players learn these skills, it is always a great idea to break your players into small groups, such as groups of four or five. Now, let these small groups of players to race by dribbling the ball to the end of the field and then back to the starting point.
The above dribbling techniques are quite effective in coaching youth soccer.
Coaching Youth Soccer - DribblingAs you are probably aware, dribbling a soccer ball is one of the first things taught to younger players learning how to play soccer. Some of the best dribblers in the world come from Brazil. Why is that?
Brazilians often relate their soccer to music, and have great rhythm when running and dribbling with the ball. The way to achieve this rhythm is to keep your upper body relaxed, allowing you to be flexible and also helps you have much better upper body movements for deceiving the opposition. If you maintain a stiff body posture, your movements will be stiff and awkward and not really deceptive at all. A really good tip to get a looser torso while teaching dribbling is to encourage your players to open their hands. By doing this, the upper torso becomes loose and flexible, which in turn will lead to better upper body movement for body fakes. For instance if you try dipping you shoulder one way and then going the other way, the "dip" will be far more effective with a loose upper tors, and therefore far more likely to deceive the defender.To emphasize the point, make a fist with both hands and clench your fists tight. Now try moving your upper body and you should notice how stiff and awkward it is.
Here are 2 "secrets" of dribbling that are seldom taught, so I encourage you to get your players to try them.
Secret #1 for dribbling is to keep your upper torso relaxed and keeping your hands open and floppy
When dribbling it is more effective to be "small". The reason for this is similar to the reason for the first tip. By keeping small and close to the ground with your legs slightly bent, you will have greater mobility and able to twist and turne to deceive the defenders more easily.
To Emphasize the point, stand straight up with rigid legs. Now try and deceive a defender by lunging one way and then going the other direction. Now try it with the legs bent and in a more relaxed fashion. See the difference?
Secret #2 for dribbling is to keep your knees slightly bent and keeping close to the ground. Stand small NOT tall.
Here's a drill to help with this and you can incorporate both secrets into this drill
Have your players dribble the ball around and on your command the players must stop the ball "dead" using the knee.
Stopping the ball with the knee automatically achieves two things;
(1) gets the players to lower their bodies by bending their knees, getting their body low to the ground (coiled and ready to accelerate).
(2) forces the shoulder to dip and makes the upper torso turn.
This type of action is is important to help deceive your opponents when faking to go one way before exploding in the other direction
During the practice alternate knees, try double touches, right, left and continue dribbling, vary pace of the exercise.
Incorporate this little tip in your next warm, its' fun and productive.
2 Secrets About Dribbling a Soccer Ball