Coaching Soccer Drills: 5 Simple Steps To Kicking
How would you react to the fact that one thing that young players find truly hard is to use a straight leg to kick the ball? In Coaching soccer drills, it’d not just the players but also the coaches who have a problem here. The player keeps overall balance and the leg to be used to kick the ball is bent at the knee. Both power and stance to kick the ball emerges from below the knee.
In soccer practice, this is the starting position for almost all types of kicks. The rushing of the foot from below the knee creates an immense impact on the ball. This offers great amount of power to players for carrying out different types of kicks. Yet, it is the kind of contact of the ball with the foot that decides what type of kick would originate.
For example; it could be thumped very high, driven low, turn sharply to the left, or move to the right.
The three essential passes in soccer are a side foot pass, instep drive, and the outside of the foot pass. Let’s talk about them further.
The side foot pass: In teaching soccer, this pass is considered as the most extensively used and the simplest. It is generally used for making short distance passes. While this pass can be easily predicted and is a little slow, it is extremely simple to learn and easy to carry out. The contact with the ball is made on the inside of the ankle and the foot with the foot turned outwards.
In coaching soccer drills, the players should be trained to keep their bodies relaxed all through the action. This is the most basic rule with all types of kicking actions. The ankle and the foot need to be stiffened only at the time when the players is about to get in contact with the ball.
The moment players feel confident about carrying out this task well; their action should seem relaxed, simple, as well as smooth.
Outside of the foot pass: This pass is a little complex to teach and learn but it must be learnt well as it’s the quickest, most accurate, and unpredictable pass. A contact is made with the ball between the laces and outside edge of the foot with the foot extended and turned inward. The pass is then transformed into a quick throw for short distances by using the foot.
Throughout the coaching drills session, the posture of the players should be relaxed.
The Instep Drive: Here, the two versions; lofted versions and the low driven version are utilized to pass the ball to longer distances. Once the players are confident in executing it, make a “chip pass” or an “in swinging pass” by introducing some changes in it. As the approach of the instep drive is slightly angled and the non kicking foot is placed about 12 inches to the side of and behind the ball.
Here, the ball gets into contact in between the inside of the foot and the laces which is extended and very firm.
So now coach your kids the various techniques of kicking the ball and with variations to let them do different things with the ball.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun by downloading your free ebook at: Soccer Practice Tips
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