Coaching Youth Soccer Drills: 8 Facts You Must Know
Coaching youth soccer drills can be exciting and fun but there are important aspects every coach needs to take into consideration. You may say that some of these are just simple common sense, but they are not for sure common practice:
1. Don’t make speeches. If you’re a youth soccer coach and your teaching young kids, it’s especially important that you don’t bore them with long speeches and lectures. Whatever you have to say to your player during a training sessions on game, just make sure you keep it simple and short.
2. Don’t complicate things. When teaching a drill, try to strip it down to its bare run-through and make sure that the players are fluent in it before you modify it. You can test this by showing the kids a complicated soccer diagram of a drill with fancy arrows and dozens of instructions, you’ll lose their interest.
3. Don’t be a ball boy- during a soccer practice ball will be travelling all over the field. Leave them alone! Make your players go run and get the balls that they shoot out of the field. You can even make it a rule that if they score they don’t have to catch it anymore for that day.
4. Do you have kids helping with getting the balls? If that’s the case, don’t let them join the training session. This simply signals a laxity in discipline- ball boys are just there to get the ball. If they want to join in the practice, they have to join the team like everyone else.
5. Never, ever criticize the player. If a player misses a shot or fumbles, don’t blame them. Point out the flaws in their technique or skill and do that calmly. Screaming at a player for being ’stupid’ is a great way to make them want to leave your team.
6. While coaching youth soccer drills, explain it clearly and as briefly as possible. Next it’s time to show it. i’m sure you’ll do well and you’re players will understand perfectly everything you teach. Conversely, don’t try and demonstrate something that you can’t do.
7. Health and safety should always be foremost in a coach’s mind. This means making sure that the ground and the equipment are in good shape before your soccer training session starts. Remember that if a kid sprains his ankle because the ground was slippery, then it’s technically your fault.
8. Don’t leave the parents out in the dark. Hold regular meetings with them to address concerns and to let them know about the upcoming games or events. Remember that parents can be a powerful and useful ally for any youth soccer coach.
When coaching youth soccer drills, these are important aspects that every coach should consider. Learn how to literally explode your players’ skills and make trining more fun in less than 29 days at SoccerDrillsTips . com.