by Andre Botelho

Created on: February 22, 2010   Last Updated: February 25, 2010

There’s a simple method for explaining soccer practice; no rules to follow. You can try new and innovative ways, create new drills and games and like that. What’s more, be on a lookout for drills that are already in use but need modification as per your requirements. There are tips that can be real helpful in carrying out a plentiful soccer training timetable.

Create plans that are flexible. It is quite natural that all your plans may not work out as desired. It might start raining, you may not be well, or kids may fail to come. All these are possible blockers and so make adequate arrangements to take care of them.

Try and arrange for a lot of soccer practice games ready with you. Identify those that don’t lead to the requisite results, do away with those and go to next. Flow with the training and you will get to know what is working best for the kids.

Make the kids warm up before every session. Include the soccer ball in the warm up drills, in addition to the regular warm up drills. Launch some new and exciting exercises like Fetch. It’s a game wherein the coach begins with throwing the ball to the player and gets it in return by the player using one or both the feet.

Along with this, the kids can also be made to roll the ball using their feet, kick it backward and forward among the feet. There are plenty of such soccer drills that help players warm up.

Every player needs to have soccer ball for himself. And then, it calls for you to devise a number of individual activities that call for using the ball. The kids should be made to practice shooting, hitting the ball to the wall, and dribbling and all that. Your movement should be free as much as possible and don’t include any lines.

In soccer coaching, once the individual activities are finished, group activities should get the attention. There are two amazing drills for practicing; passing and receiving the ball. Make sure that the kids act as a team while participating in group activities. It’s natural for the kids to take some time in getting used to the feeling of team spirit from individual play to team play. You‘ve got be the guiding light here for the team. Lay emphasis on supporting each other in team for winning matches.

At the same time, lead the weak players to develop the feeling of team spirit. These are activities that drive the spirit to play as a team.

The kids should be made to play soccer without a goalie and in teams. Have them hit the goals and do not set boundaries for this game. And tell them to attack and defend alternatively. This helps them do their own thing and in the process develop something new.

This is an effortless way of managing a soccer practice. Set yourself free and design everything that will help the kids learn about soccer. The question of right or wrong drill doesn’t arise. Just allow yourself flexibility. 

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