Coaching Youth Soccer - Juggling

As you coach youth soccer, you will soon realize that learning to juggle is a very important technique for youth soccer player to learn. Players who can juggle have a feel for the ball and learn to become one with the ball. Their touch is often much better than those players who cannot juggle and are usually more composed when playing in pressure situations.

Soccer players who are able to juggle a soccer ball typically have greater control over the ball and are more apt to adjust their body positioning in different situations. Soccer jugglers should aim to achieve harmony between the ball and the player. As a coach, it is up to you to encourage players to juggle as a warm-up before practice and games so they can develop their juggling skills. I often have players who show up to practice early pick up a ball and start juggling while waiting for other players to show. Have players either juggle on their own or pair up with a partner in attempt to keep the ball off of the ground. It's great for their touch, and a good warm-up while waiting around for training to start.

It is very important to instruct players to juggle the soccer ball with both feet. Some players want to focus only on their strong foot, however, as a coach it is important for you to get them working on their weak foot as well.

I typically work my juggling into the warm-up and have the players work on the following juggling techniques:
1. Juggle with the instep (top of foot) only. Make sure they switch feet and keep the ball below their head. If the ball gets too far out of control the player will struggle to juggle.
2. Juggle with the thighs only. Make sure the players use the thigh part of their leg and not their knee. Their body movement should resemble that of a soldier marching. Make sure they alternate legs.
3. All parts of the feet. Now let the players use the inside, outside and instep parts of their feet.
4. All parts of their feet, chest and thighs.
5. All body parts including their heads.

In addition to using the juggling as a warm-up, you can also make it a competition. Hold a juggling competition and award prizes to the top jugglers. Give them a couple weeks to practice before holding the competition and track their progress through the competitions. Make sure the players increase their juggling numbers each week. Make it a point to stress the importance of juggling in soccer each week leading up to the competitions and be sure to point out players who obviously have not been working on juggling.

Coaching Youth Soccer - Analyzing a Soccer Match

As a soccer coach, match analysis is simply watching soccer match and observing what is happening in that match. With match analysis, you scout other team's strengths and weaknesses in order to counter these qualities. Here is a common checklist that asks some of the important match analysis questions. It is often easier to start the match analysis with the defensive side, so we will start with the keeper and work our way to the forwards.

KEEPER
Is the keeper part of the team (is he connected with the team)?
Do field players pass back to him?
Does he pass the ball to the field players or smash it down field and hope for the best.
Does he pass to players with his feet?
Doee he throw the ball to players feet?
Does he roll the ball to players feet?
Is he in control/command of his box?
How does he handle high balls?
How does he handle low balls?
How well does he organize walls and set pieces?


DEFENDERS
How many defenders do they play with?
What formation of defenders do they play with?
Are they willing to make runs upfield?
Do they overlap the midfield?
Do they run on the diagonal?
Do they play flat back?
Do they play with a sweeper?
How do they handle flighted balls?
Who is the fast defender and who is their slowest defender?


MIDFIELD
How many midfield players do they play with?
What formation do they play?
Do the midfield players defend and attack.
How well do they support or cover?
Do they play through the midfield players much?


FORWARDS
Do they like to stretch the defense?
Are they involved with the play or just hanging out uptop?
What type of speed do the forward have?
What type of runs to the attackers make?
Do the forwards work together and make runs off each other?


AS A TEAM
What kind of Goalkicks do they take? Short or long?
How are they on set pieces (offensively and defensively)?
Are the set pieces organized (offensively and defensively)?
Do they do a lot of quick starts?
How do they take throw-ins?


As you can see there are a lot of things to think about when watching a game, but you can learn a lot about a team by taking each of the above questions. Just remember to apply what you have learned.

Coaching Youth Soccer - Running a Successful Soccer Practice

As a new soccer coach in the early '90's I recall watching another soccer coaches perform a certain soccer drill with his team. The drill was great and appeard to bring out the best of soccer players. The kids were having a blast and they appeard to be getting better in the short time I watched the practice.

Two days later, during my next training session with my team, I brought that same exact drill to my team. However, that soccer drill just didn't seem as dynamic as it was with the other coach. I mean everything was the same. I set up my grid with the same dimensions, the skill level of both teams were the same, and I had the exact same instructions to the drill as the earlier soccer coach. Well almost exactly like the other soccer coach. There was one big difference that I did not bring to the table.

I'll start by saying that learning to become an effective soccer coach definitely take trial and error in your early years. However, the key is to have good grasp on the purpose and coaching points that each soccer drill is designed to focus. My problem mentioned earlier was set up properly, however, not executed the soccer drill to it's fullest potential. My problem was when I was on my own running the drill I was unsure when to make a correction or what correction to make for that matter.

Over the years I am much wiser now and below I have written down some key points to make your soccer practice more effective:

1. As a soccer coach, if you see a soccer player making a mistake, stop the drill and try to recreate the situation. Have the players walk through what they should have done.
2. When you stop play, ask questions and have the players answer. This will help you assess how much they are grasping your teachings.
3. As a soccer coach, you must be prepared and in control of all situations.
4. Make the soccer practice sessions realistic, purposeful and enjoyable.
5. Set reasonable expectations for each player.
6. Give good instructions with a simplified walk-through to explain each situation you are teaching to assure a clear, concise and understanding of the idea.
7. The coach can demonstrate, or have players demonstrate with a walk-through of the situation you are explaining
   

Just keep in mind that when coaching youth soccer is not necessarily about the drills you run, but how you run the drills.

Soccer Coaching - Flighted Balls

When coaching youth soccer, teaching youth soccer players to serve flighted balls or lofted passes is sometimes difficult due to leg strength. However, follow some simple guidelines in teaching them when they are young and oh boy... watch out.

Striking flighted balls is a very important aspect of the game of soccer. Set pieces, goal kicks, corner kicks, clearances from the defense, crosses from the outside into the penalty box are just a few good reasons to teach youth soccer players to strike flighted balls.

There are a couple important teaching points that should be highlighted when teaching players to strike these kind of balls. I first start off by making sure the players know what part of the foot they should be using. To do this, have the players push on the top of their foot near the laces until they find the bone on the top of their foot near their laces. We will call this part of the foot the "meat" of the foot where we should strike these flighted balls.

1. Make sure the soccer player approach the ball from an angle and not straight on.
2. The player's body should be leaning away from the ball which will cause the player to strike under the ball causing the lift.
3. The non-kicking foot should be placed to the side of the ball and slightly behind the ball.
4. The kicking foot should have a locked ankle and the toe should be pointed away from the player.
5. The player should attempt to strike the bottom half of the ball with the "meat" of their foot which will also help with the loft of the ball.
6. The player should attempt to strike the ball in the middle of the ball to avoid slicing the ball.

Some common issues when striking flighted balls include: not approaching the ball at an angle, not locking the ankle, not kicking with the "meat" of the foot, non-kicking foot too close or far away from the ball, and lifting the head too quickly before striking the ball.

Soccer Coaching - Shooting Instep Drive

Soccer coaches, have you ever watched an English Premier League soccer match on T.V. and seen a shot from 35 yards out that sails 6 feet off the ground and barley misses the goal by inches? Chances are they hit that shot with their laces. This type of shot is called the instep drive. As a soccer coach you know that shooting on goal is very important as you miss 100% of every shot you don't take. Teaching the instep drive can be difficult at younger years, however, proper technique at the younger age will assure good technique later in life.

When teaching the instep drive, soccer coaches should constantly remind players to lock their ankles, point their toes down, and approach the ball from a slight angle. The plant foot should be facing the target and slightly behind the ball. When the player strikes the ball they should immediately transfer the weight from their plant foot to their shooting foot. Try to have the player land on their kicking foot first after striking the ball. Also coaches should remind the player to lean forward towards the goal as this will keep the ball from rising.

When teaching young players to do the instep drive, instruct the player to kick their butt with their kicking leg before striking the ball. If the player is very young, try placing your hands behind the ball in attempt to hold the ball while letting the player strike the ball (be careful of your fingers). Do this multiple times until the young soccer player gets the feeling of striking the ball using the proper part of the foot with the toe down and ankle locked.

Soccer Coaching - Push Pass

When coaching soccer, the push pass is typically the first type of pass you teach youth soccer players. This is because it's the easiest, controlled way to pass the ball. The push pass uses the inside of the foot and because of the big kicking surface, it is the easiest and most accurate way of kicking a soccer ball.

When coaching soccer players to do the push pass, instruct them to use the surface between their ankle and big toe joint. Make sure the player approaches the ball straight on and the non kicking foot is pointed at their target, and slightly behind the ball. The kicking foot should be pointed almost perpendicular to their plant foot with their toe up to lock the ankle. The player should attempt to strike the middle-top of the ball in order to give the ball a top spin which will keep the ball on the playing surface. It is very important that the player's kicking foot does not immediately step on the ground after passing the ball as this means they are off balance. The soccer players should use their arms for balance and place their kicking foot back under their body for balance (unless the player is running).

As a soccer coach, when teaching the push pass make sure players bend both knees and that they do not kick the ball stiff legged, and that the player does not swing their kicking leg across their body.


Here is a good drill I found to help coaches teach soccer passing skills.

Soccer Coaching - Shielding

When coaching soccer, shielding is a very simple, yet important dribbling skill set that soccer players should learn. Shielding is simply using your body as a barrier between the ball and the defender in order to protect the ball. Typically the soccer player holding the ball will turn their body sideways in order to hold the ball as far from the defender as possible. When teaching shielding, make sure the attacker does not stand with their back to the defender as this is easy for the defender to poke the ball away.

The soccer coach should instruct players to move the ball when shielding in order to evade the defender. As the attacker is turned sideways to the defender, if the defender decides to step in on the attackers front side, the ball should be pulled backwards away from the defender (trying to maintain a side-on stance). If the defender decides to step in on the attackers back side, the ball should be pushed forwards away from the defender (again attempting to maintain a side-on stance).

A easy way to teach shielding is 1-on-1. Simply pair the team into groups of 2. Have one player punt the ball into the air and he and his opponent battle to win the ball and hold possession for the count of 5 elephants. If possession is lost, the other player attempts to hold possession for the same count. As a soccer coach, make sure you inform the players what you are looking for and explain to them to stay in and shield the ball rather than dribbling on the run.

Soccer Coaching - Dribbling

When coaching soccer, an important soccer skill to teach is DRIBBLING a soccer ball. Dribbling is simply the ability of a player to move the ball at a reasonable pace while keeping the ball close and under control. Soccer coaches will agree that an effective dribbler can make the game of soccer more exciting and often can break down the best organized defenses.

As soccer coaches, it is up to us to provide an environment that helps players grow and develop good dribbling skills.

Soccer coaches should instruct soccer players to dribble with all parts of their foot: inside, outside, top, and sole.

When coaching soccer dribbling, players must have a low center of gravity and keep the ball close to them in order to effectively change direction, stop quickly, or change pace. Good soccer dribblers are also very aware of their surroundings and always scanning the field for opponents or opportunities. Good dribblers also have to have an arsenal of moves and feints to shake defenders in order to off balance a defender.

Soccer Coaches should always correct players who dribble with their head down or touch the ball too far ahead of them. These are common mistakes that are easily corrected.

Soccer Coaching, Coach Soccer, How to Coach Soccer

SOCCER COACHING, HOW TO COACH SOCCER
Soccer coaching, coaching soccer, and how to coach soccer.

Soccer coaching topics, including coaching soccer skills, coaching soccer moves, coaching soccer games and coaching soccer practice.

Also, coaching soccer positions, coaching soccer formations, coaching young soccer players, how to coach soccer offense and defense and the most important things to teach soccer players and soccer teams.