Soccer Coaching Drills - Discover the Art Of Trapping
What if I told you that 50% of soccer coaching drills should focus on enhancing the trapping skills of your players? You would probably dismiss it as a fancy. But No! Research shows that trapping along with passing and dribbling skills alone decide whether your team is capable of winning matches or not.
Trapping is the ability of the players to intercept the ball and then keep it near their body. In such soccer exercises, they can use their feet, chest, and thighs to do so.
It is imperative that your players know how to trap the ball. If not, they will never really be in control of the game because everything else comes after trapping the ball. Some of the following techniques help in enhancing the trapping skills of the players.
Involve the Feet: Primarily, the coach must teach the players to use their feet in tackling the ball. Especially with younger players in kids soccer drills, it is important to make them use the inside of their foot. The biggest reason for this is that the inside area of the foot is broad and is most helpful in tackling the ball.
If the players are advanced and mature, teach them to use the instep or top of the foot as well as the whole foot in trapping the ball during the soccer coaching drills. In cases where the ball bounces a lot, it is best to make them use their shin or ankle to tackle the ball.
Thigh Movement: A thigh is very useful in controlling the fast and bouncy approaching ball. Instruct the players to get in front of the ball, stand on one feet and rise the other thigh to stop the ball. It is important to learn that as soon as the ball meets the thigh, the knee should be dropped so that the ball drops right there and does not move away from the player.
This exercise of dropping the knee needs to be done repetitively so that the players master the art of first stopping the ball using the knee and then drop it so that the ball trickles down the feet.
Use the Chest: Similar to the role of a thigh, the chest also plays an important part in trapping the ball that is high up in the air. Make the players stand in front of the ball and then ask them to take their chests out as if to confront the ball. When they do so, the ball will instantly loose its speed and easily get down to the feet.
However, in the soccer training drills, it is important to realize that young players should not be exposed a lot to this technique. When they try to tackle the ball using the chest, it is their normal tendency to use their hands. This can prove to be dangerous as the kids might develop a habit of using their hands while tackling the ball.
Now its time to start putting these soccer coaching drills into action. Make the players practice these more and more. If you wish to learn a great deal of such tips and tricks, subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community.
Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free soccer coaching drills ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make training fun in record time. Download your free soccer drills ebook at: http://www.soccerdrillstips.com - Youth Soccer Training Drills.
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