Andre Botelho’s Soccer Coaching Blog

I know you would have your own opinion on this one but I believe that a lot of games are won in the midfield encounters. In players fail to perform youth soccer drills aimed at developing their capacity to get the ball at the midfield, they’ll not be bale to go move forward with the ball.

In youth soccer practice, if your players tend to always lose the ball at midfield, then it means your players are on defense all of the time. At this time, it is the opposite team that ends up making points.

In training, it’s of great significance to get the possession of the ball. After players have got the ball, give them time to practice dribbling it towards the open spaces, away from their opponents. They will therefore learn the art of finding a way out of traffic. After learning this technique, teach them to move the ball by way of quick passes.

It is best to have the other team running after the ball.

They can succeed in keeping up with the player dribbling the ball, but it’s not possible to match the ball’s pace, when passed. Involve the entire team, at the time to practicing ball passing. The right person to pass the ball is the one who is closest and ready to take the pass. Besides, they should keep varying the direction of the ball.

Train them to keep moving the ball around with the intention that the players in the opposite team also move about with that. In kids soccer drills, don’t pass the ball just backward or forward.

When executing youth soccer drills, the other players will just move with the ball without any sense of where it is going. Hence, they will never be able to produce sufficient defense.

The players must be forceful if they are to take the ball from the other team. They must go after the player with the ball so your team can get its possession. Once your players have got the ball, they should stay on the attack, but now as offense.

Similar to defense, in youth soccer coaching, when the team gets offensive, the entire team does the same. It is not sufficient to just have a solid defense. It is equally critical that your players can tear apart the opposition’s defense so that the team can score.

This can be made possible by teaching your players techniques that are not similar to the ones used in defense.

Your players should keep moving and keep the other team’s defense uneven. So it is vital that your offense is moving. Moving the ball constantly throws off the defense, and this is what you should aim at.

Your team should command the situation in the game so well that the other team has no option but to only react to your actions.

Always remember this. Every player in the team should be able to complement the effort of the other while performing youth soccer drills.

Register for our youth soccer coaching community that has several resources on youth soccer namely articles, videos, newsletters etc and these keep getting updated from time to time.

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in Youth soccer drills and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. To explode your players’ skills and make training fun, download your free Youth Soccer Drills ebook at: Soccer Practice.

I know you would have your own opinion on this one but I believe that a lot of games are won in the midfield encounters. Youth soccer drills designed to teach the players the skill to acquire the ball at the midfield, allow the players to take the ball forward.

If your players while in youth soccer practice frequently lose the ball in the midfield, it clearly reflects that they are always on the defense. At this time, the other team will ultimately end up scoring.

It is very important in training to get the custody of the ball. After they get the ball, they must practice dribbling it to the open spaces trying to keep it away from the opposite team’s players. They will therefore learn the art of finding a way out of traffic. Once they become good at it, train them in moving the ball with the help of quick passes.

Try and have the other team running after the ball as a regular practice.

They can stay even with a player dribbling the ball, but they cannot run as fast as the ball can be passed. Include all the players when they practice passing the ball. The player who is ready to take the pass and is closest would be the right player to pass the ball. Besides, they should keep varying the direction of the ball.

Coach them to keep moving the ball around so that the players in the opposite team also travel with that. In kids soccer drills, do not pass the ball just backward or forward.

When executing youth soccer drills, the other players will just move with the ball without any sense of where it is going. So they’ll not be able to set up an adequate defense thus benefiting you.

The players must be forceful if they are to take the ball from the other team. They must get after the player who has the ball so that its possession can be retained. Once the players have got the ball, they should still be in the attacking mode.

As in defense in youth soccer coaching, when the team adopts an offensive attitude, the entire team becomes offensive. Just having a solid defense will not do. It is equally critical that your players can tear apart the opposition’s defense so that the team can score.

This can be done by teaching the players techniques that are different from those used on defense.

Ask the players to stay moving so that the other team cannot get a stable defense. So it is vital that your offense is moving. Keeping the ball in motion wards off the defense and that should be the ultimate goal.

Your team should be in such control over the game that it dictates what is going on, on the field.

Never doubt it. Each time your team performs youth soccer drills, every player in your team should actively support the teammates.

Subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community that has tons of interesting articles, videos, and newsletters to help coaches get tips on coaching soccer drills to young players.

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in Youth soccer drills and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. To explode your players’ skills and make training fun, download your free Youth Soccer Drills ebook at: Soccer Practice.

In youth soccer drills, almost everyone knows that shielding the ball is the skill of keeping the ball away from the defender and still maintaining its control.

Lets again start with the basics. The players should be made to perform such kids soccer drills that permit them keep their heads high up to find out teammates to pass the ball, or dribble it away from the defender. They should know that it’s necessary to keep the ball close to retain control over it. Their body should come between the ball and the opponent.

Your players will be pushed by their opponents or may be knock off the ball. Explain that it’s fairly common and train them to remain poised and keep playing. Some of the shielding drills are given below:

Roll Over: This drill requires just one player and one ball. The player rolls the ball by moving his or her foot over the top of the ball in the direction he or she wants the ball to go. The player gently touches the ball with the foot and moves it back to front, front to back, left to right, and right to left.

This drill is different from other youth soccer drills in shielding, where the player can choose to use even the heel or toe to move the ball.

Donkey Tail: Doing this drill in youth soccer practice involves the entire team, cones, some old socks, and a ball for every player. Place the cones all over the field in such a way that all players can be accommodated easily but without a lot of extra room for them. All players should take a sock each and put it in the back of their soccer shorts.

This should be hanging down like a tail and only a few inches of the sock should be sticking out.

Put all the players inside the marked area and blow the whistle to start the drill. Direct each player to dribble his own ball and maintain control while attempting to pull the tail off of another player. As soon as they catch the tail of a person, it should be dropped on the ground.

Any player who is not able to tackle the ball and it moves out of the marked area should move out of the ground. This should be the case with those also whose tails get pulled. When the players start getting eliminated, decrease the size of the area marked by cones. Stop the play when just two players are left.

This is because this activity can go on forever with only two players on field.

From all the youth soccer drills that there are, this is the easiest method approach to train the players in shielding and maintaining control over the ball and at the same time remain aware of what is happening around them.

Our youth soccer coaching community has tons of information and numerous drills aimed at teaching shielding skills to your kids that can be accessed by in form of articles, videos and newsletters. Subscribe now.

Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s an expert in the subject of Youth soccer drills. Tp explode your players’ skills and make coaching fun in less than 29 days, download your free Youth Soccer Drills guide at: Youth soccer drills.

In youth soccer drills, shielding, the practice of keeping the ball at a reasonable distance from the defender with maintaining its control is not new to people involved in the game.

We’ll start with the basics again. In kids soccer drills, have the kids practice the art of keeping their heads up and identify a teammate to pass the ball, or drive the ball away from the opponent. Let the players know that control over the ball can only be maintained when they keep it close to them. Their body should come between the ball and the opponent.

Your players will be pushed by their opponents or may be knock off the ball. Let them know that is is quite common and they should maintain their composure and continue playing. Let’s now discuss a few shielding drills:

Roll Over: Only one player and a ball is needed to carry out this drill. The player moves the ball in the direction where he or she wants the ball to go by tapping the foot over the top of the ball. Player uses his foot to gently touch the ball and move it from right to left, left to roght, back to front, and front to back etc.

Of all the drills, this is the one in which a player has the freedom to use his or her heel or toe to move the ball.

Donkey Tail: Involving this drill in youth soccer practice requires all players in the team to participate, every player with a ball each, some cones and old socks. Place the cones all over the field in a way that all the players are able to fit themselves with them and without a lot of gap between them. All the players have a sock each and they must put it in the back of their soccer shorts.

The sock will act like a tail and therefore only a part of it should be visible outside the shorts.

Ask all the players to be inside the marked area and blow the whistle to mark the beginning of the drill. Direct each player to dribble his own ball and maintain control while attempting to pull the tail off of another player. As soon as they catch the tail of a person, it should be dropped on the ground.

Any player who loses control over his or her ball and it goes out of the marked area should step out of the field and wait until the next game. This is true for those players also whose tails get pulled. As the number of players reduces, keep decreasing the size of the marked area. Stop the play as soon as there are only 2 players left.

This is because this activity can go on forever with only two players on field.

From all the youth soccer drills that there are, this is the easiest method approach to train the players in shielding and maintaining control over the ball and at the same time remain aware of what is happening around them.

Our youth soccer coaching community has a wealth of resources on teaching shielding skills to players and you can access them all by subscribing for it.

Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s an expert in the subject of Youth soccer drills. Tp explode your players’ skills and make coaching fun in less than 29 days, download your free Youth Soccer Drills guide at: Youth soccer drills.

Let’s suppose I tell you that in youth soccer drills, the hardest task for a coach is to get their players better at linking successive passes. To acquire this ability they employ drills aimed at developing efficient passing and collecting techniques.

Collecting is the skill to gather in and control the ball with the help of different body parts.

The players can be taught some technical passing skills at an early stage whereas it can be stressed upon more during the other stages of his development. And with time and experience, a player gains tactical knowledge.

In youth soccer coaching, the choice to pass the ball should be made by following the order given below:

1. The ball should be passed to a colleague who is in the best position to score.

2. Make a pass to go in the defense and let it advance in a forward direction.

3. Pass the ball to a teammate who can relieve the defensive pressure so that the offensive team is able to retain the possession of the ball.

When it comes to youth soccer practice, there are many factors that limit the choices of a player in passing the ball. His physical strength, field position, dexterity, and his opponent’s skill and experience are some of these factors. These options to choose from are bound to widen once the players improve their skillfulness, take risks, and have a good field vision.

You should train your players to develop short-passing techniques with a view to become proficient in making flat but short and crisp passes. Incorporate those drills in your training sessions that help players learn the short passing techniques.

In youth soccer drills, the ones mentioned below are greatly helpful in making the kids learn the passing skills. Each drill has a varied purpose and imparts one attribute at least to pass the ball.

1.Kick-To-Line Drill: This drill is helpful in teaching the kids the importance of force in passing the ball. It takes roughly 5 to 7 minutes. Instruct the players to stand 5 yards away from the sideline. Tell them to use their discretion and then hit the ball so that it stops on the line. The players must constantly practice this from 10, 20, and 30 yard distances.

At this point, the players are able to relate to the speed of the leg and distance the ball travels.

2. Tunnel Connection Drill: Kids soccer drills like this one improves passing accuracy and collection skills from a stationery player to a stationery target with no defensive player. Tell 3 players to stand in a line at a distance of 10 yards from each other. Player A slips the ball through to player B through player C. Then the players are replaced in a way that player B takes the place of player A and then C. This action is repeated many times.

With the help of good communication and improved passing skills, your player’s style of play will change from individualistic do-it-yourself style to one that is more team oriented and intentional in design.

To gain more knowledge about youth soccer drills that help in teaching players passing and collecting, join our youth soccer coaching community.

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free Youth soccer drills ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. To skyrocket your players’ skills and make practice fun in record time, download your free Youth Soccer Drills ebook at: http://www.soccerdrillstips.com.

What if I told you that the most difficult task for a coach in performing youth soccer drills is that of developing their player’s ability to connect consecutive passes? For this, the coaches use such drills that have the potential to teach the players the ability to pass and collect the ball effectively.

The skill of collecting is the ability of a player to grab and control the ball using all the body parts.

The players should be introduced to the technical passing skills early but more emphasis should be put on other stages of development. As for tactical knowledge, it usually increases with experience.

In youth soccer coaching, teach the players to make passing choices in the following order:

1. Pass the ball to a teammate who is in a favorable position to score.

2. Make a pass to go through the defense and advance the ball to the fore.

3. Pass the ball to a teammate who can reduce the defensive pressure so that the offensive team gets to maintain the custody of the ball.

Talking about youth soccer practice, a player’s choice to make a pass is limited by numerous factors. His physical capacity, field positioning, level of expertise, and the talent of his opponent are some of these factors. These choices will increase when players move off the ball, improve their skill level, take some risks, and maintain a good field vision.

Being the coach, encourage the players to develop short-passing techniques that will allow them to make short, crisp, and flat passes. Incorporate those drills in your training sessions that help players learn the short passing techniques.

In youth soccer drills, the ones mentioned below are greatly helpful in making the kids learn the passing skills. Each drill has an importance and purpose of its own and imparts necessary attributes for passing the ball.

1.Kick-To-Line Drill: This drill is helpful in teaching the kids the importance of force in passing the ball. It takes roughly 5 to 7 minutes. Instruct the players to stand 5 yards away from the sideline. Tell them to use their judgment and kick the ball so that it stops on the line. The players should keep working on this at 10, 20, and 30 yard distances.

At this juncture, the players are able to make a sense between the speed of the leg and the distance the ball travels.

2.Tunnel Connection Drill: Kids soccer drills like these improve passing accuracy and collection skills from a stationery player to a stationery target with no defensive player. Make 3 players stand in a line about 10 yards apart. Player A lets the ball through to player B between player C’s legs. Player A then makes way for player B and then player C. They repeat this action several times.

When you teach good communication and improved passing, your players have a great sense of team work rather than individualistic do-it-yourself style.

To get a lot of tips on youth soccer drills that involve passing and collecting, enroll for our youth soccer coaching community that has tons of resources on youth soccer.

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free Youth soccer drills ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. To skyrocket your players’ skills and make practice fun in record time, download your free Youth Soccer Drills ebook at: http://www.soccerdrillstips.com.

Ever wondered what would be like if your kids do not know the skill of shooting the ball? Shooting is needed to score a goal. So, you must include shooting instructions and drills in your youth soccer drills to enable the kids to compete in the game.

It’s best to always train the players in basics first. When kids soccer drills requires the players to shoot the ball, train them to do it rapidly without hesitating. The ball should always be shot away from the goalkeeper. While shooting, the body weight should be put into the kick. The kids should watch where they kicked the ball and move in that very direction in the anticipation of another kick.

The players will find it really difficult to kick the ball accurately with their ball and should therefore not attempt it. Whenever the ball is shot with the toe, the ball will go straight especially if it is kicked right in the center.

In the same way, if at all the ball is kicked is to the right of center of the toe, the ball will go right and likewise for left.

Five-Ball Kick shooting drill as a part of youth soccer drills: You need five balls, a goal, a goalkeeper, and cones to perform this. The players are divided into two parts, team A and team B. This drill can be acted upon in youth soccer practice by displaying five cones in a straight line across the surface line of the penalty box. These cones serve as signs where the ball must be placed.

Now players should attempt to shoot the ball into the goalpost. If the players engage their right foot to hit the ball, the balls should be on the left side of the cones and vice versa. Engage Team A in kicking the balls and team B in collecting and replacing them. Place the balls so that the players are bound to take a few steps between the kicks.

Every player should hit 5 balls into the goalpost without stopping. Each ball that makes it into the goal is a point. Now let team B practice kicking the ball and team A in gathering them. After team B has also finished, let team A take over and kick the ball using the opposite foot.

The team that has most number of points wins. This drill in youth soccer coaching especially teaches the players to shoot and trace the location of the goals. It also requires them to shoot quickly and teaches to use both the feet.

Your next step should be to make your kids practice what you’ve just learnt in their youth soccer drills.

Enroll for our youth soccer coaching community that has a wealth of information on youth soccer in the form of videos, articles, newsletters, and so on.

Andre Botelho is an expert in Youth soccer drills. He influences over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his coaching philosophy, and makes it easy to explode your players’ skills and make training fun in record time. Download your free Youth Soccer Drills guide at: Soccer Training.

Just imagine what would happen if your players are not able to shoot the ball properly? Shooting is needed to score a goal. Shooting drills and instructions must therefore be incorporated in youth soccer drills to prepare kids to contend in a match.

Like always, teach them the basics first. When kids soccer drills include shooting, the players should be taught to shoot the ball promptly without a pause. Teach them the skill of shooting the ball past the goalkeeper. When shooting the ball, put the entire body weight into the kick. Once shot, the player should be keep an eye on the ball and move in that direction hoping to get another shoot.

The players will find it really difficult to kick the ball accurately with their ball and should therefore not attempt it. If they kick the ball using the toe and that too right in the center, the ball will go straight.

In the same way, if at all the ball is kicked is to the right of center of the toe, the ball will go right and likewise for left.

Five-Ball Kick shooting drill as a part of youth soccer drills: You need five balls, a goal, a goalkeeper, and cones to perform this. Make two teams out of all the players, i.e. team A and team B. In youth soccer practice, this drill can be performed by placing five cones in a straight line across the outer line of the penalty box. These cones relate to the places where the ball must be placed.

Now players should attempt to shoot the ball into the goalpost. If the players are kicking with their right foot, the balls should be on the left side of the cones and vice versa. Involve team A in kicking the balls and team B in collecting and replacing them. Place the balls so that the players are bound to take a few steps between the kicks.

Every player should aim to hit 5 balls at the goal with stopping between the kicks. Every goal scored is a point. Now take turns and have team B kick the ball and team A gather them. When team B has finished, team A can start all over again with the opposite foot.

The team that scores the most points is the winner. This drill in youth soccer coaching especially teaches the players to shoot and trace the location of the goals. It also requires them to shoot quickly and teaches to use both the feet.

Your next step: to take what you’ve just learned and make your players practice it by including it in the youth soccer drills for coaching kids.

Subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community and you’ll find an abundance of knowledge and tips on soccer skills, drills, and techniques available in the form of newsletters, articles, and videos that keep getting updated with latest and the most relevant information.

Andre Botelho is an expert in Youth soccer drills. He influences over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his coaching philosophy, and makes it easy to explode your players’ skills and make training fun in record time. Download your free Youth Soccer Drills guide at: Soccer Training.

I don’t know a thing about you but I’ll bet that without getting your basics in soccer drills right, it is virtually impossible to get a productive training session. Here, what’s important is that players do it correctly irrespective of the fact that it’s stretching or strengthening exercises or simple warm up rounds.

Throughout soccer exercises, use of the following instructions has the effect of getting maximum productivity from the practice sessions.

Stretching exercises: Make sure that a soccer ball is used in all or most of the stretching exercises. It’s important for the kids as they get to play with the ball more often and develop the habit of using it even for the basic drills. This helps the kids get familiar with the ball and also helps them control its movements.

Obviously, no coach wants their kids to feel frightened to handle the ball, the moment it gets close to them. So make them feel as comfortable as possible when dealing with it. You can introduce any other exercises also which have a similar effect of making kids happy and enthusiastic in addition to stretching. Don’t feel intimidated to initiate new techniques and let your creativity flow.

Strengthening exercises: Essentially, soccer is not a game of the strongest. It’s common in soccer to misinterpret the term strength. By strength we mean staying power, agility, speed, and stamina. The game requires some bodily contact with players even though it’s not necessarily a bumpy game.

Physical strength surely helps avoid difficult situations and prevent injuries but cannot be taken as the only basis of the game. Ensure a good mix of soccer drills and exercises that build strength as explained above.

Here, I’d like to share a concern about having the kids perform these exercises previous to skill drills. Tired bodies do not readily understand or acquire skills.

Warm-up activities: Initially in soccer training, only stretching and juggling activities have the potential to effectively warm-up the players. It does not need anything more. Yet again, carry out these exercises with soccer balls.

Keep away from relay races for 2 reasons; players can experience torn ligaments or get cramps due to sprinting or scrambling of stiff muscles. Next, the young players tend to do away with their lately acquired skills as a consequence of too much racing.

Instead, you may want to take them for a round of the field. Not only is this a team activity, but also augments the fun part of the game. Provide aims to the players for shooting at and dribbling in between these aims. Then in few minutes, players will be prepared to take on a tough session because they are all warmed up and trained.

Make no mistake about it. In soccer training, lots of persistence, preparation and endurance is required. Nonetheless, by way of these clever tips, the players can be well prepared for forthcoming training sessions.

Our youth soccer coaching community is full of articles, videos, newsletters and other resources on soccer drills and youth soccer in general. Subscribe now to benefit from the connection made with people with same tastes from the community besides getting the valuable information described above.

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in Soccer drills and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. To explode your players’ skills and make training fun, download your free Soccer Drills ebook at: Free Soccer Drills.

Do you ever think why does it get so difficult to work out soccer drills for kids under 12? The reason is too many soccer exercises coupled with a lot of other drills and things to teach to the kids. And it’s not surprising when things get mixed up or you get confused for the lack of attention.

The best technique in coaching the kids is to see that they don’t feel weighed down by loads of information. Their minds need to be focused on one activity at a time. It’s also a brilliant idea to split them into small groups. One such drill that has the capacity to keep the kids fully occupied whilst playing soccer is six-a-side soccer.

As a result of it, the kids tend to have fun while playing the game and the standard of the game also improves.

Herein, as you may be aware, there are just 6 players on each side rather than 11. This small edition of the game requires small fields by means of smaller goals. Nevertheless, even such soccer drills have the same set of rules that apply to a regular game.

For kids between 6 to 8 years of age, a soccer game should ideally last for 20 to 30 minutes. This length can be stretched by about 10 minutes for kids in higher age groups. There are several good reasons to adopt this methodology in soccer training:

1. It is much more gripping due to the fact that the field is small and defenders are very few. Therefore the number of hits into the goal is more compared to a regular game.

2. Players involve themselves actively, as they get more chances to play with the ball. In a real game, the players who are best in the field manage to keep the ball to themselves.

3. In soccer practice like this, players have more time and space to play with the ball. Hence they get an opportunity to work on their soccer skills. It encourages players in having good relations with other team members and a better understanding of each other.

4. Off-sides are none. Expecting a child of seven to eight years of age to understand the offside law is not fair. It is not even understood by many parents or even referees.

5. Due to allowing a better interchanging of positions, this arrangement is better than a standard soccer game. For instance, defenders can move forward to hit for a goal on the other team. This allows players to be all-rounders on the field; they can be skilled in both defending and attacking.

The players who have a good experience of playing at various positions are always in demand.

So, there it is! You can try exploring the soccer drills that we discussed, if you have not earlier. Include these drills in your training schedule to see a noticeable improvement in your players’ skills; you will also find them enjoying these. Join our youth soccer coaching community to get access to plenty of informative and motivating tips on youth soccer.

Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s an expert in the subject of Soccer drills. Tp explode your players’ skills and make coaching fun in less than 29 days, download your free Soccer Drills guide at: Soccer drills.