Andre Botelho’s Soccer Coaching Blog

Are you aware of this statement that “goalkeepers are born, not made?” Don’t be surprised when I say that it’s wrong. This has special relevance in coaching soccer drills, and I’ll let you know how. A perfect goalkeeper has no specific shape, personality, or size. Therefore, all players in the team must be trained to play in this position.

Great goalkeeping is based on practicing some basic techniques. Goalkeeper is the last line of defense in any team so he is in a tight spot where he can’t just make mistakes.

During soccer practice, occasional team goalkeeping sessions result in the discovery of players who not only enjoy but also have the potential to play between the sticks. By way of this practice, team members learn to understand the out of ordinary skills as well as the added responsibility to play as a goalkeeper.

It is highly recommended that you chose at least two or three kids for filling the spot of a goalkeeper. After that, make use of particular coaching drills in goalkeeping to develop their skills. Herein, it’s important that you don’t separate the goalkeepers from the remaining players in the team. From time to time, let them play form the attacking positions as well.

There are some qualities that you should consider while selecting a goalkeeper. These consist of; well controlled hands and thus the capability to grab the ball accurately. The player needs to have the guts to chuck him in front of a shot on the goal. In the same way, the guts to get down at the feet of a nearing forward. In coaching soccer drills, strength and dexterity are indispensable so as to jump or hop with a view to take the ball.

Besides all other qualities, it’s important that the players are extremely confident about their role of a goalie. Along with confidence, concentration and composure are also required to help goalies perform to their full potential. They must be absolutely confident of their ability to save shots and to safeguard the area in front of the goal. Some players will have a natural flair for it while some may have to learn this skill.

There is one rule with respect to teaching soccer that applies to all goalkeepers across borders. Irrespective of the fact that the ball is coming too high, low, too hard , or soft, try to grab the ball by getting as much of the body behind the ball. Teach the goalkeeper to collect the ball progressing softly towards the goal by keeping his legs together and straight.

The goalkeepers must attempt to get at the back the ball to stop it whenever it is coming with a lot of force. There should be no room between the foot and the knee of the leg applied to stop the ball and the ball comes right in the chest.

In the event of the shot being waist or chest high, the goalkeeper must get at the back of the ball with his elbows folded to grab the ball into the chest.

Now that you are acquainted with the basic techniques applied in coaching soccer drills to young players, go ahead and use them.

You can lay your hands on loads of relevant information pertaining to coaching young players in form of newsletters, articles, and videos by subscribing to our youth soccer coaching community.

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in Coaching 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 Coaching ebook at: Youth Soccer Drills.

Have you come across this statement “goalkeepers are born, not made?” Let me also tell you that it’s not correct. I’ll explain what makes me say this in context of coaching soccer drills. There are no definite requirements to qualify as a goalkeeper. Therefore, all players in the team must be trained to play in this position.

It’s just that some basic skills need to be practiced in the direction of great goalkeeping. Goalkeeper is the last line of defense in any team so he is in a tight spot where he can’t just make mistakes.

When you organize special sessions on goalkeeping involving the team during soccer practice, players having a lot of fun along with the necessary skills can be singled out. By way of this practice, team members learn to understand the out of ordinary skills as well as the added responsibility to play as a goalkeeper.

It is suggested that at least two or three players with requisite talents are short listed as a goalkeeper. After that, make use of particular coaching drills in goalkeeping to develop their skills. But, make sure that goalkeepers are not trained by segregating them from remaining team members. Allocate slots for them to play from the attacking positions too.

Some objective qualities that you should look for in a goalkeeper are given below. These include; ability to catch the ball appropriately i.e. perfect hands. It’s necessary that the player take no time to think before throwing himself in front of any shot on the goal. Similarly to go down at the feet of an oncoming forward. During coaching soccer drills, it’s important that players have the requisite strength and agility to be able to grab the ball.

More than all these traits, they need to be really convinced of their job of a goalkeeper. Along with confidence, concentration and composure are also required to help goalies perform to their full potential. They must be absolutely confident of their ability to save shots and to safeguard the area in front of the goal. While this talent will come naturally to a few players, it may have to be taught to some.

There is one rule with respect to teaching soccer that applies to all goalkeepers across borders. No matter how high, low, hard, or soft the ball is coming, get as much of the body behind the ball as possible to capture the ball. The goalkeeper should continue to keep his legs joined and straight with a view to stop the ball even if it quietly coming towards the goal.

In the event of the ball coming with a force, the goalkeeper must stop the ball with his knees after swiftly moving behind the ball. There should be no gap between the front knee and the foot so that the ball is captured in the chest.

In order to catch the ball where the shot is waist or chest high, goalkeepers can attempt to quickly get behind the ball using his elbows to catch hold of the ball in the chest.

So there you have it, the basic techniques to be used in coaching soccer drills for training the goalkeepers.

To know more about tips on coaching young players, subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community that offers effective and practical knowledge to help you excel in your career as a soccer coach.

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in Coaching 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 Coaching ebook at: Youth Soccer Drills.

In coaching soccer drills, the skill of heading is such an important skill that it sets soccer apart from other sports. Heading has the different characteristics of being lively, brilliant, subtle and controlled all at the same time. One thing is for sure that you will always be a cut above the rest if your players are well trained in the art of heading.

The value of heading in teaching soccer is clear from the fact that a player becomes al least 30% more competent after he learns to precisely head the ball.

Make the young players learn the basic header by plunging the top half of their body forward to strike the ball with the forehead. Train them to make the contact just below the hairline, on the flat part of the forehead.

They should keep their eyes open until the contact with the ball is made. It’s essential for them to keep their eyes open to make sure that they can make ac accurate contact with the ball. Teach the players to make use of their neck muscles while touching the ball. When your neck muscles are contracted, it helps in spreading the impact of the ball all over the body.

If the neck muscles are relaxed, the total impact of the bang will be absorbed by the head only. Teach the players to keep their mouths locked up when they’re heading the ball else they’ll end up biting their tongues.

Of all the tasks in coaching soccer drills, getting young players to attack is the hardest notion. Herein the players must go after the ball with full energy to grab the ball. It has special relevance in heading. During soccer practice, it’s necessary for you as a coach to teach the kids how to head the ball so that the ball does not head them.

There is one thing that I’d like to share. There is one problem and possible the greatest in teaching players the skill of heading and it is only psychological. It relates to the fear of making contact with the ball by using their head. But this fear can be overcome.

In coaching drills, let go of this pressure by telling the players to sit around their coach forming pairs amongst themselves. Pass each set of players a ball each. Show them the contact area by holding the ball in your hands and tapping it gently onto the forehead. Now tell the players to do the same.

Then, release some pressure out of the balls before you begin your practice session. This helps in the sense that players feel confident in doing frequent headers with no headaches or tender noses. You can then use balls with higher pressure once the players feel comfortable and confident.

The use of the trick has a dual benefit of eliminating the fear of players to head the ball and becoming skilled at it in no time. It’s critical for a skill like heading in coaching soccer drills that it is performed only when the coach is sure that players know exactly how to do it.

To know more about tips on coaching young players, subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community that offers effective and practical knowledge to help you excel in your career as a soccer coach.

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

When coaching soccer drills includes heading as an important skill to be taught to young players, it sets the game apart from all other sports. Heading can be delicate, controlled, as well as self-motivated and amazing all at once. If each player in your team is trained on the skill of heading, you will almost be certainly one up on the opposition.

When it comes to teaching soccer, the value of heading can be seen form the fact that it improves the effectiveness of a player by 30% once he learn to head the ball correctly.

Coach the young players in team to do the basic header by way of impelling the upper half of the body frontward to bang the ball using the forehead. They should be taught to thump the ball just below the hairline, on the smooth part of the forehead.

They should keep their eyes open until the contact with the ball is made. The reason is that if their eyes are closed, the probability of making an accurate contact with the ball is very less. Guide the young players to strike the ball with the use of their neck muscles. Using these muscles scatters and transmits the bang of the ball equally all over the body.

If the neck muscles are relaxed, the total impact of the bang will be absorbed by the head only. Also, they must keep their mouth shut while heading the ball to avoid biting their tongues.

Of all the tasks in coaching soccer drills, getting young players to attack is the hardest notion. Herein the players must go after the ball with full energy to grab the ball. It has a special bearing in heading. In the course of soccer practice, make sure that the kids are taught to head the ball and not the ball heading them.

There is one thing that you must know. The biggest problem that you are going to face in teaching heading is purely psychological. It is the fear of using the head to contact the ball. But it’s easy to handle this situation.

In coaching drills, let go of this pressure by telling the players to sit around their coach forming pairs amongst themselves. Give a ball each to every set of players. Show them the contact area by holding the ball in your hands and tapping it gently onto the forehead. Now tell the players to do the same.

After that, before the practice starts, take some pressure out of the balls. This way the players will be able to perform repeated headers without experiencing headaches and sore noses. After some time, when the players learn to do it and get proficient, bring in balls with slightly higher pressure.

The use of the trick has a dual benefit of eliminating the fear of players to head the ball and becoming skilled at it in no time. It’s critical for a skill like heading in coaching soccer drills that it is performed only when the coach is sure that players know exactly how to do it.

To know more about tips on coaching young players, subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community that offers effective and practical knowledge to help you excel in your career as a soccer coach.

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

Have you ever imagined that being a soccer coach requires much more than simply coaching soccer drills to kids? If your answer is no, there’s a lot that you need to understand and learn. Become a lot more organized and make sure that all the details relating to the practice sessions is taken care of in advance.

Let me share with you a few ideas that’ll help in making your job somewhat easier.

Meet the Parents: All parents like to know about the attitude of their kid’s soccer coach and his values in relation to the game. When they know who you are both as a person and as a coach, they will support you fully in the development of your kid.

Delegate responsibility: It’s a fact that the activity of coaching drills needs other people’s involvement other that you. This help from outside will provide you a lot more time and energy to invest in organizing your practice sessions. By involving the kid’s parents in doing simple tasks on the field, everything during the practice games can be taken care of in an easy manner.

Invite parents to help at practice: Attentive and helpful parents prove to be an invaluable asset during the soccer practice. They tend to organize the players that are divided into small groups by making them aware of the tips given during the practice matches.

Volunteer to answer questions from the parents: Deliver information sheets to the parents so that they can understand the basic rules of soccer. Let them know that the referees are pretty approachable and are usually quite happy to discuss and explain their decisions after the game.

Utilize a teaching grid: In teaching soccer, it is a nice little tool. A grid is a set of adjoining squares within which the players play. As an example, a 10 yards by 10 yards grid. What it does very well is restricting the players from deviating from their respective positions while you are standing in the centre.

Arrange your practice sessions: Do not consider it less important to arrange the sessions in advance. In coaching soccer drills, spending a few minutes in organizing the session on paper will save valuable teaching time on the field. Consider the advantages that your team will have when once it has gone through the drills you have designed for them.

Allow the players ample time to play: Make sure that the players have ample time to practice the skills that they have learnt. Also, ensure that the session ends with a fun drill. After the session is over, make the kids relax and applaud their efforts.

It must be noted that you particularly praise the ones who try hard and not just the good players. Encourage players to work on their skills on their own during the week.

Your goal? To start utilizing these ideas to improve the standard of play and enhance the enjoyment of players.

You can also get your hands on loads of relevant information pertaining to coaching soccer drills in form of newsletters, articles, and videos by subscribing to our youth soccer coaching community.

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free Coaching 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 Soccer Coaching ebook at: Soccer Training Drills.

Has it ever crossed your mind that a soccer coach needs to perform a lot more than simply coaching soccer drills to kids? There are many more aspects to this role and just in case you answered a no, prepare yourself to learn more. It’s important that you arrange everything pertaining to the practice sessions in advance.

Let me share with you a few ideas that’ll help in making your job somewhat easier.

Meet the Parents: All parents like to know about the attitude of their kid’s soccer coach and his values in relation to the game. After they’ve met you and understood your coaching philosophy, they’ll know where you’re coming from and are sure to provide their full support to you.

Delegate responsibility: It’s undisputed that you need help in coaching drills to your players. The more the help, the more the time you’ll have at your disposal to make your practice sessions better organized. Kid’s parents can play an important role here by being responsible for few of the tasks that aid in a smooth running of the team.

Invite parents to help at practice: Take help of the kid’s parents during the soccer practice who are aware of the games rules. They help in performing the drills by reminding important tips to the players divided into small groups.

Advice on queries from the parents: Distribute sheets that have soccer basics written on them so that the parents can read them. Let them know that the referees are pretty approachable and are usually quite happy to discuss and explain their decisions after the game.

Use a teaching grid: In teaching soccer, it is the most valuable organizational tool for practice sessions. Grid is just a group of adjoining squares used by the players to practice. For example: 10 yards by 10 yards grid. It has the advantage of stopping the players from drifting towards every corner of the field, while you stand in the middle.

Arrange your practice sessions: Do not consider it less important to arrange the sessions in advance. If you have planned your sessions in coaching soccer drills in advance, it will save a lot of precious time while conducting it. Imagine the benefits that you hope to achieve from this session executing the drills you have in mind.

Give the players adequate time to play: You must ensure that the players get adequate playing time to sharpen their skills. Make certain that you end the drills with an enjoyable drill. After the session is over, make the kids relax and applaud their efforts.

It must be noted that you particularly praise the ones who try hard and not just the good players. Ask the players to work themselves on honing their skills during the week.

Your aim; use these tips to improve the level of the game and also boosting the fun element in the game.

You can benefit from a wealth of resources on coaching soccer drills in the form of newsletters, articles, and videos by registering on our youth soccer coaching community.

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free Coaching 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 Soccer Coaching ebook at: Soccer Training Drills.

Has it ever occurred to you that the prime responsibility of the coach in coaching soccer drills is to stress more on offensive and not defensive aspects? Attack is one of the top forms of defense. There is a very simple reason for this. When teaching soccer, defensive notions and methods tend to confuse the young players and should therefore be kept to minimum.

Ball control, shooting, passing, heading, and dribbling are some of the attacking skills. The defensive skills of the players develop naturally when the players are taught just these basis concepts.

To be successful, make sure that the players have a desire as well as the ability to win the possession of the ball. This attitude must be developed amongst the players in a competitive and a congenial environment.

The players should be taught in soccer practice to get to the ball first. Tell them to run towards the ball rather than just backing off or standing still. This is a very common mistake made by most young players.

It’s important for you as a coach to keep in mind that soccer is a game of contacts. In a team, some players will like this part of the game while some may not like this idea. They must be taught that in order to catch hold of the ball at any point in time, it needs some contact with the opponent players.

In coaching soccer drills, a set of 3 rules helps the players become great at handling contact situations without breaking any rules.

They are: At the time of making a contact, pitch only for side-to-side or shoulder-to-shoulder contact. Educate them to keep the elbows in and only play the ball. Any kind of foot contact on an opponent is considered a foul. Once the players become confident and have a ball-winning attitude, they can move to making effective tackles.

In coaching drills, it isn’t very important if the kids do not have an understanding of the complex details of tackles. Keep in mind that there is no special skill involved in performing a basic tackle. The only thing that matters is that the kids focus on the ball, kick it effectively, and perform a tackle to the best of their abilities.

These tips will help your players increase their chances of winning the tackle and decrease the chances of getting injured. Here the key is to make sure that players only kick the ball when tackling. Always instruct and caution the players who do tackling hastily.

Keep reminding the players that a defender’s responsibility is to tackle the ball away from the opposition.

Next, take these tips and incorporate them in your training sessions when coaching soccer drills.

To enhance your knowledge on soccer coaching, you must register for our youth soccer coaching community that has tons of resources of youth soccer.

Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide visit: Coaching soccer drills.

What if I told you that in coaching soccer drills, the main responsibility of the coach is to put more emphasis on offence and less on the defensive aspects? Attack takes the best shape of defense. It’s easy to understand why. Including defensive concepts and notions in teaching soccer result in confusing the young players and as such are taken as bare minimum.

Ball control, shooting, passing, heading, and dribbling are some of the attacking skills. The defensive skills of the players develop naturally when the players are taught just these basis concepts.

In order to develop a successful team, ensure that the players not only have the desire but also the ability to get the possession of the ball. It is critical for the team and the players to acquire this attitude in a strong and a viable manner.

Teach your players in soccer practice to first get to the ball. Instead of standing still or just backing off, teach them to run towards the ball. When it comes to young players, this mistake is very common to young players.

As a coach, remember that soccer is a game of making contacts. This is one aspect of the game that some of the players are going to like where as some others are going to avoid. Teach the players that anytime they get close to getting the ball’s possession, some contact with the opponent’s is required.

In coaching soccer drills, a set of 3 rules helps the players become great at handling contact situations without breaking any rules.

These are as follows. While making contact, only make side-to-side or shoulder-to-shoulder contact. Instruct them to fold their elbows in and play only the ball. When they make a contact with the opponent using the foot, they commit a foul. After the players have developed a positive ball winning attitude, they will make more successful tackles.

In coaching drills, it has no significance if the younger players are not aware of deep understanding of tackles. Know that there is not much skill involved in performing a basic foot tackle. It is most important instead to keep an eye on the ball, kick it hard and perform the tackles with utmost dedication.

These guidelines will help the players win the possession of the ball and reduce the chances of injury. Here the key is to make sure that players only kick the ball when tackling. Always keep the players under observation who tackle the ball hastily.

Tell the players time and again that the primary responsibility of the defender is to tackle the ball away from the opposition.

Your next step! To take what you’ve just learned and implement every single thing in coaching soccer drills to kids.

If you would like to enhance your knowledge on soccer coaching for kids, subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community that has a huge amount of information in form of articles, newsletters and videos.

Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide visit: Coaching soccer drills.

You’ve probably heard it a hundred times that different things work for different people when it comes to coach youth soccer. In order to have your players perform at optimum levels, you need to include a variety of ways in your training sessions.

The fact that you were able to motivate your team to the maximum will depend on your overall personality and attitude along with your style of communicating with the kids.

So the question is, what is the best way to teach youth soccer?
The first and foremost is a well-thought out training session. You just cannot make it a practice to always have improvised practice sessions. These sessions should be based on proper planning, so that they can address both individual player’s needs as well as the group’s needs.

Your players must feel excited about soccer practice. Because if they don’t look forward to the training sessions you have planned for them, even skilled players will feel de-motivated. Here, give special consideration to substitute players.

While teaching soccer, it is not an easy task to keep the players happy and motivated . To avoid this, you can plan a weekly session with them where you exclusively pay attention to their needs while your colleague can look after your regular team in a common playing field.

Having An Aim: Train the young players to set goals in the context of the long term objectives. For this they must keep in mind the level where they see themselves at specific points in time. This will allow them to remain focused towards their final destination.

To coach youth soccer, your players must look up to you for any guidance that they seek. They expect you to provide regular feedbacks to know exactly where they stand with respect to their talent and abilities. It therefore depends on you to encourage them and lead them through the way to achieve their goals.

When players enjoy their soccer coaching sessions, you can be rest assured that they are adequately motivated to win matches. It would not be difficult to pursue them to work a little more hard. Since soccer is a team game, it is critical to inculcate team spirit in players.

An important aspect of being a coach is to take an interest in your individual players, so ensure that you are ready to listen to their concerns.

If you do not have the time for them, they can feel quite de-motivated. Praising them when they do something really well can also keep their spirits high, knowing that you appreciate their efforts. Rather than focussing too much on their mistakes and shortcomings, you can show them how to minimize them by helping them overcome these.

These tips are the easiest way to coach youth soccer. Now that you know these tips, pass these off to your players. You will find thousands of such useful tips and knowledge on our youth soccer coaching community. Enroll today and get the best out of your players.

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in Coach youth soccer and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun by downloading your free Coaching Youth Soccer ebook at: Soccer Drills.

By the time you finish reading this, you would probably have learnt every trick in the trade to coach youth soccer. Coaching kids about soccer is no rocket science but yes, it requires skill, knowledge, and a lot of patience. What follows are known strategies to teach youth soccer. Implementing them religiously will do wonders to your team.

Encourage learning: You have heard about it many times but what is the correct way to encourage learning? Give freedom to the kids to do their own stuff and even if they make mistakes, it is OK. Through this exercise, you are encouraging the kids to be more creative and most importantly, have fun.

Name the teams: Divide the groups into small teams which allow you to better coordinate the affairs. Also it is a great idea to give names to the teams as this inculcates a sense of association.

Measure success and failures: To coach youth soccer, you must have a definitive yardstick to measure the performance. Some rules to understand this are whether the kids are enjoying the sessions. Are the kids enjoying soccer or playing as a team? Are they effectively picking up techniques of controlling, dribbling, and passing the ball?

Give incentives: These keep the kids going and even the advanced players, for that matter. Now, these need not be substantive incentives. For example, the team that wins gets a half hour rest or gets to go half-hour early and so on. Also, never give individual rewards. They do not work in soccer as some kids will always excel whereas others won’t. Instead reward team effort.

Managing bad behaviour: While teaching soccer, this part can prove to be disastrous for the entire team if not handled in time. For example, if a player is always late for the drills, do not ignore it. Punish the culprit with a light punishment so that everyone gets a message.

Similar is the case with parents, some of which may try to interfere a lot in the affairs of the team. Do not allow that and set the record straight. You are the coach and you will take decisions. That said, parents involvement to a certain degree is absolutely essential.

Be a leader: Whatever you do is likely to be imitated by your players because a coach is always looked upon as a mentor. So keep your conduct in check. Always be nice and polite to team mates, fellow coaches, and opponents. Reach the ground for the practice sessions in advance or before the players. Never criticize the referee or the players when in a practice match.

Believe me, once you start to apply this to coach youth soccer, your team will reach the pinnacle of success, both in the practice sessions as well as real tournaments. If you wish to receive more such tips and expert commentaries on youth soccer, enroll for our youth soccer coaching community. You will find valuable insights into various aspects of youth soccer.

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in Coach youth soccer and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun by downloading your free Coaching Youth Soccer ebook at: Soccer Drills.