Rec and Sports

Coaching Youth Soccer: 8 Facts You Must Know

Coaching Youth Soccer Drills

Coaching Youth Soccer can be exciting and fun but there are important aspects every coach needs to take into consideration. Most of these are based in common sense and as a result, are pretty easy to remember:

1. Don’t make speeches. This is particulary important if you coach young players and have the habit of making long lectures during your training sessions. The age of your players is nor important. What is important is that you keep your speeches short, sweet and right to the point.

2. Don’t complicate things. When coaching a soccer exercise you should try to keep it as simple as possible. People have problems in implementing complecated things. I can bet your players will lose their interest in the practice sessions if you try to give them over complicated exercises with lots of instructions.

3. Don’t be a ball boy- this is essential. If you want to keep your players’ respect, don’t run after balls. Doing that can dangerously unbalance the player-coach equation. If a player shoots a ball out of bounds, make them go get it.

4. If you do have special ball-boys on hand to help out, make sure they don’t join the practice. This simply signals a laxity in discipline- ball boys are just there to get the ball. Some of these kids may want to join your drills. Let them know that they can join if they want to make part of the team in the future.

5. Never, ever criticize the player. If a player misses a shot or fumbles, don’t blame them. Point out the flaws in their technique or skill and do that calmly. Screaming at a player for being ’stupid’ is a great way to make them want to leave your team.

6. While Coaching Youth Soccer, explain it clearly and as briefly as possible. Now make a demonstration for your players so they can implement it and perform it properly. Conversely, don’t try and demonstrate something that you can’t do.

7. Health and safety should always be foremost in a coach’s mind. This means making sure that the ground and the equipment are in good shape before your soccer training session starts. Remember that if a kid sprains his ankle because the ground was slippery, then it’s technically your fault.

8. Don’t leave the parents out in the dark. It’s important that you interact with your player’s parents in a way that they feel integrated and well informed of what it’s happening. Remember that parents can be a powerful and useful ally for any youth soccer coach.

When Coaching Youth Soccer, these are important aspects that every coach should consider. If you’re a youth soccer coach and you’d like to learn how to dramatically improve your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time visit us right now at SoccerDrillsTips . com.

About The Author:

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching. If you want to learn how to explode your players’ skills and make practice more fun and interesting, get your free Soccer Coaching guide at http://www.soccerdrillstips.com – Coaching Youth Soccer Drills.