Coach Youth Soccer

There’s something I’d like to know from you. Almost all soccer coaches tend to ignore the soccer training tips while designing training programs for kids with the intent of just making up the numbers and going through the motions. Do you fall in the same category?

Before you design your next training programs, make sure you set some specific goals for your team. Establish what you wish to achieve from the training program and take the necessary steps to achieve your target.

Add to your training program such soccer drills that are new, innovative, and fun to perform so as to add variety. This will give the players a break from the dullness of performing repetitive drills day in and day out. Once players start enjoying their practice sessions, you’ll notice that their performance will improve consistently.

Make your players understand the value of respecting and listening to you, their coach, no matter what their age or level at which they play. Mutual appreciation creates a friendly environment for both players and the coach.

Soccer Training

Soccer players get an edge over others when they are highly flexible. The same is classified into 3 parts.

Dynamic flexibility: Just like twisting from one side to another, it’s the player’s ability to carry out brisk movements within the full range of motion in the joint.

Static active flexibility: It is the ability to stretch a difficult muscle using only the tension within that very muscle. Holding one leg out in front of you as high as possible is an example of this. The hamstrings are stretched while the quadriceps and hip flexors hold your leg up.

Static passive: This kind of flexibility allows a player to make use of his body weight or some external force to hold a stretch. For example; you can hold your leg out in front of you and then rest it on a chair.

Let’s now move on to the next step in following soccer training tips. This calls for a need to examine and ensure that the clothes worn by kids to the field are apt for the weather.

Training for soccer should be followed by a fitness program that focuses only on those areas that need maximum help. Following are the factors that must be kept in mind when designing a training program like this.

Player’s age: Decrease in the flexibility of soft tissue with aging is directly related to the reduced range of movement as one grows older, irrespective of the gender. Still, the chances of flexibility getting decreased are very less if we remain active.

Gender: Girls show greater movement, no matter what their age.

Action: Active kids are always better at performing soccer skills and exhibiting a greater range of movement that the inactive kids.

Injury: Injuries also impede the range of motion in a joint.

Pain: Flexibility decreases as pain increases, resulting in muscle spasms. Nonetheless, flexibility in kids is not hampered by strength training unless the exercises are done correctly and in full range of motion.

Heredity: How flexible is a player’s body depends upon a player’s genetics also.

So make sure you incorporate these soccer training tips into your training programs with a view to improve their effectiveness and productivity. You can improve your coaching skills by subscribing to our youth soccer coaching community that has tons of articles, newsletters, and relevant videos.

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching 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 ebook at: Soccer Drills For Kids.

Did you know that soccer training tips has an important feature; stretching, that is highly recommended as well as practiced by almost every sports person? As a sport, soccer is growing and developing incessantly in its superiority.

In kid’s training for soccer, there are two types of stretching, dynamic and static stretching that are integrated.

Static stretching requires the kids to extend their muscles as far as they can and hold for a given duration of time. Dynamic stretching involves rhythmic bouncing, rebounding and recurring motions. Generally, static stretching is considered as more effective and involves less risk than dynamic stretching.

This article shares some of the benefits that stretching provides in helping average players become champions.

Soccer Training

Stretching reduces injuries: Continuous stretching during the day and performed over a period of time may promote muscle growth that, consecutively, could reduce the risk of injury. Stretching also provides a way of increasing the muscle size and strength.

Stretching affects flexibility: Stretching prevents loss of flexibility. Nevertheless, stretching works best when performed for a greater length of time than for shorter periods of time.

Stretching for some minutes prior to any occasion is liable to improve flexibility. But, of all the soccer training tips, the best is where stretching program is extended over a longer period of time that constantly improves the player’s range of motion.

Stretching improves performance: Stretches, when designed to be soccer specific can greatly improve a player’s performance.

Stretching can be a lot of fun: For this, you need to add variety in your soccer drills and focus a lot on performing them. Keep varying the warm-up activities you do before stretching. Try to include games such as the tag game, ball tag, and keep away.

Focus mentally on stretching exercises, feel and recognize each stretch, whilst checking for body soreness.

For almost all players, one single 15-30 minute stretch for each muscle group is sufficient but some may need longer stretches and more repetitions.

This is due to the fact that when the temperature of muscles is higher than normal, inflexibility decreases and extensibility increases. Kids who hope to retain or boost their flexibility can somewhat reach this goal by stretching. It’s advisable to perform stretching exercises when the body temperature is higher than normal as it is safer and more useful.

For this reason, some kids are made to do stretching even after their workout also. After practicing soccer skills, if kids are made to do some stretching for 5-7 minutes, it’ll prevent their muscles from tightening too fast.

Usually, players who practice an active warm-up ahead of stretching get a superior range of motion than those kids who just stretch. So if injury prevention is your aim, stop stretching before exercise and increase the warm up time.

One of the most important soccer training tips to keep in mind is that stretching, if done hurriedly, does not help kids gain any flexibility, and becomes worthless and repetitive, so give them sufficient time to warm up before stretching. Join our youth soccer coaching community and enhance your knowledge about soccer through loads of articles, videos, and podcasts available there.

Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn  how to explode your players’ skills and make coaching sessions fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Youth Soccer Drills.

If you have a similar bent of mind as I have, you’ll agree with me that soccer training tips for goalkeepers is very important as he/she is the sole player allowed to make contact with the ball by hands and arms both.

And so, soccer skills that a goalie possesses give him an edge over other remaining players. But this makes a soccer coach’s job quite challenging when it comes to coaching goalkeepers.

Based on the method of play in soccer, goalkeepers are the first line of offense and last line of defense. They will not hesitate in putting their bodies in harms way to stop or block a shot into the goal. They are always prepared to grab hold of the ball by pitching into any direction whatsoever.

When it comes to a goalkeeper’s training for soccer, on various requirements specific to their role and their level of play can be very trying. At the same time, his or her mental state should be kept in mind while teaching him various skills.

Soccer Training

Only one player in the team can be compared to a goalkeeper and that is the goal hungry striker. In fact, some of the best goalies have also been great strikers at one point or the other. You’ll often see a goalie and the forwards in a direct battle at different levels of competition.

Of all the soccer training tips, the one essential for the goalie to follow is that he should stay balanced and be aware of the center of gravity of the body. In a game setting, this will benefit by improving the goalkeeper’s activity and the inclination of the other player.

Although most soccer goalkeepers are tall and have long arms and big hands, but even if he or she is short, they usually compensate for the lack of height with good vertical and lateral mobility.

It is important for a coach to realize that goalies have a great sense of worth but still need to be motivated on a regular basis. Soccer Goalkeepers need to do their regular warm ups with the team, but then separate from the team and perform the specific soccer drills that will prepare them for the game.

Goalkeepers act as the leaders of the team as they have a personality that is both dominating and controlling. When goalkeepers are supported by their teammates and are put in a demonstrative capacity, they are able to achieve the desired results.

The goalie can handle the ball only in the 18 yard box. If there is anyone other than the goalie, who gets to touch the ball, the opponent team wins a free kick. It’s a penalty shoot from “the spot” in case of a goalkeepers’ team member.

So go ahead and use these soccer training tips in improving the overall performance of the team by supporting the goalkeeper who’s the leader in the 18 yard box and should be appreciated for that. Join our youth soccer coaching community that has numerous relevant articles, newsletters, videos, and podcasts to help your broaden your knowledge on soccer coaching.

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make practice sessions fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Soccer Drills.