Soccer practice games are immensely important especially in comparison to drills and it’s not hard for someone like me to understand this. To begin with the kids must concentrate only on learning the skills and then improving upon their consistent movement with the ball. Still, you must be aware of some points that need to be taken care of while the kids evolve with their soccer training.
As has already been talked about earlier, kids get an opportunity to develop their own special playing style with having fun when divided into groups. To begin with, the size of these groups must be small enough so that the kids have more freedom and liberty to take their own decisions.
Subsequently the kids will fell free to move about in the large and open field, get a feel of the ball more often, and feel liable for the decisions that they make since the players in their group are significantly less.
On the contrary, when the kids adapt to playing in groups with few players and also improve on their skills, introduce some variants. You should now introduce progressions in soccer practice games. What it implies is that you should add more players, the rules should be made stricter, and the games be played in larger fields. You should also introduce more complex strategies that focus on not just player’s skills but also the larger team objectives.
Here, I’d like to mention something that needs particular attention. Almost all coaches take the wrong path of teaching everything in a very short time span in the hope of having trained players ahead of time. Please remember that shortcuts don’t work here. Just like soccer drills, you cannot mechanize the process. It has to be a natural progression that takes time.
The plans suffer and results decline when coaches lay a lot of emphasis on competition, introduce players to soccer terminologies early, or make a lot of rules and regulations. This causes problems in their natural learning and growth.
As the players make a move from small batches to large ones, they should understand the purpose behind devising the games. It is important to understand how to put the team’s interests first than yours and using your skills to make the team win.
In this period, along with games, you must also encourage free dialog with your team. Keep in mind that the players now understand the game and its techniques. Therefore, it is not right to underestimate their skills in soccer exercises.
When you give them an opportunity to take decisions and respect them, they feel happy and more responsible.
The games should now concentrate on making the kids think proactively about winning matches. When the players think themselves as a team and not as individual players, you have succeeded in your job as a coach.
Now make good use of this learning in your plan. Soccer practice games are the best tools to make the kids learn soccer and so you must choose them creatively. sBecome a part of our youth soccer coaching community to learn more about various games and strategies that go with it.
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 Practice.
Tags: soccer drills, soccer exercises, Soccer practice games, soccer training