What if I told you that 50% of soccer coaching drills should focus on enhancing the trapping skills of your players? You won’t take it seriously. But interestingly, researchers say that trapping, besides dribbling and passing is mainly responsible for consistently winning matches.
Trapping is the ability of the players to intercept the ball and then keep it near their body. In such soccer exercises, they can use their feet, chest, and thighs to do so.
You must acquaint your players with this skill of trapping the ball. Failing to do so would mean that they can never be in command of the game since this is imperative. Trapping skills of the players can be enhanced by following the ways mentioned here.
Engaging the feet: Firstly, train your players in using their feet to deal with the ball which is a basic skill. Kids soccer drills should predominantly include practicing the kids on use of the inside of their foot. The fact that the inside area of the foot is large makes it easy for the players to hold the ball.
In soccer coaching drills, players can be taught to use the instep or crown of the foot along with entire foot when the players are senior and established. In cases where the ball bounces a lot, it is best to make them use their shin or ankle to tackle the ball.
Thigh Movement: Speedy and bouncy ball can be controlled by simply using the thigh. Train the players to stop the ball with one thigh, get stable using the other, after getting in front of the ball. It is important to learn that as soon as the ball meets the thigh, the knee should be dropped so that the ball drops right there and does not move away from the player.
Continue repeating this exercise till the time you learn it by heart i.e. stopping the ball with your thigh and then tumbling the thigh down so the ball stays somewhere close to you.
Use the Chest: Trapping a ball flying high in the air with the use of your chest is also equally useful, like the use of thighs. Teach your players to tackle the ball using their chest by getting in front of the ball and take their chest out. As a result the ball will loose its tempo almost immediately and will fall down at once.
However, in the soccer training drills, it is important to realize that young players should not be exposed a lot to this technique. When they try to tackle the ball using the chest, it is their normal tendency to use their hands. This can prove to be dangerous as the kids might develop a habit of using their hands while tackling the ball.
Now is the time to carry out the soccer coaching drills. Encourage the players to practice these to a great extent. Subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community and get a good deal of such guidelines and tricks.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
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 training fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: http://www.soccerdrillstips.com – Youth Soccer Training Drills.
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